Anyone has experience with powder black tang?

[typrobin]

hi all, i saw that this week's shipments have a lot of tanks...the LFS owners told me they are powder black tangs...

very tempted to get 1 as it looks so much like achilles tang but has a much cheaper price tag...

anyone has experience with this fish?? anything i need to look out for?

my tank is a 3ft X1.5 X 2(height) tank...with only a bi colour blenny and a small sailfin tang....

it looks like this whitecheek just that the whole body is black...

[[JS]]

i got 1

easy to get white spot.....

careful

[Terryz_]

The white cheek and powder black not the same huh...

[nim75sg]

The White Cheeked Tang is also know as the Gold Rim ....

Will let you know how easy or difficult it is as the fish is in my quarantine tank since yesterday and this morning eating brine shrimp liao.

[nim75sg]

Did a research on the Powder Black Tang and found out that it belongs to the Acanthurus Nigricans species.

Just like the White Cheeked Tang is also known commercially as Powder Brown, Gold-Rimmed Surgeon. It is really confusing for hobbyists like us.

Also found out that Powder Black Tang is a commercial name as it is actually a Gold Rim Tang:

[Terryz_]

So White-Cheeked Tang = Powder Black Tang... Correct???

[bubble_gum]

saw tonnes of this at aqu*sta*..... surpeisingly it look healthy and nibbling rcks

[ryz]

yep almost everytank got one white-cheek.

you were there ah bro? haha in my area nv jio me.

[RAV-65]

Hmm... got a small whitecheek to sell if anyone keen, very cute fella and started eating liao.... one of the certified " net caught " fishes from Eaquanature.... interested parties pls PM me! Thanxs!

Sorry,

[nim75sg]

So White-Cheeked Tang = Powder Black Tang... Correct???

The WhiteCheek Tang does not = to Powder Black and in short, the Acanthurus Nigricans specie consists of:

- Whitecheek Surgeonfish;

- Powder Brown Tang;

- Tang Gold Rim;

- Whiteface Tang;

- Powder Black Tang.

[Terryz_]

The WhiteCheek Tang does not = to Powder Black and in short, the Acanthurus Nigricans specie consists of:

- Whitecheek Surgeonfish;

- Powder Brown Tang;

- Tang Gold Rim;

- Whiteface Tang;

- Powder Black Tang.

Oh... Thkz...

[ryz]

huh?? Acanthurus Nigricans includes Powder brown? u sure? Powder brown is Acanthurus Japonicus what.

I thought

Whitecheek Tang = Gold Rim Tang = Tang mentioned above?

Never heard of Whiteface Tang Before leh

[RAV-65]

Wah... seems like we need a marine biologist here...

[neokn]

Acanthurus nigricans, (formerly A. glaucopareius) which we will call the powder-brown surgeonfish/tang is an overall varying brown with a white patch under the eye. The dorsal, ###### and ventral fins are black with blue edges. The base of the dorsal and ###### fins is graced with a brilliant yellow; their tails are white with a vertical yellow bar.

Picture above. Acanthurus (glaucopareius) nigricans (Linnaeus 1958), the Powder Brown or Gold-Rimmed Surgeon. The corrected scientific name of this species is A. nigricans (per Randall, 1988); a revision no doubt as unpopular to some as my labeling the species as "bad". The very similar A. japonicus is a far better aquarium fish; A. nigricans rarely lives for more than a few months in captivity.

Acanthurus japonicus ("Ah-kan-thur-us ha-pawn-ick-us") will refer to as the white-faced surgeon/tang is similarly marked and colored with the following notable differences. The white-faced tang is adorned with a red stripe on it's dorsal that starts one third back and extends to the end. Check out the white patch under the eye, it's larger in A. japonicus, extending all the way to the mouth, hence the name white-face (sometimes white-cheek). Body-shape wise the white-face is decidedly more oval than the powder brown as well, but you tell me, could you tell these two apart if you didn't have both on hand for comparison? And what's the big deal anyway? They're both good looking.

Picture above. Acanthurus japonicus (Fowler 1946), the White-Faced Surgeonfish; also sold as a/the Gold-Rimmed or Powder-Brown Surgeon, confusing it with A. glaucopareius (nigricans) (see above). A. japonicus has a much larger white eye patch. Ranges from the Philippines to Japan and is relatively hardy.

Ah, but one is a historically poor feeder, most dying within a few weeks of purchase; the other a very hardy aquarium species. Both are sold under each other's names, often for similar cost, and there indeed, is the rub. Yes, you do want to know how to tell one from the other, and to purchase the white-faced A. japonicus, and avoid A. nigricans.

[tineng]

so which is the historically poor feeder...me tempted to get a Powder Brown

[RAV-65]

so which is the historically poor feeder...me tempted to get a Powder Brown

The gold-rimmed lor!

[ryz]

confused already... see many sites say japonicus is powder brown... anyway Japonicus is a beautiful and heardy fish... cheap too... actually if the nigrinicans is black enough also v nice.. see a lot of specimens quite faded.

[nim75sg]

This is my Powder Brown or Acanthurus Japonicus in my 6ft tank ...

[neokn]

This is my Powder Brown or Acanthurus Japonicus in my 6ft tank ...

Nice specimen you have there.