Paracanthurus hepatus is a fish of many (common) names. It is frequently called Blue Tang, a name that causes some confusion as it shares this moniker with a Caribbean surgeonfish from another genus. It's also called Palette Tang because its pattern looks something like the palette an artist would use to hold their oil paints. It's less frequently called Hepatus Tang for its genus, and seemingly only in North America, it's often called the Hippo Tang, and we have no good reason for this, though many assume it is a shortened version of its species name. There are a couple different color forms of this fish, and at maturity, this one has a prominent yellow belly and reddish spines along its dorsal fin, and thus we call it the Yellow Belly Hippo Tang.
Hippo Tangs are a popular aquarium fish around the world. They are found near tropical coral reefs in water usually less than 100 feet deep. However, the yellow belly variant occurs only in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. As juveniles, they will not show the yellow belly, so ensuring yours came from the correct area is very important in making sure you get the fish you are looking for. Paracanthurus hepatus with yellow bellies are seen much less frequently than their all-blue bellied brothers because of their native range. It remains a challenge to reliably source these fish from areas that often suffer from political instability and offer long transport times. The best thing you can do is always purchase your fish from vendors who carry Quality Marine fish as we track individual fish and collectors in detail that no other wholesaler is capable of. As a result of doing this for decades, we've been able to make partnerships with the collectors who do the best job of catching, keeping and transporting these fish to us in the shortest amount of time in transit, and furthermore, to work with these vendors to improve the quality of fish we offer. The importance of this cannot be overstated.
Yellow Belly Hippo Tangs are different only in color from their blue bellied brethren and both are excellent fish for the home aquarium when sourced well and given good conditions to live in. Paracanthurus hepatus have slightly different nutritional needs than many other tangs as they are primarily planktivores in the wild. While they will graze on algae, and this is important in their diet, the bulk of what they eat is high protein. Start feeding yours a good mix of meaty foods from Gamma Foods. Items like Mysis, Spirulina Loaded Brine, and Chopped Prawn are all excellent foods for them. Being planktivores, they are usually pretty easy to segue onto pellet foods, and in house we have very good results getting them to eat Nutramar's Marine Complete Pellets in addition to the meaty mix we offer them twice a day. This is a very active fish and should get multiple feedings per day. They will also appreciate some grazing on rehydrated algae products like Nutramar Nori and Ogo Gracilaria. Click here to learn more
Hippo Tangs are a popular aquarium fish around the world. They are found near tropical coral reefs in water usually less than 100 feet deep. However, the yellow belly variant occurs only in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. As juveniles, they will not show the yellow belly, so ensuring yours came from the correct area is very important in making sure you get the fish you are looking for. Paracanthurus hepatus with yellow bellies are seen much less frequently than their all-blue bellied brothers because of their native range. It remains a challenge to reliably source these fish from areas that often suffer from political instability and offer long transport times. The best thing you can do is always purchase your fish from vendors who carry Quality Marine fish as we track individual fish and collectors in detail that no other wholesaler is capable of. As a result of doing this for decades, we've been able to make partnerships with the collectors who do the best job of catching, keeping and transporting these fish to us in the shortest amount of time in transit, and furthermore, to work with these vendors to improve the quality of fish we offer. The importance of this cannot be overstated.
Yellow Belly Hippo Tangs are different only in color from their blue bellied brethren and both are excellent fish for the home aquarium when sourced well and given good conditions to live in. Paracanthurus hepatus have slightly different nutritional needs than many other tangs as they are primarily planktivores in the wild. While they will graze on algae, and this is important in their diet, the bulk of what they eat is high protein. Start feeding yours a good mix of meaty foods from Gamma Foods. Items like Mysis, Spirulina Loaded Brine, and Chopped Prawn are all excellent foods for them. Being planktivores, they are usually pretty easy to segue onto pellet foods, and in house we have very good results getting them to eat Nutramar's Marine Complete Pellets in addition to the meaty mix we offer them twice a day. This is a very active fish and should get multiple feedings per day. They will also appreciate some grazing on rehydrated algae products like Nutramar Nori and Ogo Gracilaria. Click here to learn more
