Blue Tang
Paracanthurus hepatus
The vivid blue surgeonfish made famous by film, and a demanding fish that grows large and needs a very big reef system.
Ideal Conditions
- Temperature
- 24 – 27 °C
- pH range
- 8.1 – 8.4
- Salinity
- 1.023 – 1.026 SG
- Adult size
- 20 – 31 cm
- Min. tank size
- 700 litres+
- Lifespan
- 15 – 30 years
- Diet
- Omnivore leaning herbivore — algae plus meaty foods
- Water flow
- Moderate to high
- Preferred setup
- Very large reef aquarium with rock caves and long open runs
About the Blue Tang
Blue Tangs reach 30 cm and swim constantly across the reef, so they need considerably more space than most buyers expect. They are reef safe and personable, but notoriously prone to parasitic disease and require an established, stable system.
Find Blue Tang
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Where Blue Tang comes from
Native range
Indo-Pacific, Great Barrier Reef, East Africa to Japan
Countries / regions
Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Kenya
Habitat
Clear outer reef slopes with strong currents, sheltering in branching corals.
Illustrative native range only, not an occurrence dataset.
Similar species
Yellow Tang
Zebrasoma flavescens
Powder Blue Tang
Acanthurus leucosternon
We’re adding more full species guides as the catalogue grows.
Compatible tank mates
Reviewed guidance based on this species' recorded traits.
- Great
Royal Gramma
Gramma loreto
Cave-dwelling and small, with no overlap in territory or diet.
- Compatible with caution
Copperband Butterflyfish
Chelmon rostratus
Both are large-tank reef fish, but the butterflyfish is a slow, timid feeder that a tang can out-compete.
- Compatible with caution
Yellow Tang
Zebrasoma flavescens
Tang-on-tang aggression is common; only in very large systems with simultaneous introduction.
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