Achilles + (? food)=a FATTY??

[pktech]

I have an Achilles, it's slimming down a little & I wanted to ask what you're feeding yours to keep him so rotund, lol ....

My reading on rc has me concerned he might have a parasite or blockage that will not allow him to gain weight? He eats everyday - Rods, defrosted mysis w/ 3 drops of selcon, flakes & formula2. He has no competition for food.

whacha think?

 

[anbosu]

Did you qt and treat?

 

[pktech]

Not yet. I figured I'd get some ideas on others experiences, if possible

 

[Dmorty217]

QT and treat with prazipro because I'm sure your AT has worms of some sort or another. Formula 2, nori, mysis are a few to name quickly and most would soak with selcon or other amino/omega 3

 

[pktech]

Thanks Dmorty - Didn't you recently get one too? How's it doing?

 

[humaguy]

def need to qt her and get her in some praz, pronto...

 

[pktech]

Thanks Ted -Qt's already set up

 

[humaguy]

cool, good luck...

 

[Rea17]

I have gotten my big Achilles fat on Ocean Nutrition seaweed and NLS pellets. He also gets mysis, formula 1&2 flakes, clams, krill sometimes, Rogger's, etc. I like to mix it up. The seaweed and pellets are staples though. I highly recommend feeding him as much seaweed in a day as he will eat, plus a few feedings of NLS, mysis, or something similar.

Also agree that you need to quarantine the fish. Achilles tangs (imo, ime) are reasonably hardy once established and parasite-free, but you really can't get away with not putting them through quarantine and treatment without paying for it.

 

[pktech]

Just for the record - I've had "the greek" for 8 months & did a month in qt. Got her from DFS...

 

[Dmorty217]

If you have had the AT for 8 months you are doing well so far. As for my AT he slowly stopped eating after getting ich and even in a treatment tank I personally was unable to save her, even though the ich cleared up. I had mine in a 220g and think that was too small of a tank to keep the Achilles happy and mine was less than 3". Bigger is always better in this hobby and that holds true with the Achilles. I won't try a AT again until I setup a tank of at least 600g with 8ft of length

 

[Rea17]

Yeah, if you have had the AT for that long I would try and work some different foods in. Mine did not eat well during QT and I was concerned, but after introducing him to my display with my other tangs, he did much better. I think the competition for food actually helped him. He learned what to eat from them, then it became HIS food. Now he is the biggest pig in the tank, trying to gobble everything up before the other fish can get to it. I have to feed a lot, often, in order to keep him bulky though. I clearly remember him starting to widen once he began accepting the NLS. That tank also gets 4 sheets of seaweed a day.

 

[humaguy]

make sure you have super high flow in the tank...have you tried live blackworms? bear in mind the prazi may affect her app...

 

[o2manyfish]

Try to have more food availability. The food you have listed is all quickly distributed through the tank so he/she only gets a minute or two for feeding.

Using a clip to keep folder sheets of Nori, or even branches of Romaine or Spinach in the tank for a day at a time give the tang and other fish to feed continuously for hours.

This kind of continuous noshing on readily available food will definitely put the weight on quickly.

Dave B

 

[Dmorty217]

make sure you have super high flow in the tank...have you tried live blackworms? bear in mind the prazi may affect her app...

+1 to the high flow! I have a reeflo hammerhead on a closed loop with penductors with somewhere around 28-30kgph and the AT would of liked more and I say this because when I would turn my mp60 on in the same tank on the second from highest setting the AT would always come and swim right into the mp60

 

[pktech]

Sorry to hear about the AT, Morty. I go into a period of mourning when I lose a fish that grows on me ...(wife thinks I'm weird lol)

My greek (that's what I call her @ home) ate as soon as it was released into QT, although it would not accept anything except frozen brine w/ spirulina for a week, which made me nervous - no nori, but it picked the rocks over 24/7. Now eats virtually everything! She will not eat NLS pellets 1mm. I've noticed since day 1 it has never been a voracious eater - has a very easy going way about it.
Does yours or anyones just go nuts when food hits the water or just cruise in & eat their fill & circle back?

Did a round of prazi this am & will observe. Eyes are clear, fins in excellent shape no tears.

 

[pktech]

Try to have more food availability. The food you have listed is all quickly distributed through the tank so he/she only gets a minute or two for feeding.

Using a clip to keep folder sheets of Nori, or even branches of Romaine or Spinach in the tank for a day at a time give the tang and other fish to feed continuously for hours.

This kind of continuous noshing on readily available food will definitely put the weight on quickly.

Dave B

Hi Dave & thanks for the info - nori is given everyday via rubberbanded to a rock, both green & a red type- I use the dried non-seasoned, sushi kind. The food does get distributed though. When it does, the greek picks all day long but also gets in first dibs when it hits the water & chows down.

 

[Holsteiner]

I've had my achilles a year now this month. It still only eats nori...i've tried everything else and and the purple tang eats all of it right in front of him. Despite that, I soak the nori in selcon and give him quite a bit through the day. He's as wide as he is long ;-) When I got him last year he was about 4" as of today he's just at about 5 1/2".

 

[pktech]

I'm going to try soaking the nori in selcon again - I've tried that in the past & my greek ignored it & it blew apart & wound up making such a mess. When you soak it, do you give it a chance to dry out again or in immediately?
Thanks for chiming in!

 

[Holsteiner]

I usually let it soak in for a few minutes, but not till it dries. He doesn't really care either way, but he goes insane for it with the selcon if it's still gummy like. I initially got him to start eating nori by putting a few pieces through the vortech, he loved the tiny pieces it spit out and caught on pretty quick about the nori in the clips. Good luck!