Achilles Tang Feeding

[TheORKINMan]

Just a little FYI out there. I have a juvenile Achilles in my 75. (Yes yes I know Tang police, I am as we speak working on a DIY 500gal with my LFS owner and another guy who comes in that does carpentry work so don't spaz, I just couldn't pass up an Achilles available from a distributor for less then $100 )

I was of course worried because although he would nibble at prepared algae sheets and pick off of the rock he wouldn't touch anything else. No Spirulina flakes, Mysis, live brine, anything. So while he's been through his first bout of Ich and come out the other side and swims nonstop and otherwise looks healthy I was concerned he wasn't getting enough to graze on.

I then thought I'd put some macros in there to see if he'd better appreciate live algae. Chaetomorpha nope, caulerpa nope, Halymenia nope, by chance I'm reading up and read that(I don't know if this is completely true or not) Achilles tangs are almost exclusively caught in or near the Hawaiian islands. Red Graciliaria is also commonly found in that area (and throughout the Pacific) so I get a small ball of it and attach it to a clip and was immediately going :eek2:

It was like I just threw a crack rock in the water for a junkie. The Achilles went psycho on it and had eaten the entire clip within a couple of hours. He dosn't let my scribbled rabbit or Lubbock's wrasse get close to that clip anymore even though they try. I immediately went a bought a crapload of that and am farming it with a near limitless supply but the Achilles hasn't shown any sign of losing his taste for it. Just thought I'd post this out there for anyone who takes a crack at this fish as I know getting them to eat can be quite difficult.

 

[Pnoytoitz]

Thanks for the info

 

[T-Boner]

Just a little FYI out there. I have a juvenile Achilles in my 75. (Yes yes I know Tang police, I am as we speak working on a DIY 500gal with my LFS owner and another guy who comes in that does carpentry work so don't spaz, I just couldn't pass up an Achilles available from a distributor for less then $100 )

I was of course worried because although he would nibble at prepared algae sheets and pick off of the rock he wouldn't touch anything else. No Spirulina flakes, Mysis, live brine, anything. So while he's been through his first bout of Ich and come out the other side and swims nonstop and otherwise looks healthy I was concerned he wasn't getting enough to graze on.

I then thought I'd put some macros in there to see if he'd better appreciate live algae. Chaetomorpha nope, caulerpa nope, Halymenia nope, by chance I'm reading up and read that(I don't know if this is completely true or not) Achilles tangs are almost exclusively caught in or near the Hawaiian islands. Red Graciliaria is also commonly found in that area (and throughout the Pacific) so I get a small ball of it and attach it to a clip and was immediately going :eek2:

It was like I just threw a crack rock in the water for a junkie. The Achilles went psycho on it and had eaten the entire clip within a couple of hours. He dosn't let my scribbled rabbit or Lubbock's wrasse get close to that clip anymore even though they try. I immediately went a bought a crapload of that and am farming it with a near limitless supply but the Achilles hasn't shown any sign of losing his taste for it. Just thought I'd post this out there for anyone who takes a crack at this fish as I know getting them to eat can be quite difficult.

Great info!!! Where can I get some? My Achilles won't tuch anything and am need of help! Can you pm me so I get it? Thank you!!

 

[Alex T.]

T-Boner, I've had my Achilles for over a year now. At first he wasn't a heavy feeder. Nibbled at rock, then slowly started looking at Nori. If they're interested in your rock, all kinds of goodies can be turkey basted onto your rock structure. His first real meaty food that he took a liking to was Hikari frozen bloodworms. After that he ate everything from nori, to pellet, mysis and even squid and krill.

I feel the two keys to keeping Achilles happy and alive during captive acclimation aren't even food related. They really do appreciate extreme flow. When you think they look uncomfortable in the gyre, you're "almost" there. I have 4 Vortech MP40's in my 6 foot 150 on full reef crest mode. He'll actually ride the surge for hours. Secondly, keep your specific gravity at 1.025 or higher. They will not like a fish only system which leans more toward lower manipulated specific gravities. Mine had a grayish body for a few weeks and looked gravely thin. Aside from those two factors, my average 24 hour ph is roughly 8.35 (considerably higher than most on average)

I finally got my SG adjusted to 1.027 and he's happy, fat, and the most active fish in my tank. They're a lot like Sohal tangs without the aggression. Very fast...ever moving but very fragile and demanding of your husbandry skills. I can't take the credit for this though. I had the honor of speaking with Bob Fenner at length during MACNA in Atlantic City last year and he gave me these tips. Aside from being a stand up, all around nice guy, he knows his stuff and is willing to speak with people personally about what makes their systems tick. When I added flow and slowly raised specific gravity, he started feeding heavily. Go Bob!!

Give it a try...it's what they like and are used to having.

 

[Pnoytoitz]

Great info too Alex. I dont have Achilles yet but planning to get it really soon.

 

[ironwill723]

I have mine in a 220g reef and he eats new life spectrum pellets aggressively and nori casually. Seems pretty happy but does do one odd behavior. He swims around the tank and every so often about once every 5 minutes goes to one specific corner and eats a few air bubbles and then goes back to his normal grazing on the rocks. I have 2 mp40s on full blast and a 2000 gph return line all running so not sure if I need more flow or oxygen in tank. I also run ozone through my skimmer and it stays around a 420 ORP. All other fish act completely normal and do not eat air bubbles like the tang.

 

[Alex T.]

One other thing. Mine doesn't seem to sleep either. He has a spot that he protects others from taking, but only goes over to claim it, then starts roaming again. He's the reason I'll probably be upgrading to a 10 foot sps reef in a couple years.

If you want to get sick to your stomach, check out Chingchai's new reef tank in Thailand. If you can keep your jaw from dropping to the floor from the coral display, you'll notice the three Achilles tangs getting along in this monster tank. Absolutley no expense was spared.

Enjoy...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NXZxV_t-N0&feature=related

 

[ironwill723]

Mine never sleeps either. He has a spot he hovers near for a few minutes then does some more laps around the tank.

 

[T-Boner]

Ok ya sounds like mine too! Also I caught my sixline wrasse and him in a cave and he was sideways and the wrasse was picking at him should I get some cleaner shrimp or some cleaner wrassees? He seems to rub his body on the sand from time to time. I have never seen a sixline clean a fish like that before is that common?

 

[T-Boner]

I love this fish!!

 

[Alex T.]

From what I understand, they all seem to rub on the sand. I have no idea why they do this. I had a bare bottom reef for the first year, and then decided I liked the look of sand and added some fine grade. The minute the sand storm settled, my Achilles was darting to the sea floor and smacking his side on the sand. Sometimes he'll do this right in front of the maroon clown's anemone. I think he's just an instigator that likes to start trouble and show off his ability to outswim any other fish in the tank.

He's the prize fish in my tank. I would get rid of everything else just for him if push came to shove.