Achilles Tang Primer

I may pick an up an achilles today. A local fish store has 4 of them and they are eating pellets, etc. They are about 4 inches or so with nice color. If I do this, I will QT it for a few weeks. I also have a 57 watt Aqua uv on my tank running 24 hours (been running this way since day 1).

I have deciding between the achilles and the sohal, but leaning a little toward the achilles. I wish I could have both, but I think they will fight.
 
I got in some Selcon, also ordered two red algeas to vary the diet. I put the rehydrated gracilaria in the clip, I swear the Achilles and the Yellow looked at me like "WTH is this?!?!". I took it out and soaked it in some Selcon, by then the lights were out. I didn't get a look this morning on my way out, hopefully some combination of the new food will put the finishing touches on the Achilles' ovalness.
 
Just placed an order for my Achilles (and Chevron) yesterday from a local guy that gets them directly from the divers in Hawaii, it'll take 3-6 weeks for the fish to arrive, he will QT both fish and then home they come, ? do I introduce the Achilles first give it a day or two then the other tangs (Chevron, Yellow, Sailfin) or just introduce all together?
 
I agree with matt 76. It can work separately but together is best if you can. The main concern would be adding that much bio-load at one time. That is four tangs at once and a significant increase in bio-load that may be harmful to a fish as sensitive as an achilles. If you decide to spit up your tang additions based on that then the achilles should go last as he is the most aggressive of the group. Although based on you choices of tangs I think you are liable to have more squabble among the other group.

Lisa
 
Anyone see a problem with keeping an achilles in a 210g (84x24x24) FO tank (maybe some softies/lps) with a 25-30x turnover rate? I don't know exactly how to equate the oxygen levels and turnover rates. I see people keeping achilles in smaller tanks with less then 50x turnovers, didn't think that was possible. I plan to get a smaller one if possible and def QT.
 
i got one in 170 galls FOWLR.. with lots of flow and it seems happy.. can be hand fed with flakes, nori etc.. it's been 7 months now.. (QT'ed her for 1 month)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14150662#post14150662 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DamnPepShrimp
Anyone see a problem with keeping an achilles in a 210g (84x24x24) FO tank (maybe some softies/lps) with a 25-30x turnover rate? I don't know exactly how to equate the oxygen levels and turnover rates. I see people keeping achilles in smaller tanks with less then 50x turnovers, didn't think that was possible. I plan to get a smaller one if possible and def QT.
Click to expand...

I think you should be OK if you get a really good specimen to begin with (might I suggest Diver's Den) and QT him. I wish I QT'd mine as I wouldn't be fighting the occasional ich outbreak. You could always consider adding another powerhead or two so you can increase turbulence a bit. If you have a good skimmer and a good amount of surface turbulence you should be OK oxygen-wise.

Lisa
 
I also have the occasional ich attack with mine but it is never bad and never lasts more than three days. Probably happens about once every three to four months. I just feed him a little heavier and use selcon seems to take care of the problem. I have had mine a little over a year now and he is by far the tamest fish i have. I have never seen someone who kept an acanthurus sp of tang that didn't get the occasional ich outbreak from time to time. Not saying that its not possible just have not seen it personally. I would also say that juvi achilles are harder to keep they seem to stress really bad from the ones I have seen. We don't get many in either of our lfs , they just will not order them . Maybe 2 a year is all you will see and almost always they are juvi.
 
By the way I have a uv but don't use it. Tried it with a powder blue and it just didn't help. If you ran a inline uv that might help more , not sure just throwing that out there.
 
The inline uv seems to help with my tank. The achilles gets a few ich spots on him but never bad and always goes away in a couple hours.
 
I'm thinking about quarantining this fish when I get it. I'm deciding if hyposalinity or just regular quarantining it would be better. When I mean regular quarantining is just letting the tang sit in the quarantine tank for 4 to 6 weeks feeding it well and watching out for parasites. Since maintaining ph in hyposalinity conditions may be a little difficult due to the hypo. I read that buffers may help.
 
I put a deposit on an achilles today. A LFS just got the fish in and I will not take it home until I see it eat. The fish is about 4 inches, maybe slightly bigger, really nice color. Looks healthy. I still plan on leaving it in a QT after I get it home. I have a QT tank with UV all set up and ready. I will post some photos when I get him home.

Vince
 
i pick one up not too long ago and got it to eat frozen foods but never touch pellets. but my friend pick one up the same day and that one eats everything. but also the orange spot near the tail does that get bigger over age? because both ours is really small.

thanks for your help
 
Update - Went there yesterday, my Achilles is still not eating. They are trying mysis and pellets so far. But they are going to try some other things.

They had him in one of those really small holding tanks usually meant for small fish. They put him in a bigger tank (about 80 gallons) to see if he is happier. I will call back today.

Vince
 
It seem that the key to keeping achilles tangs is water flow I have had mine for about 2 years and he is doing great. The tank is a 125 with a 5800 gph reeflo hammerhead. After the head pressure loss I am recirculating about 40x and hour and the fish is doing great.
 
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