Achilles Tang Primer

[Yurivd]

keep that as LAST option...i have doubt whether a achilles can take that stress..

yes i will only start that when he is not eating for 2 weeks
he looked better today stopped swimming in circles and is more playing with the power heads
i will keep you guys up to date

 

[Vannpytt]

My Achilles

My Achilles

Bought a small 13cm long, thin and skinny Achilles 1 week and 2 days ago. In the start it was not very interested in eating, but on day 2 it took nori. It was picking my rocks first day. Not interested in anything else, but nori. By day 4 it was eating algae flakes, Julian Sprung's algae sheet mix. A few days later, blending the spirulina and the algae sheet mix with formula 1 & 2 pellets it's eating everything bar Brine. It has started picking on them tho. This fish has grown in my tank quite alot in just over a week, and I'm very happy to see it eat. It has not had spots at all. I have 5 cleaner shrimps in a 180g DT with about 230 pounds rock.

My tank is 200cm*60cm*60cm. I have 4x Tunze 6105 running pulse at 85% giving me roughly 40k lph rippling the surface giving good gas exchange, a return from sump running 5k lph and a tunze 6215 wavebox. Massive chaotic flow. It's become friends with my blue tang. They hang out. Hope he doesn't die off to some stupid reason now. This fish is amazing.

I'm also running an algae scrubber as only filter for my tank. It's oversized and I have no parameters measurable be it Ammonia, Phosphates, Nitrites nor Nitrates.

 

[Pran]

nice to hear that van...


mine is now 8 days in my tank, its only eating Nori...I soak it in selcon and garlic every day and feed nori twice a day

will see what happens to it...I love that fish

hmm did you have to do anything for urs to start eating flakes and shrimp

I read that you can put the flakes and shrimp in the nori sheet, fold the sheet and put it on the rock, so as it eats nori it will taste the flakes and shrimp too

I am going to try that 2moro

anyone tried that?


also, can the ph decrease from too much garlic? I am adding kent marine garlic to the food twice a day

thanks

Pran

 

[Vannpytt]

I just fed massive amounts so it was impossible for it to avoid pellets. After spitting out a few it started taking them in, more and more agressivly. Now I can handfeed it. Water is still pristine due to the scrubber I believe.

 

[Yurivd]

i had a look at my Achilles it has white patches on him almost looks like sprayed or like powder it is extremely fine do you think it can be Brooklynella
it is to fine for ich
the fish got it in hyposalinity (1.010) and he has now been in copper for 6 days and it is still there

 

[Vannpytt]

I didn't QT mine, neither do I have a tank large enought to do it if I wanted.

The reason is simple. Parasites will be in the aquarium no matter what you do. A happy and well fed fish is a healthy fish. My water values are perfect, the tank should be good for one size wise and flow wise also. I would QT in regards to my established fishes, but not to save the tang. Luckily I don't have many other fish. I'm quite sure though, that introducing more fishes at a later point will be harder once it establish a territory. So far, it goes nicely with the stock. The blue tang is the troublemaker, although not towards the achilles. It's started showing off towards the old crew once the achilles was in.

 

[Yurivd]

my achilles is dead

 

[Vannpytt]

Sorry for your loss.

Did you QT, and if so, in what size tank did u do it? What foods did you try? How often, how much? Equpiment and watervalues?

It was probably velvet disease, stress and no feeding that led to the demise.

 

[Tracey2]

I have been hesitant to post about my achillies for fear of jinksing myself. I tore down a 180g and left the rock from it in a tub of saltwater for 4 mths (no host), then I set up a 280g cycled it for a couple months then I found a healthy looking achillies that was picking at rock but not eating, he was the first fish in the 280 tank and was alone for a couple of months. I also had a 100g QT set up with my tangs and an angel from the 180 I tore down, they were treated with cupramine and prazipro and I added them all at once to the 280 with the achillies, he went balistic but his aggression was spread out so much that everyone settled in beautifully. Now all of my fish get along and my achillies looks very healthy, I bought him in May so I realize this is not a success story for a few more years but I went to the extreme for this fish and I took a risk putting him in the display with no QT but he had 2 months of no stress with a variety of food soaked in vitamins and garlic, I added the other fish when he started to seem stressed by himself, looking at his reflection in the glass. He first started eating nori soaked in garlic, entice and vitamin C cliped on a rock, then he liked h20 spirulina brine & mysis mixed, now he eats everything and I still soak vegies in garlic and vitamin C and zoe and meat in selcon and garlic. I think another thing that helped this guy was low lighting, I wonder if velvet needs light, I still only have vho's on this tank, haven't added coral or mh lighting yet.
Sorry for long post and spelling, just thought I would share.

 

[Yurivd]

Sorry for your loss.

Did you QT, and if so, in what size tank did u do it? What foods did you try? How often, how much? Equpiment and watervalues?

It was probably velvet disease, stress and no feeding that led to the demise.

thanks
he was in a 8ft quarantine tank with hypo salinity 1.010SG
the power when out then he got the spots so then i moved him to a other hypo salinity tank 4ft (i had to move him the 8ft tank has substrate so there was no chance of using copper)
then after 6 days the copper made no change and i found out that there was a Clarki clown that had died in there 2 weeks before i put the Achilles in there (in the 8ft tank)
to change from copper to formalin takes 4 days
he was on day 2 of the change

the lesson i got from this is go for 12 day copper treatment with the empty quarantine tank then a 5 day formalin with the empty quarantine tank
then put the Achilles in the tank let him stay there for 1 day then start copper

 

[Tracey2]

Yurivd, I'm sorry for your loss, I picked a bad time to come on bragging about my achillies. What copper are you using, cupramine?

 

[Yurivd]

Yurivd, I'm sorry for your loss, I picked a bad time to come on bragging about my achillies. What copper are you using, cupramine?

i use water life cuprazin
seachem cupramine is not in South Africa

 

[Vannpytt]

thanks
he was in a 8ft quarantine tank with hypo salinity 1.010SG
the power when out then he got the spots so then i moved him to a other hypo salinity tank 4ft (i had to move him the 8ft tank has substrate so there was no chance of using copper)
then after 6 days the copper made no change and i found out that there was a Clarki clown that had died in there 2 weeks before i put the Achilles in there (in the 8ft tank)
to change from copper to formalin takes 4 days
he was on day 2 of the change

the lesson i got from this is go for 12 day copper treatment with the empty quarantine tank then a 5 day formalin with the empty quarantine tank
then put the Achilles in the tank let him stay there for 1 day then start copper

This is in no way meant as a offence to you or your tank, but I honestly believe the fish was doomed from start if it didn't take any foods in. I think most of the fish in any aquarium will have cases of white spots. The reason is not that there is or isn't any parasites in any given water colum. Fish gets attacked by a disease, and cannot fight it off if their immune system is weakend by stress or no feeding. A non stressed fish, no matter wich type though some are more prone to getting stressed, will stay in better shape and deal with alot of diseases by themselfs. Offcourse you can dose copper to threat a fish. My perspective is turned around a bit. You don't QT to save 1 fish, you QT to save the stock from whatever might be introduced by a newcommer.

 

[sTefaniA]

Here is mine, he has been in the tank for about a month. It came from another, experienced reefer. He eats very good, no real agression and no ich. I didn't QT, just heavy feedings but he acts like he has been here forever. He is in a 450 gallon sps tank. My apologies for the algae on the window...

 

[Pran]

Hi All,


thanks alot for all your help with how to get my achilies tang to eat.

I have it for 2 weeks now, its 3 inch. It is eating NORI soaked in selcone and kent marine garlic.

However, when I put any other food in the tank it does not eat it.

Its a little fat, so I assume its eating nori, however its really hard for me to put Nori for the fish. Reason being, it does not eat nori if I put it in a clip or anything.

I need to get 2 live rocks, and then put the soaked nori on each and rubberband it, and put one live rock in one side of the tank and other in the other side, so the achilies will eat from one where there's less fish.


This however is hard, b/c only I had do it, its hard for my parents/grandma to do it, and I am not home all day, I am only there in the morning and night.


Does anyone know waht I can do to get it to eat other food, someone mentioned it will learn it from other fish, but its 2 weeks now and I dont see any improvements.


I am not complaning, b/c I am happy its eating nori, however I need it to eat pallets and mysid shrip also.


thanks

Pran

 

[pinnatus]

Try flakes, see if t will eat them.

I would just feed your tank as normal, the fish will adapt, especially if it is eating Nori. When it sees the other fish eating, and when it gets hungry enough, it will try the other foods.

 

[Yurivd]

try flakes, see if t will eat them.

I would just feed your tank as normal, the fish will adapt, especially if it is eating nori. When it sees the other fish eating, and when it gets hungry enough, it will try the other foods.

+1

 

[Pran]

Thanks Pinnatus

what I do is I put the flakes in the sea weed and pallets and then roll it up and put it, similar to a sandwich


hey Yurivd...how is ur Gem tang doing...I know you had a power failure issue, is your GEM tang doing okk?


thanks

Pran

 

[Yurivd]

Thanks Pinnatus

what I do is I put the flakes in the sea weed and pallets and then roll it up and put it, similar to a sandwich


hey Yurivd...how is ur Gem tang doing...I know you had a power failure issue, is your GEM tang doing okk?


thanks

Pran

gem tangs are hardy fish
i have send him down to cape town 2 weeks before the power failure
i can get a 20cm one now but it is better to wait for a smaller one
in march my Mauritius collector friend is sending me one (gem tang season is up there)
but i am getting a black (zebrasoma rostratum) tang soon
i am cured of wanting a Achilles tang for now

 

[Aqua-Mauritius]

gem tangs are hardy fish
i have send him down to cape town 2 weeks before the power failure
i can get a 20cm one now but it is better to wait for a smaller one
in march my Mauritius collector friend is sending me one (gem tang season is up there)
but i am getting a black (zebrasoma rostratum) tang soon
i am cured of wanting a Achilles tang for now

Def yuri, Gem tangs are one of the hardiest tang out there. Is ur Achilles better??