Achilles Tang Primer

What foods are folks trying with this fish. I've had mine in QT for almost two weeks and it will eat spirulina brine with enthusiasm, mysis a little, and that's about it. I have tried nori but it just ignores it, along with any dry or pellet foods that I try. FWIW, I have generally had very little success getting my tangs to eat nori in QT, though they all catch on almost immediately once in the display.
 
I usually get my tangs started on nori by using the TLF purple variety, then shred tiny pieces off into the water column. They seem to find it more enticing than plain nori on a clip.
 
Pictures seem to show your Achilles has a bit of ich, and I saw somewhere ales here on RC that you call it 'icky' :lol: How do you mange this - just feed it well and the ich goes away, or do you treat it?

Nope, not a speck of ich...unfortunately when I took the pictures I had dirty glass that I didn't clean. Dirt on the glass, not the fish (unfortunately it shows up really good on the jet black of the fish) and we call him icky because when he first was shipped to us we went thru a bout before he was put in main tank, hasn't had it since.

I've had him almost 2 years now and almost the whole time the only thing I could get him to eat was nori. During that time I soaked it in selcon and gave him as much as he can eat. Just in the last few months he decided he loves NLS pellets, so I feed those throughout the day as well. I believe a fat fish is a healthy fish ;-)
 
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I usually get my tangs started on nori by using the TLF purple variety, then shred tiny pieces off into the water column. They seem to find it more enticing than plain nori on a clip.

OK, thanks, got some of that on hand so will give it a shot.
 
I usually get my tangs started on nori by using the TLF purple variety, then shred tiny pieces off into the water column. They seem to find it more enticing than plain nori on a clip.

That would be a negative. Just ignored the stuff. I am singularly incapable of getting any of my Tangs to eat nori in QT :lol:, though they all take to it IMMEDIATELY upon being introduced to the display. Go figure!

Good news is that this Achilles apparently likes Larry's Reef Frenzy, at least the small chunks. Makes me feel a bit better than having it survive on brine for 10-12 weeks.

Decided to go the CP route with this fish rather than cupramine. One week in and no signs of any spots.
 
Most curious thing .....

I have been trying to get my new AT to eat Mysis, and have succeeded, sort of. I can only get it to eat brine first thing, but by the afternoon it will eat Mysis. Very strange!
 
Mine did the same thing going to NLS pellets...at first would only eat them if mixed with some veggie flakes. After a month of the morning/afternoon thing he finally figured out the NLS pellets tasted the same by themselves ;-) My husband thinks I'm crazy the way this thing is babied. I took care of Achilles at the Baltimore Aquarium, so I kind of knew their unique personalities before I even had them.
 
Most curious thing .....

I have been trying to get my new AT to eat Mysis, and have succeeded, sort of. I can only get it to eat brine first thing, but by the afternoon it will eat Mysis. Very strange!

Mine is also very picky about mysis. Eats brine like nobody's business though. I think I'm going to do around 5x feedings daily and alternate between the two.
 
Mine is also very picky about mysis. Eats brine like nobody's business though. I think I'm going to do around 5x feedings daily and alternate between the two.

I would do frequent feedings each day as i think thats what worked for me but i would also do a nice varied rotation of food so that it gets plenty of what it needs. I think a variety of foods for feeding goes a long way for the health of fish and makes them more robust.
 
Just a bit concerned about managing ammonia in the QT if I feed too much.



AT looks pretty good and eats with enthusiasm - if a somewhat more limited diet than I'd like. Chest is quite pale with some white blotchiness, but doesn't appear to be anything to worry about. Spots are on glass not fish :lol:
 
When mine was little in QT he did the "I'm not very happy" and had the white chest quite a bit. After being moved to the display he rarely ever changes colors...and if he does my husband states he ticked off at the algae scraper again (or occasionally the cleaner wrasse) ;-) I fed heavy in QT and always did frequent water changes with my DT to control ammonia. He's a cute little bugger, good luck!
 
Ok, that's good to know, thx. Mine has already gone through 10 days of nitrofuracin green powder and is now half way though four weeks in chloroquine phosphate. Barring any setbacks, he/she should make it to the display by about the end of February.
 
Noticed today that my AT has slightly cloudy eyes. It is always moving, so very difficult to get a really good look, and impossible to get a good enough photo. I put it through 10 days of nitrofuracin green and then 30 days of CP an dam now beginning the first of two planned prazi treatments. Given the NGP, I'm doubting the cloudy eyes are a bacterial infections, so I am leaning towards flukes as the reason. Have folks done FW dips on these fish, or should I just continue with the planned prazi treatments (which I would do anyhow)? AT continues to be an active swimmer and a pretty good eater.

I guess the only other worry is whether the cloudy eyes are a result of ammonia. My API test kit shows .25, but the ammonia alert is normal. Plus I guess I'd figure if there was enough ammonia to make cloudy eyes, I'd have seen other signs of distress?
 
My AT went thru a bit of a cloudy eye(one eye only) period while in QT so i made sure the water was clean and i do two prazi treatments anyway for potential flukes. Also did one treatment with Maracyn plus in case there was anything bacterial going on. Hes doing great today in the DT.
 
It is nearly impossible to tell the difference on the API test kits between 0-.25 PPM ammonia. In basically all cases where people read 0.25, it is actually 0. As long as your Seachem Ammonia Alert badge is newer (6 months or less), I would trust that much more than the API.
 
Couple of rounds of prazi have not cleared up cloudy eyes in my AT. Thought I'd try another go of NGP, but that doesn't seem to be doing much either. Otherwise fish appears quite healthy, with expanded fins and a robust appetite (mainly still brine though). Going on a couple of weeks with cloudy eyes, so if a systemic bacterial infection I would have thought it would either have cleared up by now or the fish would be toast. Any clever ideas? Thx, Simon
 
Would, except cannot seem to find it anymore. Discontinued perhaps? Regardless, after a couple of weeks in my mini reef intro tank, cloudy eyes have improved significantly. Still cannot get it to eat anything other than spirulina brine with any consistency.
 
Be patient with the feeding, mine took over a year to eat anything other then nori. I also took care of Achilles in a surge zone exhibit in Baltimore, many times some of our new arrivals would be stuck on only eating one thing for the longest time. Most important part is they're eating something ;-)
 
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