achilles tangs

[achillestang]

I am looking to find out more about these fish. What size tanks does everyone have them in and how they act towards other tangs? How hard are they to keep? I know that they say to keep them in at lest a 100 gallon, or can you keep them in a 50? Any help or pics would be great.

 

[Packersfan21]

WELCOME TO RC!

I've never owned one of these tangs but I know that they are fairly peaceful and don't do well w/ agressive tangs. Most people say to kepp them in no less than a 180 for length.

 

[tangers]

very, very difficult fish to keep. I would have to say that most say you shouldn't keep them in less than a 240 gallon. Very, very active and very, very prone to ich. I would say that if you are asking-this probably isn't the fish for you (and especially in a 50 gallon tank.) This fish needs lots of research and a very experienced aquarist.

 

[t5Nitro]

Never put an achilles in anything less than a 6 foot tank in my opinion. They NEED room to roam and LOVE to be in chaotic types of flow. They also need pristine water quality. If you're capable of keeping a successful SPS tank, then you're probably capable of keeping an achilles tang. As far as the above poster said fairly peaceful, I don't know if I would agree so much with that one. Any of the tangs from that family, once established, can get very territorial in my experience.

 

[tangers]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13445306#post13445306 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Packersfan21
WELCOME TO RC!

I've never owned one of these tangs but I know that they are fairly peaceful and don't do well w/ agressive tangs. Most people say to kepp them in no less than a 180 for length.

They are anything but peaceful and don't get along with other tang do to aggression. They don't fair well with other tangs also do to the fact that they will break out with ich a lot easier. Stress = ich, other tangs = stress, therefore, other tangs = ich.

 

[Goodwood]

Yeah peaceful and achilles don't go together

 

[Untamed12]

I have one....and from personal experience I agree. This tang requires a very large tank....it is extremelyl prone to ich....and doesn't get along well with other tangs.

Not a good choice for your 50 gallon..or your 100 gallon. Sorry.

 

[SlowCobra]

The fact that you are even asking about putting it in a 50 or even a 100 gal tank shows you have a lot of research ahead of you.

Achilles need at MINIMUM a 180 gal tank to come even close to leading a HEALTHY THRIVING life. They do much better in 8ft+ tanks. They are considered an expert only fish for a reason. They have an abysmal survival rate in the home aquarium. It is rare to see someone have long term(RE: years) success with an Achilles. Those that have the best luck have usually done a lot of research and have designed their setup around the Achilles.

It starts out with them being extremely poor shippers. Many of them don't survive the shipping. I don't believe any of the online vendors will even offer a Alive Arrive guarantee due to this. They are an Acanthurus tang and like all of them are very susceptible to ich. They are generally not what most would consider a peaceful fish, especially with other Acanthurus in the tank. They like to let everyone else in the tank know they are the boss.

They come from areas with tons of crashing waves(RE: extremely high flow) with a lot of rocks. Essentially they need a glass cage setup that has the same conditions as it takes to have a healthy THRIVING SPS tank. Pristine water conditions, a lot of varied flow(at least 40x turnover in the tank), uninhibited swimming around the entire tank, a lot of rock work with a lot caves for them to dart in and out of.

To have the best chance of a long healthy life they need to be fed several times a day with a variety of different foods. They need to have plenty of Nori provided to supplement their lack of available algae. Treat at least one of their daily meals with Selcon and Garlic to help keep their immune system in check.


If any other questions feel free to ask, I have done a lot of research on the Achilles and tangs in general. In 3 days my Achilles will have been with me for 1 year. He is fat, happy, and eats out of my hand.

 

[juuniz]

mine in 170 gal DT..

 

[jnc914]

I got mine from Diver's Den almost 5 months ago. He went right into a QT right up until two weeks ago. I had to treat for ich after 4 days of introduction into the QT. He is now very comfortable in my 300 gallon with 4 pulsing Tunze 6100. The fish loves the turbulent water and his Nori. There is now way this fish should be in a 50 gallon other than to QT it. And it is definitely not a fish for a "noob".

 

[sunfish11]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13446547#post13446547 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SlowCobra
The fact that you are even asking about putting it in a 50 or even a 100 gal tank shows you have a lot of research ahead of you.

Achilles need at MINIMUM a 180 gal tank to come even close to leading a HEALTHY THRIVING life. They do much better in 8ft+ tanks. They are considered an expert only fish for a reason. They have an abysmal survival rate in the home aquarium. It is rare to see someone have long term(RE: years) success with an Achilles. Those that have the best luck have usually done a lot of research and have designed their setup around the Achilles.

It starts out with them being extremely poor shippers. Many of them don't survive the shipping. I don't believe any of the online vendors will even offer a Alive Arrive guarantee due to this. They are an Acanthurus tang and like all of them are very susceptible to ich. They are generally not what most would consider a peaceful fish, especially with other Acanthurus in the tank. They like to let everyone else in the tank know they are the boss.

They come from areas with tons of crashing waves(RE: extremely high flow) with a lot of rocks. Essentially they need a glass cage setup that has the same conditions as it takes to have a healthy THRIVING SPS tank. Pristine water conditions, a lot of varied flow(at least 40x turnover in the tank), uninhibited swimming around the entire tank, a lot of rock work with a lot caves for them to dart in and out of.

To have the best chance of a long healthy life they need to be fed several times a day with a variety of different foods. They need to have plenty of Nori provided to supplement their lack of available algae. Treat at least one of their daily meals with Selcon and Garlic to help keep their immune system in check.


If any other questions feel free to ask, I have done a lot of research on the Achilles and tangs in general. In 3 days my Achilles will have been with me for 1 year. He is fat, happy, and eats out of my hand.

I agree with all you said. My achilles is 10 months with me now and he is also fat and happy. I would definitely not consider the achilles a peaceful tang.


Lisa

 

[kirkaz]

I kept an Achilles for 5 plus year in my first tank, couple of things I would like to disagree with.

First off somebody said these are peaceful Tangs My Achilles was the undisputed, unchallenged King of my tank, this is with a larger Naso, 2 big Triggers and a Lunare Wrasse. Mark Martin (whom owns Blue Zoo Aquatics) considers this possibly the most aggressive Tang there is. Toss up for me between he and my current Sohal as to the most aggressive fish I have ever owned.

I also would say once established, this fish is extremely hardy. Mine survived many beginner errors on my part. The key is to get them established.

Absolutely needs a minimum 6 foot tank. Absolutely needs good flow and pristine water. Absolutely needs good diet with lots of greens and vitamins.

 

[John Dawe]

Tank lenght is important, but more important is good water flow, the fish needs to get exercise buy swiming into the current so it does not develop a fatty liver.

 

[Packersfan21]

Wow, it takes six people to say that the tang is agressive. My bad in saying that it was peaceful. I guess I was misinformed by someone else. I'll just be sure to stay away from threads dealing w/ tangs from now on.

 

[CCall]

I was a noob when I got my first achilles. Did a 3 hour acclimation on him and put him in a 90 gal. tank with a salilfin, bangaii cardinal, 2 firefish and a large occ. clown.

He is now in a 125 gallon tank with a sohal, a maroon pair clowns, 2 melanaruss wrasses and a tomini tang. I feed all kinds of foods 3X a day. I have had him for 2 years now.

I have had only 1 ich outbreak and that was 9 months after having him in a 90 gal. I have added fish before him and after him with a little agression.

 

[achillestang]

I didn't think you could, but I was just seeing if anyone tried. Thanks for the input guys.