My Fish Really LOVE Live Clams
- Thread starter dotcommer
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Love the Achilles tang, one of my favorite!
tcamos
Reef, Crustacean, Puffers
I noticed that myself. They seem to be really great fish. Perhaps the orderly behavior comes from being well fed.
dotcommer
Active member
Thanks for the compliments. I really love my fish collection, and the large assortment of tangs. All of them getting along really helps out a lot.
I learned some very interesting things over the last two years when it comes to keeping multiple tangs in the same tank. And yes, I do feed a lot.
I started off feeding my Moorish idol small neck clams because that was the only thing that he would eat for the first few months I had him. Now he eats everything. He was the first fish that I introduced into the tank, and that is what I believe helped with his survival.
I now order cherrystone clams from Hagens (formerly Alburtsons) . The cherrystone clams are much larger than the long neck clams, so I only have to crack one open and drop it in. You do you have to special order them and they come in 5 pound bags.
The last two tangs I introduced were the Achilles and the Sohal. I had the Achilles tang in 125 gallon quarantine system for about eight months and my Sohal was in a 90 gallon tank after I moved him from the 125 once I got the Achilles. I added them at the same time and there were no territorial disputes. The Sohal was chasing some of the other tangs the first few days, but since there are so many fish in the tank he quickly got distracted and never went after one individual fish. he would chase one, then see another, then see another and would give up. Ultimately, the Sohal became the leader. The Achilles has shown no aggression at all and is submissive to the Sohal, but they both eat off the same veggie clip now. The interesting thing is, once the Sohal became the leader of the tank it seemed like everyone in the tank is much calmer now. There is no more chasing between any of the tangs, it's just the Sohal that does quick bursts of chasing every now and then. The one that the Sohal chases the most isn't even a tang, it's the Moorish Idol. I think it might be his streamer. Since the tank is 10 feet long, the chases don't last very long.
I learned some very interesting things over the last two years when it comes to keeping multiple tangs in the same tank. And yes, I do feed a lot.
I started off feeding my Moorish idol small neck clams because that was the only thing that he would eat for the first few months I had him. Now he eats everything. He was the first fish that I introduced into the tank, and that is what I believe helped with his survival.
I now order cherrystone clams from Hagens (formerly Alburtsons) . The cherrystone clams are much larger than the long neck clams, so I only have to crack one open and drop it in. You do you have to special order them and they come in 5 pound bags.
The last two tangs I introduced were the Achilles and the Sohal. I had the Achilles tang in 125 gallon quarantine system for about eight months and my Sohal was in a 90 gallon tank after I moved him from the 125 once I got the Achilles. I added them at the same time and there were no territorial disputes. The Sohal was chasing some of the other tangs the first few days, but since there are so many fish in the tank he quickly got distracted and never went after one individual fish. he would chase one, then see another, then see another and would give up. Ultimately, the Sohal became the leader. The Achilles has shown no aggression at all and is submissive to the Sohal, but they both eat off the same veggie clip now. The interesting thing is, once the Sohal became the leader of the tank it seemed like everyone in the tank is much calmer now. There is no more chasing between any of the tangs, it's just the Sohal that does quick bursts of chasing every now and then. The one that the Sohal chases the most isn't even a tang, it's the Moorish Idol. I think it might be his streamer. Since the tank is 10 feet long, the chases don't last very long.
tcamos
Reef, Crustacean, Puffers
I noticed the same with my tangs. Once the Regal was introduced the other three tangs fell in line. If anyone started to show aggression he would quickly swim in between them. I've noticed this "break it up" behavior in a couple of other species but very pronounced in the tangs.
I see more and more people successfully keeping Moorish idols now. It makes me wonder if this is a fish we need not be so afraid to keep due to the availability of food it will eat like the clams.
I see more and more people successfully keeping Moorish idols now. It makes me wonder if this is a fish we need not be so afraid to keep due to the availability of food it will eat like the clams.
dotcommer
Active member
There's a great thread here on RC about Moorish Idols. It started back in 2005 but there is a lot of good recent info. They definitely are reef safe with caution. Mine likes to pick at most Chalices I introduce at first, but then mostly leaves them alone. I had to remove my Wellso and Scolly, he likes some acans, but its hit or miss. The ones I have in there aren't open and plump like in my Frag tank. Most of my other corals are fine.
He is definitely one of my favorite fish and its nice to see him swim the length of the tank.
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