new achilles tang questions

[PapaKlix]

just picked up a juvenile achilles tang and he was eating mysis in the store but seems to be spitting it out in my tank. i can't really tell if he's digesting any of it. i have some green algae on a clip that i see him picking at from time to time, but he's not really going nuts for it. he's currently grazing on the live rock so i know he's hungry. doesn't seem to be interested in NLS pellets or cyclo-peeze. he's kind of skinny too so i'm pretty concerned. any tricks to get him to eat or should i not worry about it because he's still getting adjusted?

also, i've noticed him swim in short little spurts almost like he has hiccups - what is that about?

 

[tewkes]

Have you tried soaking the food in garlic? Sometimes that helps.
My Bariene tang wasn't eating a lot of prepared foods or any nori at all for the first week or so when I got him. He would do the same thing as your achilles, and pick on the rock all day. The next week he started eating mysis and brine, then pellets. It wasn't until I added a blue hippo that he even noticed the nori at all. Now he's fat as can be and eats everything and anything.
I also just bought a mata tang a few weeks ago. He was pretty skinny at the store but I saw him on several occasions eat mysis. At home, he's eating mysis, pellets, rod's food, and nori and he's finally starting to look a little less skinny.
Hopefully your achilles starts eating within the week or so. I know they have a spotty reputation as far as survival rates and not eating doesn't help.

 

[PapaKlix]

Have you tried soaking the food in garlic? Sometimes that helps.
My Bariene tang wasn't eating a lot of prepared foods or any nori at all for the first week or so when I got him. He would do the same thing as your achilles, and pick on the rock all day. The next week he started eating mysis and brine, then pellets. It wasn't until I added a blue hippo that he even noticed the nori at all. Now he's fat as can be and eats everything and anything.
I also just bought a mata tang a few weeks ago. He was pretty skinny at the store but I saw him on several occasions eat mysis. At home, he's eating mysis, pellets, rod's food, and nori and he's finally starting to look a little less skinny.
Hopefully your achilles starts eating within the week or so. I know they have a spotty reputation as far as survival rates and not eating doesn't help.

thanks for the quick reply, i just checked and the piece of nori i had clipped in the tank was completely gone. i saw him and my sailfin picking at it, i just put a big sheet on the clip and will monitor it. any tricks to get him to eat pellets? i travel a fair amount (will be gone tomorrow through wednesday night) and the pellets really lend themselves to automated feeding while i'm gone. he initially spent most of his time behind the rocks and progressed to swimming all over the tank. he is still somewhat skittish when i stick my hands in the tank and does not appear to recognize when i'm feeding the tank... i'm hopeful he'll figure it out.

 

[boxer385]

i believe it might because of his new enviroment, he should eat within a couple of days, if he was eating mysis keep feeding the same you might have to get the smaller shrimp.

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

Soak some Hikari A pellets in Kent Zoe with a drop of garlic extreme...

 

[snorvich]

Read the Achilles Primer at the beginning of the forum. What sized tank? What inhabitants?

 

[Fish Dog]

You definitely want to read through the Achilles Tang Primer; located on this Reef Fishes forums.

 

[PapaKlix]

You definitely want to read through the Achilles Tang Primer; located on this Reef Fishes forums.

i read through several pages of the primer... found that most people suggest staying away from juveniles :hmm4: i hadn't found anything specific to help my situation in several pages so i made the post.

he is eating a lot more nori than i initially observed, it seems he was probably having a tough time with it until it had been a little saturated by the water. unfortunately, i am traveling through wednesday night and will be unable to observe his behavior so i'm a bit worried :worried:

 

[Fish Dog]

Juve or Adult, if you can get him to eat ... you have a chance.

Try using Spirulina/Brine Shrimp/Mysis made by H20. The achilles I have owed all loved this stuff.

I soak a whole sheet of Nori in Vitamarin C and Garlic power for about 30 minutes and put it on a clip or rock. I put that in the tank before I go to work.

When I get home then I feed the Spirulina/Brine Shrimp/Mysis. Achilles really need a lot of attention. Just keep an eye on him and keep us posted.

 

[PapaKlix]

so i got home from my trip and he's acting a lot more normal now. swimming all over the place, eating nori - he doesn't seem to eat it when i am standing in front of the tank but i've witnessed him attacking it from a distance. he is also eating new life spectrum pellets and is clearly putting on weight. i'll be soaking the nori in vita-chem as the only food i had been soaking was mysis shrimp, which i still can't tell if he's actually consuming or spitting out. will try and get a pic of him later.

 

[WuHT]

did you QT him at all ?

 

[PapaKlix]

5 days later and he is definitely putting on weight. his backbone was clearly visible when i got him but that is almost indiscernible at this point. he's been devouring nori soaked in vita chem and also gets in on the new life spectrum pellets. seems to be a pretty happy, healthy fish with no issues he's not as used to me putting my hands in the tank like my sailfin is (she would let me pet her, if i wanted to) but i'm sure he'll come around.

 

[Doo]

do you have a picture of him?

how many inches?

glad to hear he is doing better!

 

[rangerD275]

My Achilles went through a similar progression. It would only eat live brine at first. Also very skittish. I started mixing in Mysis with the live Brine and he started eating it. Now I use PE mysis soaked in Garlic plus and he tears it up. Mine also started slow with the nori but now attacks it when I put it in the tank. One thing you will notice over the next few weeks is that as it gets more established in the tank, it will not be afraid of anything.

 

[TampaReefer79]

Read the Achilles Primer at the beginning of the forum. What sized tank? What inhabitants?

+1 for the primer being great...and I'm also curious as to what size tank and other tank inhabitants.

did you QT him at all ?

I didn't see this get answered...this could help.

do you have a picture of him?

how many inches?

glad to hear he is doing better!

More questions to answer...

i read through several pages of the primer... found that most people suggest staying away from juveniles :hmm4: i hadn't found anything specific to help my situation in several pages so i made the post.

he is eating a lot more nori than i initially observed, it seems he was probably having a tough time with it until it had been a little saturated by the water. unfortunately, i am traveling through wednesday night and will be unable to observe his behavior so i'm a bit worried :worried:

It actually sounds like you read the primer after you had the fish home and in your tank. That's probably something that should have been done before you got the fish. It would avoid threads like this where you have a fish in your care that you don't know much about. This can be a delicate fish, needs LOTS of water movement, LOTS of oxygenated water (helped out by lots of water movement lol), lots of food, and lots of swimming space. You said you saw him picking at live rock so you know he's hungry...tangs are ALWAYS hungry. Also, fish don't have the ability to know when they are full. They can literally eat themselves to death. If you put food in, it will eat it. YOU need to know how much to feed, and how often. Don't try to fatten him up too fast or with the wrong foods.