Which Tang?

[bradleym]

OK, looking for opinions here. I have a 210g long that currently houses a sailfin tang, a lieutenant tang, 6 chromis, 2 flasher wrasses, and a canary blenny. I will be adding a diamond goby and 2 clowns in the next month or so.

I believe I can also handle one more tang (biopellets are a dream come true) and I want to choose carefully. Currently I have a small gold rim/white cheek in my QT. However I have been thinking about selling (or trading for store credit) him and a handful of corals and then going for an achilles tang, which I have recently seen available at 2 LFS.

The 2 fish have many similarities, but here's what it breaks down to as far as I can tell. The achilles tang is gorgeous, with striking orange patterns and a rich black body color as well as a nice lyretail thing going on, but costs almost as much as the tank did. The gold rim tang is not as pretty - it typically lacks both the contrast and the body shape I desire most, but it is in hand already and the specific one I have looks to be a cutie (I've attached a photo of mine below). I'm just afraid he'll grow up to be grey and somewhat boring as I've never seen an adult one in person.

Also, any comments regarding better options or reasons to avoid either fish are welcome. I don't know much about tangs but going down the list on Live Aquaria, I have also been tempted by the clown, mimic lemon peel, and black spot tangs as well, but I think a strong contrast to the bright sand and corals would make me happiest. In a perfect world, I'd have a Niger Trigger but that just isn't going to work out.

 

[Ryan2013]

Have you also taken into consideration the higher level of care for the achilles? It would suck to spend all that money and then lose it because it is so finicky with water quality.

 

[bradleym]

Thanks for the comment! I'm not sure what special needs an achilles tang has, other than room to swim and good food. As for water quality, I am growing hard and soft corals as well as anemones, and my NO3 and PO4 were virtually undetectable as of last week. If there are other needs for either fish, I would welcome the info!

 

[Flaring Afro]

How long have you had the gold rim? Has it changed in color since that picture? The fish looks pale in the picture, but it is stressed and in a bag so it will look paler than it will be when happy and adjusted. If he hasn't become richer in color yet, it could be the short amount of time to adjust so far or the presumed smaller size (especially length) of the QT tank. Also, it could be that the colors come out more with age as well with that species...

Granted I don't know much about that particular tang, but live aquaria's picture makes it look a lot more black. I haven't seen it in person, but have seen a few achilles and I actually personally prefer the coloring of the gold rim.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+43+391&pcatid=391

 

[bradleym]

How long have you had the gold rim? Has it changed in color since that picture? The fish looks pale in the picture, but it is stressed and in a bag so it will look paler than it will be when happy and adjusted. If he hasn't become richer in color yet, it could be the short amount of time to adjust so far or the presumed smaller size (especially length) of the QT tank. Also, it could be that the colors come out more with age as well with that species...

Granted I don't know much about that particular tang, but live aquaria's picture makes it look a lot more black. I haven't seen it in person, but have seen a few achilles and I actually personally prefer the coloring of the gold rim.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+43+391&pcatid=391

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, that picture was taken during acclimation, but it is actually the darkest color I have ever seen him. He is about 2 inches long, and the QT is a 20g, so I think he should be ok, but he seems to be a lighter color, only turning that charcoal color when stressed or scared. That's a big part of why I am considering making the move on a different fish.

I love that fish

Thanks! That's the hard part, I like SO many but they can't all get along.

 

[bradleym]

Faring Afro,

I just reread your post. I have had him a week today. And it could be that they darken with age, as this one is quite small. That would be helpful to know.

 

[Flaring Afro]

It's also possible that the coloring changes a bit depending on where it was captured. But I did a quick youtube search and there is a hawaiian juvi that looks similar in coloring to yours, but when I googled the fish with "hawaii", I found a couple sites about it that stated it was from Hawaii and had a picture of one that looks more like the live aquaria picture.

My guess is it will become richer as it grows, but don't quote me on that. Maybe someone will know more about it.

 

[bradleym]

That was some quick thinking, and good logic to go by. Thanks!

So aside from that issue, I may still want to switch fish. Since I have this thread already open, does anyone know of any dangers or risks that might be a problem with either of these tangs? Just to help swing my vote either way.

 

[Ryan2013]

If youve already gotten the gold rim acclimated and havent seen any signs of disease id say youre pretty lucky. Both the gold rim and achilles tangs are particularly prone to ich along with the powder blue/brown tangs.

 

[bradleym]

Thanks Ryan! Ironically I originally had a powder blue and it was GORGEOUS and disease free but then I got a small clown tang and it brought ich. I didn't QT it (like an idiot) and lost it, the PB, and a clown (my first ever SW pet). Then, after 2 months I got a sailfin, QT for 2 weeks, and when I put it in the tank IT got ich! I keep a jug of Metronidazole at all times now, because that saved my sailfin in the DT where all the other treatments failed me.

So far it's only been one week, but he is starting to take food eagerly as I approach the tank instead of running. He eats mysis, pellets, and nori after its softens for a couple hours. Feeding time allows me a good chance to inspect, and he looks to still be as healthy as the pic I posted indicates.

 

[reeferstace]

Two weeks really isn't long enough to assess a fish in QT.

 

[bradleym]

Two weeks really isn't long enough to assess a fish in QT.

I'm not sure how this is supposed to be encouraging, or even relevant to the original topic. And I never said 2 weeks was plenty of time, I just said that's what happened. I was admitting some mistakes from my past.

 

[Ostara]

I would get the Achilles, but then I'm biased and love mine. Very striking and regal fish. Until he sees me that is, at which point he turns into a shameless beggar that will flutter and flip and do all sorts of tricks to try to get me to toss some of his favorite pellets in. :lmao:

For what it's worth, your tang looks like a hybrid to me. The lighter color and yellow on the dorsal immediately made me think of an A. nigricans/leucosternon hybrid. They're pretty common and can range from looking almost exactly like one species or the other to being a perfect blend of the two.

 

[bradleym]

That's actually very insightful, thanks! I have been wondering this whole time if that was abnormal, and whether it would fade in time. It never occured to me that it could be a result of hybrid species. Wow! I hope your right. That would be neat!

 

[reeferstace]

I'm not sure how this is supposed to be encouraging, or even relevant to the original topic. And I never said 2 weeks was plenty of time, I just said that's what happened. I was admitting some mistakes from my past.

You are asking about aquiring an Achilles tang which is known to be extremely sensitive to disease and water conditions. You also admit that you have lost other highly sensitive fish because of Ich and inadequate QT procedures.

Good luck with whatever you decide. I hope you QT the next (and all subsequent) fish you get.

 

[Ostara]

You can image search "gold rim hybrid" to find all sorts of pictures to compare him to. Do you have pictures of him in the quarantine instead of the bag? In the one you posted he looked pretty similar to this fish to me, which is a gold rim/powder blue hybrid that takes more after the nigricans. Let us know what you find, and get some more pictures if you can!

 

[bradleym]

You are asking about aquiring an Achilles tang which is known to be extremely sensitive to disease and water conditions. You also admit that you have lost other highly sensitive fish because of Ich and inadequate QT procedures.

Good luck with whatever you decide. I hope you QT the next (and all subsequent) fish you get.

Yea I think it's safe to say I learned the hard way, lol. Fortunately, I got myself straightened out. Thanks for the comment.

 

[bradleym]

You can image search "gold rim hybrid" to find all sorts of pictures to compare him to. Do you have pictures of him in the quarantine instead of the bag? In the one you posted he looked pretty similar to this fish to me, which is a gold rim/powder blue hybrid that takes more after the nigricans. Let us know what you find, and get some more pictures if you can!

Thanks for the link! That's very different and cool! I will try getting more pictures, but this dude is FAST! And he only comes close if food is actually being dropped, so I gotta take the pic one-handed. AND the light is a crappy yellow, so the colors aren't very accurate. :headwally: But I'll try.

 

[bradleym]

OK, pics aren't gonna happen, so here's what I got for ya. YOU try and photograph this guy with a cell phone! :lol2:

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