Achilles tang food advice needed

[Sakosreef]

Hey everyone, I picked up a 3 inch Achilles tang which is currently being quarantined. Some details: he is in a 20 gal qt tank, I have a big pvc pipe he hides in, there’s a powerhead creating flow in the tank, current copper level is 2.25 (copper power), he’s been through a round of prazi. I need some help getting him to eat voraciously, I’ve tried frozen and he doesn’t really care for it, maybe eats one or 2 pieces, he loves live brine shrimp but again doesn’t chase after them or eating voraciously, he likes live black worms as well but again not a voracious eater, he seems to only like foods that move around. He will also eat purple nori from rods. Does anyone have any tips for getting him to eat voraciously? He doesn’t have that same monster appetite my other fish do but he eats which I know is a good sign. Any tips? Or can anyone explain why he might not be eating voraciously?

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I would try some different algaes. Something you can leave in there all day

 

[Sam816]

i would have gotten it feeding before adding copper to the QT. copper suppresses the hunger.
try live worms, brine shrimp and macro algae from your sump.

 

[Sakosreef]

i would have gotten it feeding before adding copper to the QT. copper suppresses the hunger.
try live worms, brine shrimp and macro algae from your sump.

He was eating prior to copper and prazi, just not voraciously and his appetite isn’t necessarily suppressed since the copper, I just want to find a food he goes crazy for so I at least know what I should be feeding when he goes into the dt, he grazes a lot but I also have 3 more tangs so I don’t know how much algae they’ll have to share.

 

[Sakosreef]

I would try some different algaes. Something you can leave in there all day

You mean seaweeds or macro algae’s?

 

[xxkenny90xx]

You mean seaweeds or macro algae’s?

Macro. (But seaweed is ok to)

 

[Sam816]

He was eating prior to copper and prazi, just not voraciously and his appetite isn’t necessarily suppressed since the copper, I just want to find a food he goes crazy for so I at least know what I should be feeding when he goes into the dt, he grazes a lot but I also have 3 more tangs so I don’t know how much algae they’ll have to share.

it wont be a problem in the DT. it will follow other tangs. in QT it needs energy and nutrients to survive the copper.
I am not an expert but i believe the fish should be given time to adjust and get fat before starting any medicine. unless its already showing symptoms. start with baby brine shrimps. live baby brine will entice it and keep busy. next day start adding other frozen food.

 

[Sakosreef]

I would try some different algaes. Something you can leave in there all day

You mean seaweeds or macro algaes

Macro. (But seaweed is ok to)

any macro you recommend In particular?

 

[Crabby48]

When he is in your display I would think it will eat more once settled. Less stress and it will see others eating. That said all my fish eat well at lfs before I get them

 

[Sakosreef]

it wont be a problem in the DT. it will follow other tangs. in QT it needs energy and nutrients to survive the copper.
I am not an expert but i believe the fish should be given time to adjust and get fat before starting any medicine. unless its already showing symptoms. start with baby brine shrimps. live baby brine will entice it and keep busy. next day start adding other frozen food.

He’s been enjoying the live brine, which I just ran out of today so I have to buy more of that tomorrow. I can get him nice and fat off the brine but he doesn’t care for frozen yet. Guess I just have to keep him eating brine until he gets through copper.

 

[Sakosreef]

When he is in your display I would think it will eat more once settled. Less stress and it will see others eating. That said all my fish eat well at lfs before I get them

I bought mine from wholesale so I never knew if he was eating, but he enjoys live brine. I guess I just have to get him through the copper treatment and into the DT!

 

[xxkenny90xx]

You mean seaweeds or macro algaes

any macro you recommend In particular?

Gracilaria, caulerpa, ogo, sea lettuce

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ulva is a good macro but also , allow it to get used to tank and it should peck on both glass and rocks.

Recommended foods once fully eating are :

Spirulina brine shrimp
LRS Herbivore diet
Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract
formula 2 flake and frozen
mysis shrimp
small plankton

Add selcon vitamins 2-3 days per week and garlic extract alternating days for vitality and immunity health

 

[Sakosreef]

Gracilaria, caulerpa, ogo, sea lettuce

Should I be worrying about where the macro is coming from? I have to buy it from my lfs, but if it’s going into the qt tank do I have to worry about pests?

 

[Sakosreef]

Ulva is a good macro but also , allow it to get used to tank and it should peck on both glass and rocks.

Recommended foods once fully eating are :

Spirulina brine shrimp
LRS Herbivore diet
Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract
formula 2 flake and frozen
mysis shrimp
small plankton

Add selcon vitamins 2-3 days per week and garlic extract alternating days for vitality and immunity health

I’ve been trying lrs with selcon and garlic but he doesn’t care for it too much, loves the seaweed chunks that come in it. I’ll give the spiraling brine shrimp a shot! If I feed him the ulva in the qt tank, do I have to worry about parasites making their way into the system? Even if the qt tank will be at 2.0+ copper?

 

[Crabby48]

Ulva is a good macro but also , allow it to get used to tank and it should peck on both glass and rocks.

Recommended foods once fully eating are :

Spirulina brine shrimp
LRS Herbivore diet
Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract
formula 2 flake and frozen
mysis shrimp
small plankton

Add selcon vitamins 2-3 days per week and garlic extract alternating days for vitality and immunity health

Why not selcon everyday? I been using it daily but I don’t use garlic extract. I need to read up more on garlic

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Why not selcon everyday? I been using it daily but I don’t use garlic extract. I need to read up more on garlic

Fwiw I ditched the selcon and garlic long ago. Just feed good seafood from the grocery store and they will get everything they need (and it's cheaper in the long run)

 

[vetteguy53081]

He’s been enjoying the live brine, which I just ran out of today so I have to buy more of that tomorrow. I can get him nice and fat off the brine but he doesn’t care for frozen yet. Guess I just have to keep him eating brine until he gets through copper.

Since its eating brine, try to ween it off live and go with spirulina brine. If it eats that, next try mysis shrimp
Mine is an eating machine

 

[vetteguy53081]

Fwiw I ditched the selcon and garlic long ago. Just feed good seafood from the grocery store and they will get everything they need (and it's cheaper in the long run)

These fish need vitamins and aminos and certain fats in their diets.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Why not selcon everyday? I been using it daily but I don’t use garlic extract. I need to read up more on garlic

Garlic has been studied for its effectiveness against a bacterial infection of fish (Colorni et al, 1998). One hundred and sixty sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) were intentionally infected with Mycobacterium marinum via injection with cultured cells. The study's participants also kept a positive control group of another 40 specimens, which they held in conditions similar to, but separate from, the infected fish, but injected them only with saline. All of these fish were then held and monitored to watch the disease's progression. After nine weeks, the infected fish showed clinical signs of infection upon dissection and examination. At this point, the infected fish were broken up into four smaller groups of 40 each: a negative control group which received no treatment, an experimental group that received antibiotic (streptomycin) injections, a second experimental group that received garlic extract injections, and a third experimental group that received injections of both the antibiotic and garlic extract. All fish were treated for an additional 12 weeks. During this time, sample fish were selected and dissected to monitor the disease's progression or recession.

The interesting revelation that came from this study is that it revealed a statistically significant stronger immune response in the fish given only garlic versus the fish given antibiotics, antibiotics and garlic, or the untreated control group. Part of this apparent anomaly is that antibiotics also have an immunosuppressive effect. In layman's terms, while they work to kill bacteria, they also don't permit the body to fight as hard as normal against the infection. But, the fact that the fish treated with garlic showed a stronger immune response than the untreated control group lead the study authors to suggest that "allicin treatment seems to have an enhancing effect on antibody activity when compared with all other groups."