Achilles Tang last addition

[125mph]

I have a 180G 63"long x 30" wide.... have a yellow belly blue tang (3"), a purple tang (3.5") and a white tail tang (4"). The purple tang is the boss of the tank.
Also have 2 clowns, 6 small wrasse (rhomboid, melanurus, etc).

WIll the Achilles be okay with the 3 tangs... the blue tang minds his own business and so does the whitetail. THe purple tang chases the other tang around but doesnt really do much to them

Thinking of getting an Achilles ... I can get a 2.5" or a 3.5"... which is better? I run a SPS tank so hoping the flow is enough.

 

[littlefoxx]

@vetteguy53081 would be a good person to ask. I would be worried about the purple bullying it and its also a super sensitive (and expensive!!!) fish to gamble with having a purple in my opinion but thats just me! Dream fish for sure though, let me know how it works out if you do it though!!

 

[fishguy777]

I have a 180G 63"long x 30" wide.... have a yellow belly blue tang (3"), a purple tang (3.5") and a white tail tang (4"). The purple tang is the boss of the tank.
Also have 2 clowns, 6 small wrasse (rhomboid, melanurus, etc).

WIll the Achilles be okay with the 3 tangs... the blue tang minds his own business and so does the whitetail. THe purple tang chases the other tang around but doesnt really do much to them

Thinking of getting an Achilles ... I can get a 2.5" or a 3.5"... which is better? I run a SPS tank so hoping the flow is enough.

The Achilles will do great in your tank.
I have one, get the 3.5” Achilles, and make sure you see him eat first. Quarantining is an absolute must with this fish. Do multiple rounds with all different types of medication before adding to your display.

I would consider moving the rocks around when it’s time to add him to the display, as that worked the best for me. Mine is doing great with:

Red Sea sailfin tang
Red Sea Purple tang
Powder blue tang
Hippo tang
Atlantic blue tang
Naso tang

And a bunch of other fish

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a 180G 63"long x 30" wide.... have a yellow belly blue tang (3"), a purple tang (3.5") and a white tail tang (4"). The purple tang is the boss of the tank.
Also have 2 clowns, 6 small wrasse (rhomboid, melanurus, etc).

WIll the Achilles be okay with the 3 tangs... the blue tang minds his own business and so does the whitetail. THe purple tang chases the other tang around but doesnt really do much to them

Thinking of getting an Achilles ... I can get a 2.5" or a 3.5"... which is better? I run a SPS tank so hoping the flow is enough.

While achilles who has a good disposition will work out, keep an eye on purple and maybe white tail. Be prepared to remove purple if it starts out with aggression but first introduce achilles with lights out and if aggression, assure no damage to achilles. If this happens, continue to observe

 

[Merge_595]

I have a 180G 63"long x 30" wide.... have a yellow belly blue tang (3"), a purple tang (3.5") and a white tail tang (4"). The purple tang is the boss of the tank.
Also have 2 clowns, 6 small wrasse (rhomboid, melanurus, etc).

WIll the Achilles be okay with the 3 tangs... the blue tang minds his own business and so does the whitetail. THe purple tang chases the other tang around but doesnt really do much to them

Thinking of getting an Achilles ... I can get a 2.5" or a 3.5"... which is better? I run a SPS tank so hoping the flow is enough.

Lost my Achilles recently(paid $600 that was in a store for year's)my purple stressed him out so bad & it would just not calm down after breaking out in ich. If I could go back i would have caught the Purple & put it in the sump for 2 weeks before even introducing the Achilles, then reintroduce them same day same time..

 

[125mph]

I have one, get the 3.5” Achilles, and make sure you see him eat first. Quarantining is an absolute must with this fish. Do multiple rounds with all different types of medication before adding to your display.

I was thinking doing TTM and putting prazi in day 6 and 12. Afraid to run copper on him. Also have cholorquine but dont want to run that either. I assume TTM will take out any ich, and if he has velvet it would show up and then I could treat copper or CP as a last resort?

 

[Duane family]

I was thinking doing TTM and putting prazi in day 6 and 12. Afraid to run copper on him. Also have cholorquine but dont want to run that either. I assume TTM will take out any ich, and if he has velvet it would show up and then I could treat copper or CP as a last resort?

I don't see any issue with the current fish you have in terms of species. But personality is another thing altogether and as some have mentioned purple tangs can sometimes be wild and go crazy at another species.

But here is another thing, I don't believe that the TTM is going to work out with the Achilles tang. I'm not a fan of this method due to the constant catch and release of the fish. Granted some fish will tolerate this no probs. But in my opinion with any acanthurus the TTM is going to be the beginning of the problem.

 

[fishguy777]

I was thinking doing TTM and putting prazi in day 6 and 12. Afraid to run copper on him. Also have cholorquine but dont want to run that either. I assume TTM will take out any ich, and if he has velvet it would show up and then I could treat copper or CP as a last resort?

Copper is a must. Almost all come in with ick. I think ttm could be too stressful, I recommend quarantining this fish for minimum 1.5 months. First 30 days of treating with medication (prazi and copper power) last 15 days of observation

 

[125mph]

Thanks all. I am setting up a 40g breeder with copper power. Putting in a lot of flow for him as well. Do you think prazi at the same time as copper will work fine?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I was thinking doing TTM and putting prazi in day 6 and 12. Afraid to run copper on him. Also have cholorquine but dont want to run that either. I assume TTM will take out any ich, and if he has velvet it would show up and then I could treat copper or CP as a last resort?

Do coppersafe at 2.25 for 30 days as they are prone to ich and velvet in fact the one fish I have had which got velvet

 

[Duane family]

Thanks all. I am setting up a 40g breeder with copper power. Putting in a lot of flow for him as well. Do you think prazi at the same time as copper will work fine?

No not at the same time.
Below is your foolproof way to ensure you are putting a healthy specimen into your display tank. Its a journey but if you want an Achilles to survive then its the way to go.

With this species once he has been acclimated to the QT water, do a 90min Ruby Reef Pro bath using water from the QT tank which is highly aerated and at the correct temp. Start aeration at least 30min before the dip. Ruby Reef Pro dip at 4ml per 5Lt of water (Note, this is DIP ratio). The reason for this is that you are going to hit the possible Ich/whitespot/velvet first with the copper and this RRP bath will put a dent into any possible flukes he might have, it also does work against the Ich/whitespot/velvet although the dip is short term, the 30day copper treatment will be longterm.

Then put him in the QT system and observe for the first day, if the fish is eating and looks confident push the coppersafe up to 2.3ppm over a day. Half dose morning, half dose afternoon. To get coppersafe between 2.15ppm and 2.3ppm add 0,35ml per liter of water or 1.33ml per gallon. Stick with this treatment for 30-31days. Do not let the coppersafe level drop below 2.1ppm but do not let it go higher than 2.4ppm. While the fish is in the copper treatment it would be a good idea to feed him any algae based pellets or flakes which are laced with Seachem Metro and Seachem Focus (follow their directions for use) This will take care of possible internal issues. Feed him heavily in the last week of copper but be mindful of pushing your ammonia level up in the QT system due to over feeding, so many small feeds is going to be best. Note, that the coppersafe has a certain amount of binding ammonia in the solution so a test will show this and don't over react to this, also note that if you want to do a water change you absolutely can but you must treat the new water with the same ratio of copper before you add it to the tank. For topping up due to evaporation just RO water is fine, the copper is not removed via evaporation. If at any time the copper level drops below 2ppm the treatment is void and needs to be reset again. For testing copper only use this test kit https://www.hannainst.com/hi702-copper-hr.html and order a new pack of reagent along with the kit because the 6 packs which come in the kit will be used up quickly. If your QT tank has a skimmer you can use it during the copper treatment but no carbon and nothing else which will absorb compounds such as bio balls ect, everything must be glass or plastic.

After 30 - 31 days of copper treatment remove all the QT water and add fresh water, acclimatize the fish slowly to the new water and put back into the QT system. Then start with Prazipro at 5ml per gallon or 1.32ml per liter all added at the same time. This treatment is for 8 days and will kill any adult, sexually mature flukes which would have laid eggs already. After 8 days repeat the process again and this will then nuke any flukes which have now hatched but have not reached sexual maturity. If your QT tank has a skimmer you need to turn it off or remove the cup lid when treating with the prazipro. Again no carbon or anything which can absorb compounds.

At this time you can do a big water change on your display system and use that water to do a 100% water change in the QT tank. Make sure to acclimatize the fish to this new water. This way he is acclimatized to the display tank water but you can still monitor him in an isolated environment in the QT system and target feed without any interference. I always like to make sure that the fish is proper fat before adding to the display tank with others as the feeding will slow down most likely for a few days but not always the case.

Also it is very important to know the exact water volume of your QT system to the liter accuracy, this makes dosing calculations easy and reduces the risk of under or over dosing. Very important that when you are doing a Prazipro treatment that your water is extremely well aerated ( this cant be stressed enough ) I prefer to aerate the water aggressively at all times during the QT process.

The above is exactly how I would treat any new Acanthurus species. Other fish I would possibly do Prazipro first and copper last. The reason for copper first in your case is because as Fishguy and Vetteguy have both said this fish is highly likely to have an Ich/whitespot/velvet issue than any of the others.

Its a beautiful fish, its on my new tank list also and I also hope to have one closer to the end of this year or early next year. Please keep the thread updated with progress.

 

[jk1knight]

Wow! That was an impressive response and protocol Duane! Thank you for all the information!

125mph - I definitely recommend quarantine and pre-treating your Achilles. I personally do not do as much as Duane just articulated.

Has there ever been ick in your main display tank?

I highly recommend using a clear acrylic acclimation box for 7-14 days when adding a new tang to any existing tank with tangs. The fish can see each other and get used to each other without any physical contact, fighting, wounds or aggression. This has been a game changer for me…I have a lot of tangs in my 210.

I also had very good luck adding a mirror (12x12 in from Home Depot or Lowes) using 3M tape to the side of my tank for 1-2 weeks. This drives the existing aggressive fish crazy wanting to fight their own reflections. It also tires out the aggressive fish and distracts them from the new tang addition.

It is amazing how well these two strategies work? Good luck!