Newly acquired Achilles tang and the game plan

[QuarantinedCorals]

What’s up everyone, I just purchased a 3-4 inch Achilles tang which is currently in quarantine. Any long term Achilles tang owners out there? I’ve got 3 tangs that are 100% quarantined with prazi and copper and have been sitting in my 75 gallon holding tank along with 3 wrasses waiting for my 180g reef to finish fallowing. My Achilles is in a 10g qt system, good news is that it is eating mysis shrimp (not aggressively) but it has an appetite which is a huge relief. He spits the bigger chunks of mysis out but eats the smaller ones. My current tang gang is made up of a 3-4 inch yellow tang, 3-4 inch orange shoulder tang, and a 4ish inch tomini tang. So I know how nasty tangs can be, I have plans of adding a small naso tang as well, don’t worry I’ve got plans of upgrading in the near future to a 240g so he’ll have plenty of space. I’m worried about the order in which I introduce the tangs, do I throw in my current tang gang in the tank and then add the naso and Achilles together? Do I add them all in at the same time? I can introduce the Achilles tang into the 75 gallon tank but it just has a lot of pipes for the fish to hide in, no actual rock work and limited space. Would love to qt the naso and throw him in first, then follow with the rest of the tang gang. What do you guys think? Would love some feedback and also, what do you guys recommend I feed the Achilles for him to actually enjoy his meals, I'm going to pick up live brine and black worms as well.

 

[tehmadreefer]

That’s a lot of big tangs for a 240, a 240 is a big tank, but not nearly big enough for all of those. Unless your gonna have a 180 and a 240? I foresee some serious aggression and deaths if all in one tank.

 

[RDtrack]

I would add them all together when your 180 is done with its fallow period.

However I hate to say it but a 10 gallon QT for an Achilles is quite small. However if the other tangs are in the 75 gallon, they have already established themselves, so I would hesitate adding the Achilles to that tank.

Also I would definitely wait until you have your 240 before adding a naso. I take it your going with a 96x24x25?

Achilles is going to rule whatever tank you have.

Good luck

 

[RDtrack]

Oh I forgot get him some nori sheets to eat. If he's eating frozen I would stick with that but offer him nori at least every day.

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

I would add them all together when your 180 is done with its fallow period.

However I hate to say it but a 10 gallon QT for an Achilles is quite small. However if the other tangs are in the 75 gallon, they have already established themselves, so I would hesitate adding the Achilles to that tank.

Also I would definitely wait until you have your 240 before adding a naso. I take it your going with a 96x24x25?

Achilles is going to rule whatever tank you have.

Good luck

Thanks for the input! I’m toying with the idea of going with a 96x30x30 but at the least it will be 96x24x24. I did have a Japanese swallowtail angel on my list which I wasn’t able to acquire in time as I did want one on the more mature side, I’m afraid of adding an angel into the tank with all the tangs in it later down the road. I only plan on having the Achilles in the 10 Gallon tank for about a month which feels like forever, but I plan on adding him into my 75g tank and having him be my last tang, a naso can wait. So I should skip adding him into the 75 and just add all the tangs in one go when ready?

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

Oh I forgot get him some nori sheets to eat. If he's eating frozen I would stick with that but offer him nori at least every day.

That’s one thing I haven’t tried just yet, but will definitely offer him some nori everyday!

 

[Ashish Patel]

I was going to get one along with few other tangs for my 400 gallon. For few months there was 5+ on Liveaquaria at a very good price and then all of a sudden all gone . I was planning to put the achilles in a 55 Gallon QT with a lot of flow and hiding space. Obviously the meds will be there but stress will kill this fish fast. Good diet was also going to be a focus of mine. Guess i'll have to wait

 

[RDtrack]

Thanks for the input! I’m toying with the idea of going with a 96x30x30 but at the least it will be 96x24x24. I did have a Japanese swallowtail angel on my list which I wasn’t able to acquire in time as I did want one on the more mature side, I’m afraid of adding an angel into the tank with all the tangs in it later down the road. I only plan on having the Achilles in the 10 Gallon tank for about a month which feels like forever, but I plan on adding him into my 75g tank and having him be my last tang, a naso can wait. So I should skip adding him into the 75 and just add all the tangs in one go when ready?

Yes. All the tangs should go into the 180 or 240 together. If you add him to the 75 gallon and the other tangs have been in there, your asking for problems.

Really wish you could have a bigger QT than 10 gallons for him. That will stress him out more.

Yes get nori or algea for him right away. Mine grazes almost as much as my v
Brissletooth does.

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

Yes. All the tangs should go into the 180 or 240 together. If you add him to the 75 gallon and the other tangs have been in there, your asking for problems.

Really wish you could have a bigger QT than 10 gallons for him. That will stress him out more.

Yes get nori or algea for him right away. Mine grazes almost as much as my v
Brissletooth does.

I’m working on upgrading it to a 20, and adding a powerhead to it to give it good flow. He’s been pretty calm for now but I do feel bad for him being in that 10 gallon. I’ll add in all the wrasses first then give it a little bit of time, then just add the tangs. Hope I don’t have any issue adding other fish to the tank after the introduction of the tangs!

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

I was going to get one along with few other tangs for my 400 gallon. For few months there was 5+ on Liveaquaria at a very good price and then all of a sudden all gone . I was planning to put the achilles in a 55 Gallon QT with a lot of flow and hiding space. Obviously the meds will be there but stress will kill this fish fast. Good diet was also going to be a focus of mine. Guess i'll have to wait

Where are you located? I picked mine up from wholesale today for a pretty good price! Maybe I can help you out, I’m in Los Angeles.

 

[vanpire]

This is just my experience so take it for what’s its worth. I love tangs and have kept them for 10 years. I have been lucky and have not have any bad experience with tangs aggression and ich My one bad experience was I did loose a bunch of my tangs once due velvet, awful disease.

I hear so many stories about tang aggression but I haven’t seen much aggression than the first few days. I thought I was lucky but this has been my experience for over ten years in three separate tanks. I know many have more experience than me though but you should be fine with your tangs in a 240. Achilles are pretty hardy after they are eating. They are not always that aggressive either. My sailfin which grows fast seems to be masters of the tank, and they usually leave others alone. In my current 300 gallon tank, I have two yellows, 1 purple, 1 sailfin, 1 kole, 1 Achilles and 1 blue. No issues. The smallest is the kole at about 4”. I have my Achilles for only six months so that might change but he is a model citizen now. The sailfin is the largest at 7”.

Long story short, you should be fine with your tangs in a 240.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Good purchase as these will soon be scarce and expensive due to Hawaii ban.
I’m on my second one which is a model citizen and is all over the tank- very active fish.
They contract parasites easily and I therefore afford the best possible diet for them and on alternating days add both selcon vitamins and garlic extract to their diet
Feed at minimum;
Spirulina brine shrimp
Mysis shrimp
Small plankton
Formula 2 flake and frozen
Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract
LRS herbivore diet

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

This is just my experience so take it for what’s its worth. I love tangs and have kept them for 10 years. I have been lucky and have not have any bad experience with tangs aggression and ich My one bad experience was I did loose a bunch of my tangs once due velvet, awful disease.

I hear so many stories about tang aggression but I haven’t seen much aggression than the first few days. I thought I was lucky but this has been my experience for over ten years in three separate tanks. I know many have more experience than me though but you should be fine with your tangs in a 240. Achilles are pretty hardy after they are eating. They are not always that aggressive either. My sailfin which grows fast seems to be masters of the tank, and they usually leave others alone. In my current 300 gallon tank, I have two yellows, 1 purple, 1 sailfin, 1 kole, 1 Achilles and 1 blue. No issues. The smallest is the kole at about 4”. I have my Achilles for only six months so that might change but he is a model citizen now. The sailfin is the largest at 7”.

Long story short, you should be fine with your tangs in a 240.

Thank you for your input! I’ve only had aggression which stems from my yellow tang, but now it’s a sweet heart for the most part, my tangs even shoal together now! You think I can add a naso to my 180 right now and as I upgrade to a 240 or even larger, just transition them to the bigger tank?

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

Good purchase as these will soon be scarce and expensive due to Hawaii ban.
I’m on my second one which is a model citizen and is all over the tank- very active fish.
They contract parasites easily and I therefore afford the best possible diet for them and on alternating days add both selcon vitamins and garlic extract to their diet
Feed at minimum;
Spirulina brine shrimp
Mysis shrimp
Small plankton
Formula 2 flake and frozen
Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract
LRS herbivore diet

Thanks for the input man, I’m really excited about this guy! I’m starting to implement an extremely strict qt method, my tank has been fallowing for about 5 months, I’ve added some inverts and coral during that time but I’m over 2 months since the last addition of anything that wasn’t quarantined, March 1st is the day I get to put a fish in my tank which will be my prized blue star leopard wrasse. I’m not gonna add anything to the tank that Hasn’t been medicated and monitored as far as fish goes, and I’m gonna set up tanks for inverts and coral as well and let them sit in the fish less system for 90 days before adding them to my tank so I think this will be my best bet at keeping the tank disease free! I got a asm g4 skimmer which is rated for a 350g tank for my 180 just to be safe, I also plan on feeding a lot of variety multiple times a day as I want anthias as well! I’ve been feeding for 3 years and went through a lot of loses, this is the most excited I’ve been in the hobby

 

[vanpire]

How big is your Naso? Unless it is huge, it should not be a problem. I lost my 6” blonde because of Velvet. It was with the other tangs and was super mellow.

No one ever bothers the Naso and the Naso never bothers anyone else.

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

How big is your Naso? Unless it is huge, it should not be a problem. I lost my 6” blonde because of Velvet. It was with the other tangs and is super mellow.

No one ever bothers the Naso and the Naso never bothers anyone else.

He’s gonna be the biggest tang, he’s a blonde naso that’s close to 6 inches. Currently he’s in my frag tank and he’s barely starting to eat after a month long hunger strike.

 

[vanpire]

I hope you can get him to eat well. Nasos are such cool tangs. They really are peaceful fish.

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

I hope you can get him to eat well. Nasos are such cool tangs. They really are a peaceful fish.

Oh 100%, he started eating some flake food today finally! My friend had a 4 inch naso in his 120 for a few months before upgrading and he was the boss of the other tangs, no one wanted to get slapped by his massive tail spike.

 

[vanpire]

BTW, I have a frag tank with a 4” yellow and a 5” purple. They are buddies. I also have a 120 with a yellow belly blue tang and a blonde Naso. I got them both at 1” and they are both about 2”+ now.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Where are you located? I picked mine up from wholesale today for a pretty good price! Maybe I can help you out, I’m in Los Angeles.

Thats awesome you got the fish and you have a wholesaler. I've just been observing achilles in other ppls tank for years and concluded these fish probably require tons of swimming room, hiding place, flow, and diet. There are a bunch of good reefers that have had there achilles for 3+ years. I would start by asking them first. If your wholesaler connect has a bunch of fish let me know that would be awesome - only issue is i am In NJ