Calling those with Achilles Tang Experience

[Northstar24]

So, I've always been fascinated with the Achilles Tang, and I've wanted to attempt one for some time now. They come with quite the price tag, so its not a fish I've taken to trying lightly.

The fish is listed as Expert Only. What makes this particular Tang difficult? I've got two other 'expert only' fish in my reef that are doing very well (Black Fiji Wrasse and a Potters Angel)

The other question is tang compatibility. I have the following tangs in my reef already:
Sailfin (Largest by far)
Naso
Hippo
Kole (definitely the Jerk fish of the tank - but also the smallest tang)

In addition to what makes them difficult, what is the concensus of an Achilles getting along with the above in a 180? I realize the answer is usually 'its 50/50' but I'm hoping some of you may have some additional insight. A LFS got in a very nice looking Achilles Tang, and its got me thinking....

 

[little_fish]

I think what makes them difficult is they tend to get ich if you even breath the wrong way, kinda like powder blue/browns

 

[phastroh]

I hope my Powder Blue never gets Ich. It has been great for the first month.

I love that Achilles but yeah they are costly. I have seen quite a few nice Tangs that are $$$$$$ and until I have an 8ft. tank that is 500Gal I would not even get one.

 

[Northstar24]

Bob Fenner says a minimum of 100 gallons for the Achilles, and that it will co habitate with other tangs

I'm going to go take a look at it tomorrow and see what kind of shape its in

 

[BL1]

They're expert only because of how difficult they are to acclimate to the tank. Once in the tank and established they're not anymore difficult then other tangs. It's usually the first 1-6 months where people have the most trouble with them.

 

[chuck78]

+1 BL1!!!! My Achilles Tang is no more harder to care for than my Powder Blue or any other of the 5 tangs [total] that I have in my tank. It took me 2 hours & 15+ gallons of water to acclimate him but, it was worth it. As for your current livestock...expect for that sailfin to show the achilles exactly who is boss of the tank. After two or three days of that (if the achilles don't catch ich) I'd say you're almost home free. I also buy a couple of bottles of "Ich Attack" everytime I add a new addition. It's completely organic so it's reef safe.

 

[phastroh]

I always tried to tell people about Ich Attack Organic cuz I have some too. It works somehow but no-one believes it.

I have a huge bottle in the fridge always just in case.

 

[Northstar24]

I looked at the fish, it's an Achilles x gold rim hybrid. It's an amazing fish and had good colors and was very active. Now all I need to do is convince my wife it's worth the price tag

 

[BL1]

Nice, that's a beautiful hybrid/

 

[Northstar24]

So, the fish I was originally looking at was sold while I was discussing the purchase with the wife (turns out she didn't really care, but I wanted to check with her before dropping $275 on a fish)

In any case, the owner of the LFS doen't normally bring in Achilles because they're protected pretty well by the Hawaii FIsh and Game department, collection is VERY limited. The hybrid he had in the store brought in several customers that want an Achilles, and he was able to bring one in. I'm first on the list and I'm pretty sure I'm going to bring it home this weekend.

I've read that these are one fish you don't normally quarantine because they're a more sensitive fish, and you're better off just placing them in your Display Tank right away. I normally wouldn't have an issue doing this, but I have a few tangs in the tank already, and I don't want it getting beat up right after getting added to the tank.

I know they need swimming space, but I'm thinking of getting a piece of egg crate and sectioning off the front corner of my tank and putting the achilles there, so that he and the other tangs can get used to each other. I was thinking of a 2x1 piece of egg crate. Meaning the achilles would have 2 feet of vertical space, and at the long end of the triangle 1 foot of horizontal space. I know this will be less than ideal for him, but is it a good idea for 24-48 hours while the tangs all sniff each other out?

 

[phastroh]

Whoa $275 not me. Well maybe one day.

I love my 220 but some day I am hoping to build or get another new house and I want my tank to be 6 feet wide 4 feet deep and be sort of in the wall so that I can have the ability to build a trench like tank going from front to back and then put all the corals down the trench and at the same time access it from behind the wall.

My current setup is half way there haha.

Maybe then I will get into these Big $$$ fish but you should post a pic when you get it. I love those fish as well.

 

[Northstar24]

This one is significantly cheaper than the hybrid, its about half the price. Its an expensive fish, but it was on my must keep list. I've been asking around and looking locally for some time, and finally came across one. I don't know how my LFS prices his fish the way he does and stays in business - his prices are below most of the prices on sites like LiveAquaria. He quarantines all his fish before they go out on the floor for sale, and his fish are always in top notch shape. I have yet to hear of someone with a problem with fish from his store.

In any case, in shopping around, it looks like egg crate comes in 4x2 sheets. I'm just going to have them cut it into 2x1 sheets, and zip tie three of them together to make a 'pen' on the front pane of my aquarium. I figure it wont kill the tang for a few days of peace and quiet even if he's temporarily a little cramped. The benefit here is that he only has to get acclimated once when I bring him home.

I don't see issues with this, if someone else does please chime in

 

[little_fish]

I think its a fine idea, i would also put a mirror on the other side of the tank to distract the other tangs.

 

[phastroh]

WOOOOOWWWWWW! He QT's them for you.

Does he keep them for a month prior to selling.

It is too bad stores don't do this or too bad they are not required.

If I owned a store I would QT all the fish for a month prior to selling unless the customer requested it not be.

LiveAquaria says they QT but they don't do it long enough. If there was an online place that QT'ed the fish for 4 weeks I would shop there only.

I know local stores just want to pump them out to make money but it would be great. I suppose if you started doing it a little bit at a time you could still make money and eventually sell only QT fish.

Or just start the store that way.

 

[Northstar24]

Its not a full blown proper QT, but he has seperate tanks where he keeps all new arrivals for several days to observe them and make sure that they survive the shipping process. He also stands behind is fish with a guarantee, but I've never really had to deal with that, I've yet to lose a fish that came from this LFS

 

[phastroh]

I have purchased many many fish and corals from LiveAquaria with only one death in12 fish but I think it starved, it was a Mandarin.

I thought they said the QT for a little while as well.

I am sure it is only the Divers Den fish though that get the longest QT.