Achilles Tang

haleyf1024 · Apr 7, 2015

Hi all! I really love Achilles Tangs. I know online people have successfully kept them in anywhere from 75 gallons and up tanks. I have a 110 gallon, 5 foot long and 21 inches wide. It has center overflow, so 2 pipes creating current there. Then a small UV sterilizer that creates a small amount of current. And finally the 2 powerheads that create a ton of current. I listed that since one reason people say a large tank is so you have a lot of flow. My reef currently has quite a bit, and I will probably get another wavemaker too. Livestock is a marine betta, a valentini puffer, 2 black osc. clowns, a lyretail anthia, and a purple tang who is super docile and is friends with the v. puffer. Food offered is brown, green, purple and red algae sheets, NFS pellets, spirulina flakes, frozen mysis, bloodworms and the occasional live brine. Would this setup support one? There is no ick in my tank (did a fallow) and the tang would be in QT for at least a month to watch. He would also come from a LFS, so he would be over the shock of shipping. I am honestly more curious to see what others think, as I may chose not to get one at all.

3dees · Apr 7, 2015

one of the hardest tangs to keep. considered expert only and your tank is much too small, especially with a tang already in it. imo, it will not end well.

eatbreakfast · Apr 7, 2015

They are a very active, very aggressive tang. I would suggest a larger tank to house this species.

jman9331 · Apr 7, 2015

In a nutshell! Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Achilles Tang, Acanthurus achilles

4FordFamily · Apr 7, 2015

Will not work in a tank that size with only one resident tang. They will butt heads. Multiple tangs added in a multiple tang system are best to reduce aggression but in a tank your size that is not going to fly.

haleyf1024 · Apr 7, 2015

Thats what I expected to hear. I won't be getting one anytime soon, maybe in a few years when I upgrade

What do you think about a gold stripe maroon clown? I know they can be ******s. Theres a good chunk of rock work near the RBTA that no fish has claimed and he could have the entire area. I would get a tiny one, less than an inch long. My LFS has a 75 gal setup with a huge 6" one and he stays in his nem and leaves the perc. clown and other fish alone

4FordFamily · Apr 7, 2015

haleyf1024 said:
Thats what I expected to hear. I won't be getting one anytime soon, maybe in a few years when I upgrade What do you think about a gold stripe maroon clown? I know they can be ******s. Theres a good chunk of rock work near the RBTA that no fish has claimed and he could have the entire area. I would get a tiny one, less than an inch long. My LFS has a 75 gal setup with a huge 6" one and he stays in his nem and leaves the perc. clown and other fish alone

they're touch and go. Yes they can be very aggressive. My white stripe maroon tags the crap out of me when my hand goes in the tank. In his defense, so too do my black and regular ocellaris clowns in another tank but not nearly as aggressively.

haleyf1024 · Apr 7, 2015

3fordfamily said:
they're touch and go. Yes they can be very aggressive. My white stripe maroon tags the crap out of me when my hand goes in the tank. In his defense, so too do my black and regular ocellaris clowns in another tank but not nearly as aggressively.

I feel ya on the black ocellaris. My female is terrible and bites me whenever she sees the opportunity. She has taken a piece of skin off my hand and she's only about 2 inches long!

4FordFamily · Apr 7, 2015

Hasn't hurt me yet! Yikes

cultivatedcoral · Apr 7, 2015

The above comments are correct. That size tank will stress an Achilles out since they like space and swim fast and hard. Once it's stressed it would be hard to get it back to normal in those conditions. Wait till you upgrade. My Achilles is in a 180g and that is the bare minimum size tank I would say.

jen2828 · Apr 9, 2015

We started ours out in a 6 ft 125 when he was about 3 1/2"...that was 4 years ago He's now about 7 1/2" and a total beast...he also quickly outgrew that tank and is now in a 8 ft tank with a purple tang. Unfortunately he's gotten so aggressive there will never be another fish added to his tank.

Gondore · Apr 18, 2015

I don't agree with these comments. I kept a achilles in my 90 gallon with a yellow tang and I had zero issues. I think the key was high flow. The achilles would swim straight into the blasting vortex.

4FordFamily · Apr 18, 2015

Gondore said:
I don't agree with these comments. I kept a achilles in my 90 gallon with a yellow tang and I had zero issues. I think the key was high flow. The achilles would swim straight into the blasting vortex.

I am not one to say that tangs need 6 feet no matter the tang and no matter the situation, nor am I a member of the tang police. However, these tangs cover many many miles of ground each day in the wild and honestly a 6 foot tank should be the absolute minimum - a 180 is the smallest tank I would consider keeping one in. When mine reached 7" I sold it. Heck my 5.5" Achilles I sold a few months ago I thought outgrew my tank and my parameters were out of whack because I had gone back to grad school full time and the addition of my daughter. It wasn't fair to him. Since, I've cleaned up my act the params are great and I now have a 4" Achilles again.

This fish is so very fragile, high nitrates don't affect many reef FISH but I can say from experience it absolutely affects Achilles tangs. They do need a plethora of flow but in a 4" tank your Achilles may be alive but it is miserable. I truly feel sorry for that fish (and I do not say that to people with tangs in 4" tanks or even smaller or too many tangs but in this case that is horrible). Achilles are such free spirits and so demanding... It's so sad to put them in a tiny glass cage

cultivatedcoral · Apr 18, 2015

Where is your Achilles now?

Gondore said:
I don't agree with these comments. I kept a achilles in my 90 gallon with a yellow tang and I had zero issues. I think the key was high flow. The achilles would swim straight into the blasting vortex.

haleyf1024 · Apr 18, 2015

I'm not going to risk such a beautiful fish. I'll wait until I get my upgrade

haleyf1024 · Apr 18, 2015

Gondore said:
I don't agree with these comments. I kept a achilles in my 90 gallon with a yellow tang and I had zero issues. I think the key was high flow. The achilles would swim straight into the blasting vortex.

You say "kept". Did the tang die or get sold? I'm not going to put one in my 110, waiting for my upgrade