Fish of the Day: Achilles Tang

[revhtree]

Scientific Name - Acanthurus achilles

Common Name - Achilles Surgeonfish

Size - 9.4" (24 cm)

Min. Aquarium Size - 100 US Gal. (379 L)

Foods and Feeding - Varied diet of mostly vegetable matter, feed dried and frozen herbivore foods, marine algae, blue green algae Spirulina, zucchini, broccoli, leaf lettuce sushi Nori (dried seaweed. Feed 3 times a day.

Reef Compatibility - Generally reef safe, browses on filamentous micro algae, small fleshy macro algae, may nip at large polyped stony corals if under fed.

Captive Care - A large aquarium with plenty of swim room is a plus, turbulent water flow, can be aggressive towards own kind and other Tangs. Keep only one per system, will spend a large part of its day grazing and must be provided daily feeding of vegetable matter and marine algae.

Please share your pictures and experience.

 

[PapaDragon]

I have an Achilles Tang named Bear. He has a great personality. Mine loves red seaweed and I always put selcon or garlic on it. I know they have a bad reputation for ich, but I think the selcon and plenty of live rock for grazing keeps him healthy. I also keep cleaner shrimp and neon gobbies in my tank to keep him clean.

Oh, I've owned him for about a year and he is in a 150g mix reef tank.

 

[cdness]

Mine was a picky eater at first until I started making my own food. He sure loved that stuff. He passed due to a bad case of pop-eye during a tank move to my new place. Beautiful fish for sure.

 

[Quinn123]

Have not got courage to buy one, because they get ich so easily, you look at them funny they get ick. Also another tang I love to have is the powder blue, but they also get ich easily. I have a purple, yellow, and an cheveron tang.

 

[Emoney]

One of my favorite fish ive Never attempted to keep...amazing fish for sure

 

[PapaDragon]

One of my favorite fish ive Never attempted to keep...amazing fish for sure

I was scared to get one too, and I would only recommend them if you have the time to take care of them. It is a fish that requires special care.

 

[strange33w]

my absolute favorite fish. Once I am done moving and get my dream tank this is a def on my list.

 

[revsgirl]

Love this fish! Gorgeous!

 

[tfp]

i've had mine for 3yrs and 8months. his orange teardrop seem's to have gotten larger over time. eats pretty much whatever i put in there and likes lots of flow.

 

[PapaDragon]

i've had mine for 3yrs and 8months. his orange teardrop seem's to have gotten larger over time. eats pretty much whatever i put in there and likes lots of flow.

WOW! Your Achilles is beautiful. I've noticed the orange spot on mine getting bigger too. Mine will only eat red and brown seaweed.

 

[gar732]

These have always been one of my favorite fish but I've never had a tank large enough to keep one, maybe one day.

 

[ingtar_shinowa]

Ive looked into them alot. I would say don't try one without a 6 foot tank. I know alot of people who can keep them with other tangs despite the info out there contrary. Also make sure its your last larger fish.

 

[PapaDragon]

Ive looked into them alot. I would say don't try one without a 6 foot tank. I know alot of people who can keep them with other tangs despite the info out there contrary. Also make sure its your last larger fish.

I agree with your 6ft tank statement. I also have a yellow tang that is in my tank and they do fine together.

 

[airin]

I have one named Wu that I've had over a year. I got him and a Chevron direct from Hawaii when they were tiny. They were QTed for almost 3 weeks with no signs of Ich and both got Ich within a couple days of going into my DT. I had a Sailfin that picked on Wu really bad. I kept them well fed and used Selcon and Garlic and they got over it right about the time we moved. They got Ich again after the move and are both happy and healthy 4 months later. I did give the Sailfin away when we broke the tank down to move it because he was a bully to everyone.

We feed the tank small amounts a few times a day, including rotating green and red algae sheets. They get a mix of New Era flakes, pellets and grazers and they usually will eat some of the mysis we put in for the other fish. It's a 180 gallon reef tank with tons of live rock. Wu is by far my favorite fish in the tank!

 

[cumbeje]

I have one for 6 months in my 700 gal reef tank. Started on purple seaweed but now eats brine shrimp and mysis shrimp. Great fish.

 

[J Rog]

I have had mine for around a year. Maybe a little longer. I was nervous at first hearing the ich stories.. Yes, he has had some ich here and there but never had a full on break out. A couple spots every so often but nothing major.. It goes away very fast and no other fish have had it in my tank. Even when i see it he never tries to scratch himself on the live rocks like you often see with a case of ich.

.

 

[Squidward]

Hi guys. I just got a juvenile Achilles from LA. The orange spot that they have is like a small line at the moment. Will that line expand and grow to the orange tear drop as it gets older??

 

[c.poindexter]

I have always wanted an Achilles, but have yet to pull the trigger butt I want to QT several fish and add them together when I upgrade tanks.

 

[SeaDweller]

Hi guys. I just got a juvenile Achilles from LA. The orange spot that they have is like a small line at the moment. Will that line expand and grow to the orange tear drop as it gets older??

Yes.

 

[flagg37]

Here’s the one I had. We had to rehome him when we moved. He was my second favorite fish (my zebra moray eel was first).

I’m surprised that so many people are talking about them being ick magnets. I never had any issues with mine. He did get popeye at one point but went away on its own pretty quickly. I would describe him as the king of the tank though. Very dominant; no overt aggression, but dominant.

I had him in my 120 gallon tank (48”x30”x19). After owning him I wouldn’t put him in a tank that small again. I’d echo the 6’ minimum like others had mentioned. Another is on my list for my next tank (96”x27”x27”)