Help with Achilles Tang

Andrew D

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Hi everyone, I need some help pls with my Achilles. I've had him for about 4 years, and he was doing fine until recently when I discovered him hiding in a corner of the tank, the obvious target of aggression from some of my other tangs. I have 9 of them in a large tank (350G), but I got them all when they were small and they've been pretty good together for the most part. The Achilles is probably my favourite fish so when I saw this I got the fish trap out and caught in turn the sohal (smaller but a bully), the dussumerie and the vlamingi (both larger and seemingly peaceful even though I've seen them both hanging around the Achilles in his corner). The only tang of similar shape and size I have left is the Regal but I've never seen him go anywhere near the Achilles. I thought this would settle him but he still hangs out in the corner, doesn't come out to eat even though I broadcast feed the tank so there's more than enough for him even if he wants to avoid other fish. He was a healthy size to start but he's starting to look thinner and I'm worried that I'll find him glued to theMP60 which is how I find most of my dead fish in the morning. I see him at night time swimming against the current of the MP60 so I've tried to put nori out at night as well, but it doesn't look like he's nibbling that. I"m not sure what else I can do, I certainly can't catch him in the trap because he wouldn't go near it with all the other fish waiting to be fed. Remaining in the tank with the Regal and the Achilles are 3 yellows, a purple, a scopas and a kole, all of these roughly the same size and smaller than the Achilles. And a bunch of smaller fish :)

I'd appreciate any suggestions, I'm willing to try anything at this point. Thanks in advance.
 

PBnJOnWheat

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Hi everyone, I need some help pls with my Achilles. I've had him for about 4 years, and he was doing fine until recently when I discovered him hiding in a corner of the tank, the obvious target of aggression from some of my other tangs. I have 9 of them in a large tank (350G), but I got them all when they were small and they've been pretty good together for the most part. The Achilles is probably my favourite fish so when I saw this I got the fish trap out and caught in turn the sohal (smaller but a bully), the dussumerie and the vlamingi (both larger and seemingly peaceful even though I've seen them both hanging around the Achilles in his corner). The only tang of similar shape and size I have left is the Regal but I've never seen him go anywhere near the Achilles. I thought this would settle him but he still hangs out in the corner, doesn't come out to eat even though I broadcast feed the tank so there's more than enough for him even if he wants to avoid other fish. He was a healthy size to start but he's starting to look thinner and I'm worried that I'll find him glued to theMP60 which is how I find most of my dead fish in the morning. I see him at night time swimming against the current of the MP60 so I've tried to put nori out at night as well, but it doesn't look like he's nibbling that. I"m not sure what else I can do, I certainly can't catch him in the trap because he wouldn't go near it with all the other fish waiting to be fed. Remaining in the tank with the Regal and the Achilles are 3 yellows, a purple, a scopas and a kole, all of these roughly the same size and smaller than the Achilles. And a bunch of smaller fish :)

I'd appreciate any suggestions, I'm willing to try anything at this point. Thanks in advance.
Sometimes there’s no help BUT GOOD NEWS is I’d try garlic guard or like some sorta garlic marine fish food to try and entice the Achilles to eat more! It worked for me getting my tangs to eat and protects them and builds that immune system. Also I think one way to know if fish are getting bullied is to look for Mark’s on its body, chips in its fins, scales missing etc. Goodluck!!!
 

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Get some fish traps to catch the bullies. Reintroduce after a couple days. I'd recommend putting the Zebrasomas back in together as a group but the kole should be ok. Put the kole back first if it's smaller. This will give the Achilles a chance to gain territory back and eat again. This has worked for me in my 300 anyways. Good luck
 

ca1ore

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Any sign of ich? Swimming in the pump flow is a potential symptom .... and as you probably know the Achilles is about the most susceptible of fish to the parasite. Sohal is, and will continue to be, a problem. I don't keep them anymore and no matter the period of time-out it's hyper aggressive. I'd rehome it. Vlamingi is unlikely to be a problem, though you don't say current size. Dussemeri (Sp?) is generally mild mannered, but individuals may vary. Regal/hippo also unlikely to be a problem given it's a different genus. You'd have to observe the zebrasomas - usually they jut beat up on each other and leave the acanthurus alone. But, again, individuals vary. If you do remove them, a few days is not long enough. I'd keep them apart at least until the Achilles is behaving normally again .... a couple of weeks, maybe even a month. You can try garlic if you want, though it's never been particularly effective for me. I would try brine shrimp. Maybe not the most nutritious of foods, but often irresistabel to the Achilles tang.

Good luck! Achilles has become a difficult fish to find now that the Hawaiian ban is in effect.
 
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Andrew D

Andrew D

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Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I did try various foods with garlic, garlic supplements and also flavourful foods like fish roe but still didn't observe the achilles eating even though he started swimming out in the open during the day. The scratches and scars he had disappeared but his belly was beginning to look quite pinched. I debated pulling the zebrasomas but decided not to mostly because I didn't really have any place to put so many of them safely and I wasn't sure they were the problem. So I kind of resigned myself to seeing him waste away, beautiful fish that he was.

And then a strange set of events happened. It started with my losing my sohal who was in a 20G QT tank. Work and life in general have been crazy so I wasn't as attentive to water changes as I should have been I guess. I was really upset at myself, and decided that if I was going to lose my achilles anyway then I may as well save my dussumeri and vlamingi so I put them back in the tank and decided to let nature take it's course. Things were a little chaotic for a while as the hierarchy re-established itself but then I saw the achilles being boxed into a spot between two rocks close to the surface and decided to try to catch him in a net. And surprise surprise, it worked, him looking pretty weak and spaced out already. I quickly put him in my largest QT tank, with a strong powerhead, an algae clip, lots of garlic soaked food and daily water changes. That was about 4 days ago now, and he's still alive and I think getting fatter again. I've not seen him eat but the food i put in there disappears. I've not seen any sign of ich or other parasite so I've not medicated the tank. If he continues to do well I'll put him in my 70G frag tank where i can observe him better and enjoy him more. It's too small for him long term, so if he does survive then I'll probably sell or trade him because i don't want to risk the same thing happening again.

ANyway, wish me luck and thanks again for your help. Andrew
 
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Andrew D

Andrew D

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Yeah, I know. He was the alpha of the tank for a long time, even put the sohal in it's place. Not sure what happened but like anything else living I guess all fish can tell when there's the proverbial blood in the water and then everyone comes in for the feast.
 
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