my achilles tang not eating

[mike90]

i've had an achilles tang now for about two weeks and i've never seen him eat. i've tried flakes and frozen food but still don't see him eat anything. he's very active though and swims around a lot. is there something special these guys like to eat?

 

[Unarce]

Unfortunately, Achilles are one of those species that should be left in the ocean. It's very, very rare for one to live long-term in the home aquarium. Their natural habitat is in turbulent shallow reefs, where oxygen levels are extremely high.

You'll need a very large tank (at least a 180) with a lot of flow and swimming space. Lots of LR to graze on. They don't ship well, so you'll also need to start off with a very healthy specimen that you've observed eating at the LFS.

 

[Mike612]

Put nori on a nori clip and attach it to the side of your tank. He should go for it with gusto. Most tangs and angels, even the hard-to-keep ones, tend to go nuts over it. That's how I started to get my Regal Angel eating.
Good luck!

 

[Anonymous]

Try a vareity of red , green and brown seaweeds - maybe add a smidgen of liquid garlic extract and place them on a feeding clip.

Unfortunately as Unarce said these are one of the hardest surgeons to acclimate and get to thrive.

Was he eating at the store?

 

[Anonymous]

what size tank are you keeping it in?

 

[Anonymous]

Try broccoli, zucchini, and romaine lettuce.

The more food items that are offered, the better chance that he might start eating something. If you can get him to eat one, he'll later start eating other foods too.

Good luck.

Louey

 

[Kevin1000]

If nori doesn't work you might consider some live brine shrimp ... many captive fish don't recognize our "fish food" and LBS is a good method to transition them to frozen food. I always use LBS during QT .. helps the transition to captivity and when fish don't eat LBS then I know I have a serious problem.

I hope you have a large tank .. if not you should consider taking the fish back. Liveaquaria.com and marinedepotlive.com are two good sites which outline minimum tanks size and other relevant info on fish .. nice resource.

 

[mike90]

well I have a 90 gallon. i think its big enough.

 

[Kevin1000]

well I have a 90 gallon. i think its big enough.

Not in my opinion.

 

[Anonymous]

well I have a 90 gallon. i think its big enough.

:?

 

[Anonymous]

180 gallon minimum for one of these in my opinion. A 240 gallon 8 x 2 x 2 is even better.

 

[Anonymous]

well I have a 90 gallon. i think its big enough.

my my 8O

well-an achilles, under proper conditions, should live at least 10-15 years

come back and let us know how successful you've been

EXPERTS in achilles keeping have stated all over the place that they need VERY large tanks, and incredibly good/high flow-they are a surge zone fish, and are adapted/evolved to such an environment-they also have been shown/proven to have little to no adaptibility to conditions that are substandard to their natural needs/evolved requirements

if you didn't know how to pick one that's eating and healthy, and not enough to get him to eat/what diet it needs, what on earth makes you think you know what size tank it needs? or that you're qualified to make that judgement based on the knowledge you have ? saying it's a large enough tank in your limited to no experience level won't make it so :idea:

i'll wager that fish is dead in 1-2 months or less-and it will give me NO staisfaction to know i was right

sorry if this sounds all abit harsh-but imo, you pretty much deserve it

please research before you buy-there's no reason that fish should even be collected, much less for the 'satisfaction' of someone who will see it in their house for only a fraction of it's lifespan before killing it through ignorance

if indeed, it does live, for any length of time, it will be through either sheer luck, or in spite of, not because of, how you're keeping it

 

[Anonymous]

i had a tough lesson to learn in my beginning attempts at this hobby and unfortunately killed a few critters due to my lack of gaining enough information. i have since vowed to never subject any critter to my ignorance simply because i think it's beautiful to look at in my glass box. i have gained ultra respect for the ocean's denizens and now shy away from keeping anything that is not tank raised. i realize this may not be suitable for some but it works well for me (and my conscience).

 

[cklayko2000]

well to play devils avocate - I have had an achilles in my 100g for 3+ years, it is happy, eats well, and gets along with its tankmates great.

 

[Anonymous]

Try rubberbanding nori to a rock. The broader the nori is stretched out the better. It worked great to get my Kole tang to eat. You should also soak the nori in some selcon or vitamins.

 

[Sea Turtle]

Yes, I strongly agree with the Nori. I have a yellow tang that did the same thing when I got him. He wouldn't eat anything for about a week. Then I got a clip with a suction cup on it, bought some nori a the grocery store and he went crazy over t after a day or two. Can't go wrong.

 

[Terryben]

i've had an achilles tang now for about two weeks and i've never seen him eat. i've tried flakes and frozen food but still don't see him eat anything. he's very active though and swims around a lot. is there something special these guys like to eat?

I have had a great deal of success with this tang, and have found that when a new one is not eating it will go for OSI marine or spirulina flakes. I think because OSI flakes have a very strong smell.