Achiles and powder blue tangs

[Ol Studly]

Hi All.

I'm looking at getting these two tangs soon (as soon as I finish cycling my qt tank). I've read they are harder to keep then other tangs. Does anyone have any tips on them? Thanks.

Studly

[Pik]

How big is your tank? Most tang needs a lot of swimming space. The powder blue is a hard one to find that's healthy.

To give you a better idea, tell us about your tank and we can give you a better fitting tang for your tank.

Pik

[Doug1]

The Achilles and the powder tangs are not the easiest, they need long tanks to swim in and are prone to stress induced ich, like most tangs. They are not good candidates for midsize tanks, esp fairly new ones. They need lots of room and good diet to thrive

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I dont advocate holding marine creatures for ransom but......since you asked
Doug, plank owner
http://hellreef.homestead.com/index.html

[rayjay]

First of all,unless you have a heck of a large tank please don't put the two in the same tank. They both need a lot of swimming room, and they're both very territorial, to the point that one will likely kill the other.
Both choices are favorites of mine, and I had quite a time with each, going through parasitice stages many times with the powder and 3 times with the achiles. Unfortunately I lost the powder after a couple of years, but the achiles is going strong now and doesn't have problems any more.

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ICQ #30079114
Ray's Reef

[Ol Studly]

Hi Guys. Thanks for the replies. Here's my current setup. A 180 with w/d, berlin skimmer, red sea wavemaker, ice cap hood w/ 4 72" vhos. It's been running 15 months. I'll soon be going to an ecosystem setup. It's at my lfs now, just have to get it home and installed. Current inhabitants are: tangs (purple, sailfin, yellow, kole and hippo), a juv. emperor angel, mandarin, foxface, 2 banggai cardinals, 2 percula clowns, blue and domino damsels, 6 line wrasse plus assorted inverts. The angel will be going to a 125 FO I'm trying to get set up (still at the lfs, too) since I'm trying to move the 180 to a full reef. The angel is likely the most delicate fish I've tried. He's doing fine; growing well and even starting to change colors a bit. Water quality stays good except my nitrates stay pretty high (60ppm). It's probably the w/d causing this. Hopefully the ecosystem will alleiviate this problem.

Studly

[Kinesthesia]

Wow, I would really like to have a Powder Blue as it is my "dream" fish, so I always read "Tang" threads. And people seem to go nuts when you talk about adding a 2nd tang, and you want to go from 5 to 7. I'm new and don't know much yet, but I'm anxious to read the responses based on what I've read in the past.

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I was sure that anything this expensive and addicting was illegal... I keep waiting for the ATF to kick my door down and grab my protein skimmer...

[Pikaboo]

Well... If you want to turn the 180 into a reef, then I'm sorry to tell you that you have way too many fish for a reef tank. Actually, I kinda think you have too many fish in that tank just for a FO tank. I wouldn't get any additional fish unless you want to move about half of it out. Having 15 fish in a 180 is very crowded. Especially these are big fish.

How long have you had the mandarin?

[Ol Studly]

I've only had the mandarin for a week. He's the newest adition. Haven't seen him since I put him in. I've got about 130 lbs. of rock so I think he'll be ok.

Studly

[FishDaddy]

Studly,
I have to agree with Pikaboo and the others in that IMHO you already have too many fish, especially the Tangs when they reach maturity. I would recommend transferring a couple of the Tangs to the 125 FO to keep the fish bioload down in your 180 reef .
How big are your fish now?
Dick

[Ol Studly]

The purple is the only one that's close to full size and easily the biggest fish in the tank. The rest of the tangs run 2"-4".The angel is the same size as the purple. I was already planning on moving the angel to the 125. I'm planning to put a lion or a strawberry grouper in the 125 too, so the purple is probably the only other fish large enough to not become lunch.

Studly

[Alice]

Hi there;

It's not just the space the tangs will need in your tank, it's also going to be a matter of how much they eat (and poop). Tangs make a lot of waste, waste=nitrates, nitrates in a reef is not good.

You've also got to look at the aggression factor. Your tangs are small right now (except for the purple) but even now I'd bet you're seeing some squabbling. When they grow to maturity, you're probably going to have an all out war on your hands. I know a 240 that tried 4 yellow tangs, wanted a school, the largest picked the others off one by one. You may not have tangs of the same sp. in your tank but they will still be conspecific as to body type and they will all be competing for the same food source.

I have a maroon clown and a small yellow tang. People will come over and say "Oh look; isn't that cute, they're friends" because they hang out together most of the time. Not so, watch their behavior closely and you will see that each is only trying to keep an eye on the closest competion for dominance in the tank. They squabble at the smallest provocation.

Maybe you can trade some of your fish for corals if you still want a full reef.

~Alice

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Reefkeeping is my life; I can't afford a hobby too!

[Doug1]

Wow thats 5 tangs and a foxface(related) That is a hell of a fishload even for a 180. Aas these things mature look out. High nitrates and overcrowding stress is gonna be a factor at some point. The new filter you re getting mah help water quality somebut it isn't the only answer. Reef tanks don't as a rule support high fishloads like this, best bet is fewer or smaller fish that actually graze or something useful. A 180 while being a good sized tank isn't infinite in its ability to support large territorial fish. I hope to have a 180 at some point to keep an Empereator and a Sohal tang, maybe a few blennies or goby types but that it, Both these fishes can grow over 12" and require the best of care. You might want to search out past threads re: tangs and tank size, a few have been epic in scope and give good insite into tang behaviour, Good Luck

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I dont advocate holding marine creatures for ransom but......since you asked
Doug, plank owner
http://hellreef.homestead.com/index.html

[Peter_]

Don't let these shakes go on...its time we had a BREAK FROM IT!!!

-Veteran of the psychic wars, Soft White Underbelly, circa 1982

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-Peter

Corals always respond by opening naturally...

[Peter_]

Burn out the day, burn out the night, I can't see no reason to put up a fight...

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-Peter

Corals always respond by opening naturally...

[This message has been edited by Peter (edited 02-06-2001).]