Achilles Tang

Copperband

Copperband

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Guys does anyone own one of these? I really want one are they hard to keep any information would really be appreciated.
 
Alan is one of a very few reefers in this country that has one. He can give you more info.
 
copperband it is a difficult fish, it is more of a ws magnet than a powder blue mixed with a regal tang. I think the big factor here is a large system as they really enjoy open water swimming. They are also very aggro same family as powder blue and thus must be the last tang you add to your system. Once they settle they are the most awsum fish and will rule your tank with an iron fist. Mine only eats norri although i feed a variety of foods.
 
From what I heard and understand Adriaan, Imported a total of 8 of them with no luck at all
 
I have seen 2 come into my LFS with none making it.

Although I have seen Alans one which is stunning, so clearly its possible but best left to the pros
 
out lfs is expecting today so i will see the condition but all have been booked already.... we have only had one here before and i have yet to get an update on its progress....
 
Yip it's not an easy fish.
Firstly they don't travel well, so by the time the fish arrives at the LFS it is already struggling and stressed. As Alan says highly susceptable to white spot.
IMO your best chance would be in a tank 2M or wider. These fish like space, so putting it into anything smaller than that initially will stress it out more and that's when the problems will start of trying to fight off white spot and getting it to eat.
 
There were a total of 6 imported when i got mine, and my one is the only one that made it. What i did, is when they arrived i saw they were healthy and took the fish home immediatly and did my own quarintine in a 5ft tank. During that rperiod the fish had 2 fresh water dips. They are really shy and skittish when they come in. Again taking a chance i added my yellow and regal to the quarintine to distract the achilles and give it some confidance. The yellow and regal basically showed the achilles the ropes and by the time they all hit the main display they were all friends.
 
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still searching...... but think im going to go for a powder brown instead.... slightly easier...
 
i also wanted one of these,but after checking that they attract whitespots faster than PB's,i said leave it out & ive heared the are difficult to get to feed
 
guys what are we doing wrong? We have access to the same equipment as the euro's and yanks and they keep fish we find hard to keep. Are we getting bad quality fish imported to SA? Can't be the flight time..just as long to the US. Might it be because we generally have smaller tanks?
 
I actually disagree, as in europe becuase of space restrictions their tanks are even smaller. The Achilles is not a recomended fish to be kept in captivity as per WWM, even in the states.
 
Alan said:
I actually disagree, as in europe becuase of space restrictions their tanks are even smaller. The Achilles is not a recomended fish to be kept in captivity as per WWM, even in the states.
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i was actually impressed at the way yours is doing alan.how long have you had him for?
 
Hell i loose track of time......about 5 months i think.
 
At the last Durban Reef club meeting Northlands had one. Before that I had only seen pictures of it. It is such a pretty fish but it is a pity that it is a WS magnet.
 
Is it not also a case of travel distances with us being very far from where the achilles is distributed from so they arrive even more stressed out having been in the bag for so long?
 
Hiya, Robin, nice to see you found us.

I think that their problem like IMO the PB is that they suffer from stress a lot, struggle with other tangs etc. and don't travel well and therefore will suffer from WS initially.

Once over this initial period of adjusting (couple of months) and if feeding well, are I think almost as tough as any other fish.

Problem is that of the very few that make the trip, even less make the transition in the tank.

Definately not one to try without a lot of experience, and quite a large tank.
 
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