Achilles Tang
Scientific Name : Acanthurus Achilles
Origin : Hawaii
Temperament : Aggressive
Temperature : 72F - 82F
Maximum Size : 9 Inches
Diet : Herbivore
Difficulty : Hard
Reef Safe : Yes
Tank Size : 100 Gallons or more
The Achilles Tang is one of the most beautiful and highly sought after fish in the surgeonfish family. Its entire body is a dark chocolate while it has a bright orange teardrop pattern near its tail. The caudal fin is also bright orange that ends in white.
Achilles tangs are found and collected mainly from the waters of Hawaii where they are found grazing on algae in groups, pairs or alone. The red tail surgeonfish and the achilles surgeonfish are some of their common names.
They are an expensive fish that can range from the mid one hundred range all the way up to four hundred or more depending on the size of the specimen. These surgeonfish are usually sold out the minute they are available so getting your hands on a specimen may be difficult.
In the wild, the Achilles tang has been known to produce a hybrid with the Goldrim tang. These specimens are always in demand and are even harder to get. As far as size goes, these surgeonfish can reach a length of 9 inches, putting them squarely near the yellow tang range.
This is an aggressive fish. Especially towards other members of the surgeonfish family or other similarly shaped tank mates such as butterfly fish. Only in the largest of aquariums should you attempt to keep more than one specimen.
The Achilles tang is a reef safe herbivorous grazer in the wild that has difficulty accepting perpared foods in captivity. Offer them a good range of foods with heavy bias on vegetable matter such as seaweed. Mysis shrimp, Krill along with special foods designed for herbivores should be offered daily. A great pellet to offer your Yellow tang would be those made by New Life Spectrum. Some good foods (* See Below) to offer are :-
When feeding them seaweed or nori sheets, simply fold the sheet, secure it with a * Seaweed Clip and stick it on the side of the aquarium. The surgeonfish should graze on it throughout the day.
In general, most people have better success with smaller specimens as they seem to adapt better than adults normally do. Which makes juveniles much harder to come by as they are usually reserved upon arrival or sold out very quickly.
They are susceptible to marine ich and lateral line erosion. Choose specimens with care and always practice proper quarantining methods for at least a month before introduction in the main aquarium.
An aquarium no smaller than a 100 gallons is the minimum requirement for the Achilles tang. However, as they are open swimming fish, they tend to do better in larger aquariums above 200 gallons.
Despite the fact that the Achilles tang is expensive and hard to care for, they are almost always sold out due to demand. If you are interested in a specimen, always go for younger fish as they have the best chance to do well in the marine aquarium due to their willingness to try new foods. Adults are usually set in their ways and can quickly starve to death.
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