Achilles Tang : A guide on keeping this rare and beautiful surgeonfish in the home aquaria

This beauty known as the Achilles tang (Acanthurus Achilles) pops up in the trade from time to time. Dark chocolate colors its entire body while a single orange teardrop is present on its spine. Its tail is a mix of chocolate, white and orange bands. Also known as the red-tail surgeonfish and achilles surgeonfish.

A highly prized fish, they hail from Hawaii and its surrounding waters. They get picked up very quickly as soon as they are for sale so finding one may prove difficult.

Not a cheap tang, juveniles sell for $100 or slightly more while adults can fetch up $300. Extra large show quality specimens go for even more, $400 and upwards.

Sadly, this tang doesn’t do all that well in captivity. They seem to be more delicate than other tangs like the yellow tang (zebrasoma flavescens) or the blue tang (paracanthurus hepatus). But that’s only part of the story, they’re not too keen on prepared foods either.

Like all tangs they are also prone to contracting hole in the head disease, lateral line erosion and are quite prone to marine ich.

Achilles tangs have been known to interbreed with goldrim tangs (acanthurus nigricans) in the wild. This rarely seen hybrid is a rare and expensive fish.

An aggressive species, they’ve been known to be hostile towards larger tank mates. They generally leave smaller fishes alone however. They do not take too kindly to sharing tank space with other tangs and are relentlessly hostile towards other achilles tangs. As always, if you insist on keeping multiple tangs always introduce them at the same time and make sure your aquarium is large enough for them.

The Achilles tang reaches 9 inches in the wild, which means a maximum length of 7 inches or so in captivity. They require tanks at least as big as 100 gallons. Larger tanks are recommended as they require ample swimming room.

Getting the achilles tang to accept prepared foods is difficult. Nevertheless, we should try our best.

They are reef safe, making them great choices for large reef aquariums. In the wild they graze on algae throughout the day so their foods in captivity should reflect this.

While they’re herbivores in the wild, they will consume a wide variety of foods in captivity. Krill, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, pellets, they take them all.

Since they feed on copious amounts of algae in the wild, we should see to it that a large percentage of the food we feed them is algae based.

Nori is a good form of algae to feed tangs. Price will vary depending on the brand you choose. Julian Sprungs Sea Veggies may be a little too pricey for some. Good quality stuff though. They come in flake form too, making feedings very convenient.

Most nori sheets are produced for human consumption, primariy as sushi wrappers. Prices vary here as well, some are cheap, some are expensive depending on quality.

A clip is normally used to secure the nori for feeding. You can buy a commercial type of fashion one up yourself. The sheets are sometimes rolled up and cut beforehand, most however, feed it as is. Once the nori is secured, stick the clip to the side of the tank, sit back, and enjoy the show.

Another good food to feed herbivores are Formula Two by Ocean Nutrition. It has an extra amount of algae in it along with a good mix of seafood, trace minerals, vitamins and more. It is available as a flake food, pellet or frozen cube.

The best flake for surgeonfish are those produced by two little fishes, Sea Veggie mixed flakes, Formula Two comes in second. A great all-rounder with a good balance of ingredients, New Life Spectrum comes highly recommended as well.

Never feed your tangs lettuce. I see this happening mainly in pet stores, probably trying to save a buck or two. Lettuce doesn’t have a place in this hobby as nutritionally its rubbish.