My acan is a MONSTER!!!

[MrDJeep123]

So I woke up to this...

No doubt my poor parrotfish swam too close to the stingers, but still. I wasn't overly aware that the acans would actually start eating it. I'm annoyed mainly because I now have zero fish and it won't be for sometime until they can be replaced. ***.

 

[vic67]

Sorry for your loss. I've never seen or heard that. I did have one of my acans eat a dwarf cerith snail; shell and all.

 

[veselym]

we just had guy here where I live have an acan eat a mandarin

 

[fishroomlady]

so sorry for your loss I didn't know acans could do that either!

 

[MrDJeep123]

... one of my acans eat a dwarf cerith snail; shell and all.

WHAT! Amazing...
So I guess it's something that's fairly common with acans? I'm just horribly annoyed because I bought the parrotfish as a pair. When I first received them, the male looked like he wasn't going to make it. Then he pulled through. Him and the female were bonding and I was pretty excited. Then, the male jumped ship somehow. Then she was alone for a few months. They were mainly lower portion tank swimmers. They were so beautiful and so active.

 

[Tab28]

It may have been weak and died. My mandarin and citron goby rest on my acans all the time.

 

[MrDJeep123]

It may have been weak and died. My mandarin and citron goby rest on my acans all the time.

Nope. She was swimming and eating just fine the night before and since I've had her. A very active fish that sadly met her fate. :Cry:

 

[Gazog2]

Trust me she had to be sick or weakened in some way. I have had healthy Clowns host a large clump of acans without any issues. Acan do not actively feed like anemones do but they will grab on to an hold onto food that falls on them, but a healthy fish should be able to swim away with very little effort.

 

[MrDJeep123]

Well, believe it or not she was healthy. I've had her almost 6 months received her and a male from Kp Aquatics. Eating fine. Swimming fine. No parasites in tank, and no parameter issues. So yes, she was healthy. They are slow swimmers and hover a lot. So it's very possible she was stung, and pulled in. Which is what I believe to have happen consider how open the acan gets when it's lights out. I found her like that about an hour after lights on.

 

[Spongie]

I believe it and I have seen an Acan eat a hermit crab (some thought it might be a molt but I still think it was the real deal). I do have a pic of my old Plutonium Scoly eating a hermit crab shell and all. Lps don't mess around, they need food too, it's the circle of life and they don't care how much you spent on fish and invertebrates.

 

[MrDJeep123]

I believe it and I have seen an Acan eat a hermit crab (some thought it might be a molt but I still think it was the real deal). I do have a pic of my old Plutonium Scoly eating a hermit crab shell and all. Lps don't mess around, they need food too, it's the circle of life and they don't care how much you spent on fish and invertebrates.

Sadly the truth. I wonder though, how long it takes for the shell to break down. Would be interesting to know.

 

[homegrowncoral88]

Never seen this before. Pretty wierd.

 

[Spongie]

My Scoly spit the shell back out. It was laying next to the Scoly a couple days later. Like eating watermelon I guess.

 

[MrDJeep123]

My Scoly spit the shell back out. It was laying next to the Scoly a couple days later. Like eating watermelon I guess.

Oh...well that was very anticlimactic.

 

[Spongie]

Oh...well that was very anticlimactic.

I mean...it dissolved the shell in 12 minutes and grew two new scolys the next day...yeah.

 

[MrDJeep123]

i mean...it dissolved the shell in 12 minutes and grew two new scolys the next day...yeah.

WOAH!:snicker:

 

[Shep]

So I have a green mandarin and really want an acan......after seeing this thread it has me a bit worried. How common is it for acans to nom some fish?

 

[MrDJeep123]

So I have a green mandarin and really want an acan......after seeing this thread it has me a bit worried. How common is it for acans to nom some fish?

I don't think it's overly common. Or at least not overly reported.

 

[mrcoffee2]

So I have a green mandarin and really want an acan......after seeing this thread it has me a bit worried. How common is it for acans to nom some fish?

My tank has probably 10 different acans. One cluster is pretty large about 20 heads a lot of them being as big as a silver dollar. I added a Mandarin 2 months ago and no problems yet. It is also funny to watch my sexy shrimp sit right in the middle of a large heads and pick food out of it. The Acan tries to grab it and bring it in every time but the little bugger gets away easily...

I do see how they could grab and hold on to a fish for sure though with how aggressive they get when food lands on them.