One. Even if you’re that rich they do better alone
Nope. I have a tile and a firefish
Probably not. Once happy they will spend most of their time at the top of your tank. They will make a burrow at the bottom but are not nearly as messy as most gobies. Probably par with the firefish.
Tilefish do better with dithers. Dartfish (especially the larger ones like zebra darts or blue darts), fairy wrasses, anthias, and chromis all male excellent choices. Frequent meals of meaty foods also help them settle in better. Definitely skip any fish that are visibly thin or have a pinched appearance behind the eyes, as they usually have been starved too long to recover. A healthy tile should look like a tube down the length of the body, even have a bit of a belly bulge, not a fat head and skinny body. Make sure you acclimate in a tank with peaceful dithers, plenty of sand, and a tight fitting lid. These guys also tend to be prone to both marine ich and especially flukes, and seem to handle hyposalinity better than copper and prazi long-term (though my current marcosi handled 45 days of cupramine at 0.5 just fine).
I too have had kept all of those except for Randalli. Do you have a picture of it? I saw one at a LFS some time ago and it was larger and different. My impression was that it was close to 8” and shaped more like a fish & not tile like.Tilefish do better with dithers. Dartfish (especially the larger ones like zebra darts or blue darts), fairy wrasses, anthias, and chromis all male excellent choices. Frequent meals of meaty foods also help them settle in better. Definitely skip any fish that are visibly thin or have a pinched appearance behind the eyes, as they usually have been starved too long to recover. A healthy tile should look like a tube down the length of the body, even have a bit of a belly bulge, not a fat head and skinny body. Make sure you acclimate in a tank with peaceful dithers, plenty of sand, and a tight fitting lid. These guys also tend to be prone to both marine ich and especially flukes, and seem to handle hyposalinity better than copper and prazi long-term (though my current marcosi handled 45 days of cupramine at 0.5 just fine).
I would also say definitely need sand, mine have all dug large burrows, and will also share burrows with the Sleeper gobies or Watchman gobies. They don't really sift sand like a Sleeper, so wouldn't bury a coral unless it was directly in front of the burrow.
I've kept tiles together and separate in the past with mixed success. Never really seen bullying, but your mileage may vary. I'm actually considering adding a second, smaller marcosi to my established marcosi since one of my LFS recently got one in. Going to give it a few weeks to settle down there before I pull the trigger to make sure it doesn't pull a "mysteriously die in the first week after arrival" that tilefish seem so prone to doing.
H. oreni seems to be collected from deeper waters, so dimmer lighting and slightly cooler water (i.e. 74-75 F vs 79-80 F ) will probably help it settle in better as well.
I currently keep Hoplolatilus marcosi, the skunk tilefish, and have kept Hoplolatilus luteus, Hoplolatilus randalli, Hoplolatilus fourmanoiri, Hoplolatilus starcki, and Hoplolatilus purpureus in the past.
Here is my current H. marcosi
I also have one skunk tile in the same tank with a large angel.
What species of large angel?
Honestly, it should be alright as that species is fairly peaceful IME.
I’ve seen it done and have done it and generally they’re like the pencil wrasses in which they just accept each other and don’t argue a ton of at all.
I have a large oreni in my tank with a few tangs (naso, powder brown, regal, yellow & purple) and he is doing great. No one picks on him, swims very confident and is an agressive eater.
Great but how long have them been together?I have a large oreni in my tank with a few tangs (naso, powder brown, regal, yellow & purple) and he is doing great. No one picks on him, swims very confident and is an agressive eater.
