sailfin desjardini tang safe?

[Aardvark1134]

So I have seen alot of large tanks with a sailfin desjardini tang. It seems to be half the people say they are great fish as long as you have a 8ft or bigger tank and lots of people that say when they get big they one day kill half the stuff in your tank. Are these safe to keep in a tank with some angles, dwarfs, clowns, and blue tang? Or will you wake up one day 5 years from now to find half your tank dead? Again 360 gallon tank

 

[Timfish]

Well, gotta say I've never heard they will kill off a lot of fish. One problem though I've seen is fish can become a lot more teritorial as they mature. With tangs that seems to be around the 5 or 6 year mark. It also seems to be worse with a group of conspecifics which often happens with Zebrasoma spp. Indivivdual personality also is a factor and I've often advised aquarists need to be always ready to rehome fish at any time no matter how long they've had fish. Feeding can also be a potential cause for problems. When I rehomed this veliferum sailfin he casued a lot of problems, switching from feeding a once a day to two autofeeders small amounts 8 times a day improved his behavior almost overnight. As one of my desjardini tnags is close to 2 decades old and not a problem I wouldn't hesitate to get another.