Sailfin upgrade conserns

[jasonsingh]

I am conserned about adding my sailfin to my 180G. I have heard some pretty bad story's from my LFS owner and another one from one of her customers... My sailfin killed a kole in a 70G. It was kinda my fault because O2 got low in the tank (wish home Depot was open later lol).

That being said this book says they are the least aggressive out if all in their family and I have a hard time believing that.

What is everyone's experience with sailfins and what would you suggest I should do? Should I add him last, get rid of him, add him at the same time....

I do want to try to get smaller tangs so that I can watch them grow with the tank and to keep cost down!

All fish have their own personalities, so the book is not always correct.

 

[OrionN]

Seems a bit extreme imo. There r thousands of people who keep sailfins and similar fish in a 180 or smaller with great success but I guess it depends on your definition of success I guess

I do feed my fish a lot. My Sailfin reach 10 inches pretty quickly. Such a large fish, and other large fishes, just really look out of place and IMO does not look very natural or look good even in my 420. I am certainly not a Tang Police Officer. How a Reefer keep his fish is his business only. I just really want to point it out.
I learned a trick from a friend of mine. To SEE how a fish or a group of fishes will look in my tank in the future I would print a picture of these fishes at the correct size and tape it to the glass in front of my tank.
I highly recommended anybody who want to keep a 10+ inch fish to do this. If looking at this and you really like it then by all mean go ahead.
The absolute largest fish I have in my tank right now is a PBT at 8 inches. He reach this size from about 2 inches in 2 years. I hope he will not grow any larger because he is at about the max size of a fish I want in my tank. I would not put a fish that will be larger than that in my 320 gal tank.
A well care for Sailfin tang will reach 10 inches quickly. While Marine fish will get stunned in growth in our tank and unlikely to reach full size. If the OP and anybody else who thinks that 10+ inches fishes are fine in their tank then by all mean, get Naso And Sailfin tangs. This won’t be me.
OTOH, To all the other Reefers who commented that their Sailfin are happy and going great in a small tank, there is no way a Sailfin tang will look natural in a 90 gal tank like I had him in many years ago. While this observation is subjective, I come to this conclusion from real experiences and regrets. Red Sea Sailfin is till one of my favorite fish but I won’t get one until I have a much bigger tank than a 320.

 

[Royalreef22]

All fish have their own personalities, so the book is not always correct.

True but it seems quite the opposite for many people I think the book is simply wrong lol

 

[Royalreef22]

Definately, I'm just exaggerating a bit. We can't base good reefing decisions just on what lots of people have done before.

Lol. True but I am not referring to just anyone. There is a difference between hobbyist and enthusiast.

 

[Kalinina]

Has anyone kept both the desjardini and the velifer? I’m wondering if there is a temperament difference between the two?

I have a medium sized velifer and he is not aggressive.

 

[ca1ore]

All fish have their own personalities, so the book is not always correct.

Agree - makes 'absolutes' tricky. I have an eight inch dejardini in my 450 (was in a 265 previously). Has never been aggressive to other tangs, even other zebras, but is quite aggressive to my arm LOL. I have had much more trouble with my purple. 180 should be OK for a sailfin for a while.

 

[Royalreef22]

Has anyone kept both the desjardini and the velifer? I’m wondering if there is a temperament difference between the two?

I have a medium sized velifer and he is not aggressive.

Same family I would assume the same