sailfin and achilles tang

[jamal]

i just bought a red sea sailfin tang today and i was wondering if i get an achilles tang in the same tank should i add it soon so as to lessen aggression. i know people said add them at the same time so would this be too long to wait or what advice do you have here?

[dzekunoi]

i just bought a red sea sailfin tang today and i was wondering if i get an achilles tang in the same tank should i add it soon so as to lessen aggression. i know people said add them at the same time so would this be too long to wait or what advice do you have here?

 

With all the problems you posted so far with your system I would definitely hold on adding any fish at all. Hold on on adding another tang before you sort out all the issues. As I understand achilles is a sensitieve fish, one of the hard to keep Tangs . Poor water quality can result in declining of immune system and ich outbrake.

Have you figured why your fish died?

 

As for the aggression it depends not only on order of adding fish but also on the size, size of the tank, amount of live rock.

Sometimes you will not see any aggression at all. If you see aggression - rearrange the rock. It helps.

 

Also, I would definitely reccomend you to QT all the new fish, especially tangs.

[jamal]

i am still not sure why they died but my ph is a little low. it was 8.0 when i got it tested so i need to raise it.

[SDBDRZ]

i am still not sure why they died but my ph is a little low. it was 8.0 when i got it tested so i need to raise it.

 

8.0 is not unreasonable low, my tank has been at 8.0 for months with no effect on fish or corals.

 

As far as the achilles goes, I would hold off on adding that fish.

Edited February 12, 2007 by SDBDRZ

[dzekunoi]

My pH usually 7.8-8, fish are as happy as they could be.

[jamal]

i decided not to get the achilles right now. but i still need to stabalize my tank parameters

[davelin315]

I would avoid the Achilles until you get some more experience under your belt. Unknown deaths in your tank basically spell disaster for Achilles tangs. They are very difficult to keep. Also, the sailfin tangs are not as aggressive as an Achilles and also have different body shapes. Typically, the tangs will spar with anyone for dominance but will settle into a pecking order. Tangs of the same body shape, however, sometimes have more difficulty in establishing an order.

 

I've had a couple of Achilles tangs over the years and have NEVER been able to keep one happy and healthy. Lee Stearns has a nice looking one, maybe pick his brain about the difficulties of the Achilles. From my understanding they are planktivores and do not do that well unless you really feed a lot. The sailfin, on the other hand, will graze an awful lot on algae in your tank. By no means am I an expert on Achilles tangs (except in the respect that I am expert at not keeping them well), but I do know they are tough!