Oreni tilefish

Mr. Acantho

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A few questions:

1. Should I buy 1 or 2?

2. Any issues this fish being with hielfrichi firefish? They look similar.

3. I heard these fish can huff & puff and sift through the sand. Will they cover my acanthos in sand?
 
A few questions:

1. Should I buy 1 or 2?
One. Even if you’re that rich they do better alone
2. Any issues this fish being with hielfrichi firefish? They look similar
Nope. I have a tile and a firefish

3. I heard these fish can huff & puff and sift through the sand. Will they cover my acanthos in sand?
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.


Warning that tilefish have a tendency to die for no apparent reason a few months after purchase. I suggest a variety of foods fed often and peaceful tank mates. They are one of my favorite types of fish when confident though.

@i cant think @Fishfreak2009 @Tcook may all have more to add.
 
Here’s my dusky that I’ve had for almost a year. It is extremely social and has no issues being hand-fed and even touched.
 
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I love tilefish too. I was debating to add a 2nd oreni a few days ago when a LFS was selling a 5” one for $350, but decided not to since my experience of having a pair wasn’t as good as having a trio.

They don’t need sand IME but they do like blowing at sand to look for food.
 
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.


Warning that tilefish have a tendency to die for no apparent reason a few months after purchase. I suggest a variety of foods fed often and peaceful tank mates. They are one of my favorite types of fish when confident though.

@i cant think @Fishfreak2009 @Tcook may all have more to add.
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

20240703_215723.jpg
 
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

20240703_215723.jpg
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.

All of mine went through full strength coppersafe treatment just fine, but they struggle through prazi and they don’t like FWD. IME, they are also more prone to flukes than anything else.

I also have kept flashing a few times. They are all different. Purple, oreni, and flashing were more nervous than others. The Flashing tiles especially love to hide.

In the wild, I read that they like to swim with anthias.
 
I agree with all of the above. My purples at like pigs. Always upfront waiting for you to feed. Like dogs. Didn’t dump on any of my meat corals. As @Slocke said they do grest for a while and then one day the could be gone for no explanation. Although I never witnessed any aggression I had them in with a few aggressive eaters. Maybe it’s what @Fishfreak2009 says to keep them with dither fish.

13176.jpeg
16860.jpeg
 
Honestly I have nothing else to add other than, oreni seem most comfortable in small groups (3-5). They also like to create burrows under the rockwork when settling in.

I’ve had 2 species in my own reefs however I have cared for 6-7 of the main species (purpureus, marcosi, chlupatyi, luteus, starki, and oreni). Generally Hoplolatilus is the hardest to get settled but once settled is gorgeous, then purpureus, luteus and oreni are skittish to start with but then as with all tilefish quickly become puppies, starki and marcosi however they are the 2 that seem to settle down the quickest.

One thing Ive found with oreni is they stay closer to the middle of the tank than other species - most of the others travel quite far up the tank; oreni and chlupatyi are the two I find stay closest to their caves though. Another thing with tilefish is that they shouldn’t be added to highly active tanks - I find they hate it. Tanks filled more so with species like anthias and wrasses are where tiles seem to thrive best. I find aggression (even if it’s not towards them) can cause them to go into hiding - it’s how I nearly lost my first flashing tilefish is because my tang went for my Foxface infront of him.

So when going for tilefish if you have any large boisterous fish like tangs I recommend avoiding them. Certain angels can also be too boisterous (I’ve personally found marcosi didn’t mind being with regal, majestic and most of the dwarf angels).
 
Honestly I have nothing else to add other than, oreni seem most comfortable in small groups (3-5). They also like to create burrows under the rockwork when settling in.

I’ve had 2 species in my own reefs however I have cared for 6-7 of the main species (purpureus, marcosi, chlupatyi, luteus, starki, and oreni). Generally Hoplolatilus is the hardest to get settled but once settled is gorgeous, then purpureus, luteus and oreni are skittish to start with but then as with all tilefish quickly become puppies, starki and marcosi however they are the 2 that seem to settle down the quickest.

One thing Ive found with oreni is they stay closer to the middle of the tank than other species - most of the others travel quite far up the tank; oreni and chlupatyi are the two I find stay closest to their caves though. Another thing with tilefish is that they shouldn’t be added to highly active tanks - I find they hate it. Tanks filled more so with species like anthias and wrasses are where tiles seem to thrive best. I find aggression (even if it’s not towards them) can cause them to go into hiding - it’s how I nearly lost my first flashing tilefish is because my tang went for my Foxface infront of him.

So when going for tilefish if you have any large boisterous fish like tangs I recommend avoiding them. Certain angels can also be too boisterous (I’ve personally found marcosi didn’t mind being with regal, majestic and most of the dwarf angels).
I also have one skunk tile in the same tank with a large angel.

A LFS is having a sale on purple tile. What do you think about having one purple and one skunk with a large angel?

Mind says no. Heart says yes.
 
I also have one skunk tile in the same tank with a large angel.

A LFS is having a sale on purple tile. What do you think about having one purple and one skunk with a large angel?

Mind says no. Heart says yes.
What species of large angel?

I have had mine with a 4-5 inch Coral Beauty, Regal Angels and Majestic Angels without issues.
 
How about mixing different tilefish?
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.
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

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