ELECTION
Did you mail order this fish and would you recommend mail order this fish? Are there captive-raised/bred specimen available and where? No/No
Any tips on how you picked a healthy specimen of this species from LFS? What do you think is the ideal size to get? I chose a medium sized one - about 3 inches - and one that was eating well.
Are there any noticeable differences in body shape, pattern or color among the same species or between juvenile and adult of this species? I think they all differ in color and the intensity of the color
Is there a way to tell the sex of this fish? I think the males have horns and teh females don't, making mine a female
ACCLIMATION AND INTRODUCTION
Any special tips about the acclimation and introduction of this fish? I acclimated it him teh newb way, adding some water from teh tank into the bag every 10 min for 1.5 hours
Any special needs for this fish or special considerations for young specimen? No
Should this fish be the first or the last to introduce to a tank? Depends on other inhabitants
COMPATIBILITY
What tankmates do you have with this fish?Is it a reef or FO tank? Queen Angel, Maroon Clown, Undulated Trigger, Picasso Trigger, Yellow Tang. FO Tank
Have you had more than one of this species in the same tank? If so, is there a certain male/female ratio or group number worked for you (to have a harem or pecking order)? Do they school? No
Have you had other species of the same genus/family in the same tank? no
What’s the stocking order (considering the above factors) that worked for you? Maroon Clown, Yellow Tang, Picasso Trigger, Lionfish, Undulated, Queen
Did this fish hurt/eat any of other fish (or vice versa)? no
Did this fish hurt/eat Cnidaria (corals, mushrooms or anemones)? no
Did this fish hurt/eat ornamental crustaceans (shrimps, hermits, crabs)? don't think so, think it was mostly the triggers
FEEDING
How did you get this fish to eat at first? took freeze dried krill the first day
If this fish only accepted live food, how did you wean it over to prepared food? --
What’s the diet? mysis shrimp, freeze dried krill, frozen krill, frozen squid
How much and how often do you feed? once a day
How does this fish eat?(grazers, active or sedentary predators, sand sifters, etc) - lunges at it and inhales it
GROWTH RATE AND LIFE SPAN
What is the initial size of your fish and maximum size it reached? How fast did it grow (how much growth over a given period of time)? 3 inches to begin. Almost 13 inches now. About 1.5 years
What size tank did this fish live in? (or how soon did this fish outgrow what size tank)? What do you think is the minimum tank size required for an adult specimen of this fish? 75 gallons, but mine is too big for it now, either getting a larger tank, or giving him to someone responsable nearby
If this fish went through body pattern change from juvenile to adult, was the change complete? How long did it take? Colors have varied from dark red to light red
How long have you kept this fish? If you no longer have this fish, what was the cause? 1.5 years - still have her
What is the longest lifespan and the maximum size of this fish in home aquarium and/or in the wild reported? not sure
DISEASE AND TREATMENT
What disease has this fish had? How did you treat it, for how long? What's the effect of the treatment? Ick - UV steralizer - worked well
BEHAVIOR
Does this fish change body color under any circumstances? not really
How active is this fish? Is this fish shy? mostly just hovers, not shy
How territorial or aggressive is this fish? How does this fish interact with tankmates? only aggresive when the trigger trys to steal his krill
Did this fish ever jump out of the tank? no
How does this fish sleep? with his head down, used to sleep vertically, but now hes too big
Does this fish allow cleaners to clean? If so which cleaner and how often? --
How does this fish interact with human? always watching me,
Any other interesting observation of this fish? her eyes always follow me
REPRODUCTION
If you have a mated pair, how did you get them to pair up? no
Any information of spawning in captivity? no
SUMMARY
Your overall assessment of this species - Love this fish, one of my favorite, always get great reactions over her.
How sensitive is this fish to poor water quality on a scale of 1-5? 2 or 3
1 - very tolerant, may survive a cycle in a new tank
2 - quite tolerant, may survive accidental ammonia or nitrite spike
3 - not terribly sensitive to reasonable pH, salinity or temperature changes
4 - sensitive to any significant water chemistry changes, and may show stress during such changes
5 - very sensitive to water quality, may easily get stressed and get sick with any change in water chemistry
Would you recommend this fish to beginners? depends on tank size and what they want to keep, but if they are prepared, yes
Any other recommendations/comments? not really
If you have any picture(s) of this fish you took, please post it here and share with us!
