Firefish

[Chibils]

I purchased three firefish today, acclimated them over 3 hours to my quarantine tank. They seem a bit more active than they were half an hour ago (they were huddled in a corner), so I'm a bit more confident; however, they don't seem to show any interest in the cube of brine I dropped in. I can't find my mysis (which is what the lfs feeds), so I'll try again tomorrow. Should I be concerned if they won't touch the brine? What about the mysis?

The wonderful lfs around here only give 24hr guarantees, so I hope I can entice them to eat soon...

[snorvich]

Unfortunately, in the long run, you will only have one since they don't like each other. They eat most things: mysis, flake, brine (but brine has no nutritional value).

[lecher]

Keep your tank covered. They are jumpers.

[Chibils]

It is covered; however, I've seen greater success with them in groups than singularly.

There's not a big pile of brine where the cube dissolved. I know brine isn't the best for them, but I thought they'd at least eat it. I don't know that they haven't not eaten any, but there's a ton left. And they're in another corner for the most part. They don't even seem to notice it.

[Blinkgyrl2987]

Chibils:

I have 2 fire fish and what I do is buy the flat packs instead of the cubes. You can break off a tiny little piece put it in a little cup (one you'll use all the time for this purpose) and then I let the brine or mysis thaw out a bit. Then I distribute it to the tank using a little syringe type thing. I think it was just a typical feeding syringe for like a baby bird or hamster but it works really well. This way you aren't wasting a whole cube and not too much is being uneaten and making a mess in your tank.

Give your firefish some time. I've had my 2 for over a year and they have never fought. I added them together. They eat small pieces of mysis if they can fit it into their mouth. Sometimes I give them brine that has been soaked in vitamins. I offer them daphnia ( they like it because its so tiny). They also take algae and regular flakes as well as tiny bits of algae frozen formula.

Give them some time to come around and soon they wll be pigs!

[Chibils]

There seems to be less of a mess in my QT tank than there was earlier; however, there's still a lot of brine floating around. It's a 10G tank with an AC Mini (I think they call it an AC20 now - it's about ten years old) running carbon and a sponge, and the AC seems to be producing a lot more flow than they like. Any way to cut it back a bit? Also, should I give them smaller foods than whole brine shrimp (which I'm just feeding until I can pick up more mysis, etc.)? I have some baby brine that I give my fw fish as a treat (the bigger fish in the tank don't notice/care about it so the smaller ones don't get bullied out of it) and can pick up some daphnia or anything else tomorrow. What do you all think I should go for?

[Chibils]

Overnight, they seem to have taken out the brine shrimp. I still can't find the sheet of mysis I bought, so I'm going to buy some later. Any other food recommendations?

[ivgonmad]

mine eats flakes, freeze dried plankton and brine.

[rottbo]

as far as the only one will make it theory I think its BS I have groups of them in each reef I have and have never had a problem with them they actually hang out in the groups their social behavior is awesome to watch very interesting

[fishworm]

I have 3 in my 75. the dominant one hangs out in the middle, one hangs out near the rockwork on the right side, and the other one is always hiding, and gets chased by the dominant one if it ever comes out too far.

mine eat mysis and brine and whatever else they can get their little mouths around.

[XPC22393]

From what I have read (and recently observed) the Firefish do not join in a "Feeding Frenzy" like most fish, they simply hang out and eat food that comes near them.

However we just lost ours this morning. EATEN ALIVE by hermit crabs, can anyone tell me if this has happened before or was just a freak?

[Blinkgyrl2987]

Mine sometimes can't get the mysis shrimp in their mouths. They get the smaller pieces just fine but the bigger ones they suck in a few times and then end up spitting them out. Mysis is the most nutritious though so I always give them some anyways

Does anyone know if these guys are supposed to be like clownfish in the sense that one is always bigger than the other? Or is this just because the dominant one gets bigger and eats more. My big one is substantially bigger than my small one.

Heres pics of the bigger guy sometimes he gets made when the smaller guy goes after a piece of food that he was aiming for. haha

[Blinkgyrl2987]

I have found that if the tank is very peaceful the firefish will take part in the frenzy. I only have one other blenny type fish in my 40 gallon with these two firefish and the firefish are very aggressive towards the food. I think its because they don't have to lok out for anyone though. They stay in the rocks at night and come out t=during the day and just hang about. I love them. : ]

[Chibils]

Well, my lfs gives a 24hr guarantee which expires when they close in half an hour. I still can't get them to eat (I gave them some mysis earlier). Should I try to take them back, or keep trying to get them to eat?

[Blinkgyrl2987]

it might take a few days. Mine weren't thrilled with food at first either. I would keep them. They should come around. Are they all pretty fat at the moment?

[Chibils]

They're not fat, but their stomachs aren't sunken in. They've been eating enough, but they definitely aren't fat.

Which concerns me.

[Blinkgyrl2987]

well if their stomachs aren't sunken in you can relax a bit. They should be fine. My one firefish never gets "fat". He'll eat and his belly gets full but he never gains weight which is why I've been trying new foods and soaking in vitamins. The other one however seems to have a lot of girth to him. lol. He's a pig.

Do you feed with powerheads on or off? I know mine like to see the food blowing around a bit.

[mh6i]

I've had 2 firefish (at different times, never together) and both gladly ate brine shrimp. One was more shy than the other and in general they were the shyest fish in the tank at all times. They only came out when the lights were on and went to sleep early. Both eventually died by jumping out of the tank so keep it covered!

[Chibils]

The only flow in the QT is an ACMini, but I keep it running. The food usually sinks to the bottom after 15 minutes or so, however.

[Candi]

No offense meant by this... but have you checked the water quality in your qt tank? A small tank like that, running a small/older filter... and you put in a whole cube of frozen mysis with three fish in the tank? Maybe they aren't eating because the water isn't up to par? Do they have some LR or something to hide in? If the water is questionable, or they are stressed from surroundings, that might be why they aren't eating.... get some flake/pellet/mysis add a bit of garlic and see if that helps. Mine (one in each tank) eat anything & everything.

[snorvich]

If you have more than one fish in QT, it is not really a quarantine. And with firefish, who are easily intimidated, that could be a problem.

[thefireking]

Originally posted by snorvich
If you have more than one fish in QT, it is not really a quarantine. And with firefish, who are easily intimidated, that could be a problem.

I disagree. You are first and foremost seperating them from your main tank. If you are getting 2 fish from a LFS, most of the time (at least all the LFS I go to) they will share common water in the store, so there is no reason to suddenly seperate them once you get them home unless one is obviously sick. In that case, why did you buy the fish?? ;-)

Quarantine is, again, for the health of your main tank, not to isolate each & every fish from each other. You are isolating potentially harmful material from entering your main tank until you have sufficient evidence to say the fish are healthy and free from parasites.

[Chibils]

I was QTing them from my DT, yes. Since ich takes months to die without a host. It's my first addition, so nothing would get sick, but if they are and I add fish later, that's a problem. And it's easier to feed in a smaller environment.

I check the water every day, siphon up the uneaten food the next morning (I feed around 9pm) and have pvc pipes (a 4" ID street elbow and a 3" ID tee) for them to hide in; this is also my HT, so LR would die should I need to treat it.


I did get them eating freeze-dried cyclopeeze. Is that enough to sustain them, or should I try to get them on something else? Mysis/frozen cyclops is expensive, and I get a discount on the (already-cheap) freeze-dried. Plus I don't have to thaw, rinse, etc. and they can eat it whole. All in all, a win-win situation. Will they get all their supplements from it?

[hypermikie]

I was just getting ready to mention cyclopeeze!!

Mine like it as well as, mysis (usually chopped up a little), blood worms, and flake. You can also try soaking in some of the garlic additives to entice eating.

For the record, I too bought 2 Red Firefish together and added them to my 75 which already had 1 Purple Firefish. All of mine have done nicely for months. The 2 red I believe to be Male/Female and sleep side by side in the same hole.

While out in the day the 2 reds take one end and the 1 purple the other.

[Apercula]

Is there any identifiable sexual dimorphism(sp?) in firefish?
I have 2 reds that hang together constantly, share the same hiding hole, etc. The first dorsal spike on one of them is nearly twice the length of the spike on the other one.