Anyone with knowledge on filefish?

[furyofthegnomes]

I have had a pair of captive bred radial filefish for about two years now. This morning when the lights came on in my tank I noticed one was hovering over a strange pile of sand. I say strange because it doesn't sit normal, it almost looks like there a gel or something in it, the sand grains don't lay flat on each other. Not only that the filefish chases other fish away from the area. I tried taking a picture of it but you can't really see anything in the sand. Could it be that my filefish laid eggs in the sand? I can't find much info out there about filefish spawning so if anyone knows anything, whether they did spawn, and if its possible to raise them, anything, please let me know. Thanks.

 

[AcroNem]

Some Filefish will lay eggs on substrate such as sand, some on rocks or even corals. It is possible that they spawned, but going to be nearly impossible to rear them unless you're ready for a serious project both in time and money.

 

[furyofthegnomes]

Lol, how serious? I would be interested in raising them but if its next to impossible... I anticipate I'll be laid off from work for a few weeks longer yet so I do have time.

 

[Surfzone]

The only thing I know about filefish are the Harliquin Files. They lay eggs on an algae patch. I can't remember if they protect the eggs or not, but according to Matt Pederson, the one who raised them found them difficult and I think he only raised two of the to maturity. I'm not saying that yours didn't lay eggs or that you can't raise the larvae, but I know that rode is a difficult one. If you want more info I can try to find the thread in a different forum and post a link.

 

[AcroNem]

I'm unsure of their larval stage duration/days to settlement, but it's likely more complex than "easier" marine fish that still take a lot of work. But I mean serious as in, several specialized systems set up for suspended fry when hatched, multiple cultures of live foods (rotating phytoplankton cultures, rotifers, nauplii etc.) to be fed consistently, some require a very specific concentration to be able to properly feed, twice daily water changes on fry and grow out systems, and losing the entire batch or at best having them end up deformed if one thing is wrong with water quality. It seriously takes up your life. Not that you couldn't do it if you really wanted to pursue it, it's just a ton of work

 

[furyofthegnomes]

Thanks for the info. I may take the plunge and try and set up a system in the future if they spawn again but right now with everything with covid I don't know if I'd be able to get everything I need in time. According to the only information I could find, which was an old article on marinebreeder.org going back to 2008 (and was actually about the bristletail filefish not the radial but both are Acreichthys), the incubation period is only 3 days. That doesn't leave me much time to get things and get things set up. I'll probably order some equipment in the near future to be ready in case they spawn again, my clownfish have started laying eggs so even if the filefish don't spawn again I could use it there. Thanks again.