Firefish hiding

CindyKz · Apr 10, 2018

Hello,

The past few weeks my firefish has stayed in her(?) burrow all day, coming out briefly when I feed the tank at night and darting back in the moment another fish comes near her. No signs of disease and she seems to be getting enough to eat. Other occupants of the 75 gal mixed reef are:

1 Tomini tang
1 melanarus wrasse
1 fairy wrasse (C. exquisitus)
2 oscellaris clowns
1 diamond goby
1 Molly Miller blenny
1 royal gramma (G. loreto)

She used to stay out in the water column most of the time, and started retreating some time after I added the Tomini (not right away, at least a month later). She's been in the tank at least 8 months. The change in behavior was gradual.

Is the tank too full of fast movers or maybe just too crowded for her? Everyone else seems to get along, there is no fighting or chasing and my water chemistry is unchanged.

I considered adding another slow moving fish to help lure her out. Maybe a cardinal? If the problem is overcrowding I don't want to exacerbate it.

Crabs McJones · Apr 10, 2018

CindyKz said:
Hello,

The past few weeks my firefish has stayed in her(?) burrow all day, coming out briefly when I feed the tank at night and darting back in the moment another fish comes near her. No signs of disease and she seems to be getting enough to eat. Other occupants of the 75 gal mixed reef are:

1 Tomini tang
1 melanarus wrasse
1 fairy wrasse (C. exquisitus)
2 oscellaris clowns
1 diamond goby
1 Molly Miller blenny
1 royal gramma (G. loreto)

She used to stay out in the water column most of the time, and started retreating some time after I added the Tomini (not right away, at least a month later). She's been in the tank at least 8 months. The change in behavior was gradual.

Is the tank too full of fast movers or maybe just too crowded for her? Everyone else seems to get along, there is no fighting or chasing and my water chemistry is unchanged.

I considered adding another slow moving fish to help lure her out. Maybe a cardinal? If the problem is overcrowding I don't want to exacerbate it.

That is very common of firefish. The only time I ever see mine is when she comes out to eat. Otherwise she stays in her burrow. It's possible that she's intimidated by the Tomini. How long has the Tomini been in the tank? Give her time, eventually she wont be bashful anymore

Tuffyyyyy · Apr 10, 2018

I just had this same problem come up with mine. The Firefish was fine for a long time, always out and about, and then I added a six-line wrasse. Even then they were fine for months but I noticed the past week or so that she was hiding except to eat. I decided to go ahead and move her to my smaller talk and she's been out and about ever since.

GoldeneyeRet · Apr 10, 2018

Firefish is intimidated maybe by the tang, maybe by the melanarus.

It might help to add some more peaceful fish such as zebra barred or scissortail dartfish.

CindyKz · Apr 10, 2018

crabs_mcjones said:
How long has the Tomini been in the tank?

The Tomini was added in mid-late January. The firefish was fine for a while but gradually hid more and more

Prior to that she was always out and about. The melanarus was there before I added the firefish so I don't think he is the issue. The general activity level in the tank just seems to be up a notch, things were more mellow before I added the tang.

Maybe some slower moving fish would help. I'd love a stoplight cardinal or 3. I keep reading mixed opinions; some say they do better in odd numbers, some say they will just pick each other off over time.

The zebra-barred dartfish is also cool.

eatbreakfast · Apr 11, 2018

Firefish get intimidated by active fish. Unless the activity drops significantly adding other calm fish won't help all that much.

Jesterrace · Apr 11, 2018

I will never own another dartfish again. I had a Purple Firefish and a Scissortail Dartfish and both spent so much time hiding that they were simply an unwanted source of nitrates. The Purple firefish was the #1 target for aggression in my tank (Flame Angel, Red Head Salon Fairy Wrasse, Clownfish, etc.) About the only fish I added that didn't bother it much was my juvie Melanurus Wrasse. They are super skittish/cowardly beyond belief and their bright colors make them an easy target. Unfortunately you will NEVER catch the firefish to remove it. I had to wait until mine was done in by aiptasia near it's cave and then my clownfish bullied my scissortail to death.

Deinonych · Apr 11, 2018

crabs_mcjones said:
That is very common of firefish. The only time I ever see mine is when she comes out to eat. Otherwise she stays in her burrow.

Mine does the same. He used to spent a lot of time in the open, but over time has stayed in his bolt-hole for most of the day. He doesn't appear stressed, eats well and seems healthy, so I don't fret about it. I've had him nearly 5 years now.

CindyKz · Apr 11, 2018

Deinonych said:
Mine does the same. He used to spent a lot of time in the open, but over time has stayed in his bolt-hole for most of the day. He doesn't appear stressed, eats well and seems healthy, so I don't fret about it. I've had him nearly 5 years now.

Sounds just like mine...thanks for the reassuring words, that you've had him 5 years. I'll stop worrying so much.

CindyKz · Apr 11, 2018

Jesterrace said:
I will never own another dartfish again. I had a Purple Firefish and a Scissortail Dartfish and both spent so much time hiding that they were simply an unwanted source of nitrates.

With the way my wrasses and tang "go", I think that little firefish is probably the smallest source of nitrates in my tank LOL

Jesterrace · Apr 12, 2018

CindyKz said:
With the way my wrasses and tang "go", I think that little firefish is probably the smallest source of nitrates in my tank LOL

Agreed, but your wrasses and tangs give you far more for what they produce than the firefish does. I was just saying in terms of a fish that you never see is nothing more than a source of unwanted nitrates.

jd371 · Apr 12, 2018

It's common. My Firefish was the first fish in the tank. When adding certain new additions to the tank through out the years the Firefish would go into hiding. The longest was almost a month of no sighting at all. I thought for sure he starved to death, but when he started coming out again he was sporting a nice fat belly so even in hiding food does reach them to eat.