Firefish pairing behavior question

TheStrangler · Jul 9, 2020

So I read as much as I could find here about firefish, their social or antisocial behavior, how pairs are hit or miss even when purchased as pairs. I took a plunge and ordered two helfrichi firefish hoping that they'd A) Become a pair or B) At least hang out with one another without bullying the other into hiding. I've got a backup plan in the worst case, but I wanted to get an opinion from people who've had them before.

I've only had them for two days, but to this point there has been no aggression towards one another. They're often next to each other, but do occasionally separate to explore around . One is a tiny bit more skittish than the other, and more likely to hide if I do water testing or similar, but they're both out and center ~95% of the time. I've seen zero aggression between the two, and they share a sleeping hole. I just watched a cleaner shrimp crawl into their hole and both came from across the tank to kick it out. I guess specifically what my question is, will they exhibit pair like behavior just because they could be juveniles? Are these positive signs that they'll get along long term? Or could they just be showing this type of behavior if they're juveniles or not territorial yet?

Big G · Jul 9, 2020

Great questions. But the bottom line is you just don't know if they'll pair for life. Mine were fine for months, and then bam! One went caveman on the other.

TheStrangler · Jul 9, 2020

Ah alright thank you, thats what I was concerned about. I'll keep a close watch on them for quite a while then.

TheStrangler · Jul 11, 2020

I believe that my firefish have hopped ship and has paired with my yellow coris wrasse instead

. Now they're constantly being buddies and zooming around the tank, rubbing against one another, etc. One of the two firefish is skittish like normal, the other I don't believe has ever bolted away, even during tank maintenance. I've been watching pretty carefully so that I can yank one out at the first sign of trouble, but while they aren't constantly together anymore and one hides a fair bit, I haven't seen the slightest bit of aggression. The shy one gets plenty to eat, and the two firefish still sleep in the same cave, something I don't imagine they'd do if one was bullying the other.

Fish Biscuit · Jul 12, 2020

If one is hiding it may be getting picked on already.

I bought a pair once & never again. They were good for about 6 months & even showed spawning behavior. One day it went to hell. One was hiding from being chased under a coral. The aggressor hovered over the coral & eventually chased the other out to torment it again. I had to take everything out of the tank to catch one & my friend ended up with a free helfrichi. I will never do multiple firefish again.

TheStrangler · Jul 12, 2020

Fish Biscuit said:
If one is hiding it may be getting picked on already.

I bought a pair once & never again. They were good for about 6 months & even showed spawning behavior. One day it went to hell. One was hiding from being chased under a coral. The aggressor hovered over the coral & eventually chased the other out to torment it again. I had to take everything out of the tank to catch one & my friend ended up with a free helfrichi. I will never do multiple firefish again.

I've watched them pretty closely, and it is certainly not getting picked on. It seems to be afraid of its own shadow, but the other firefish isn't showing any aggression towards it. Like I said, they still both sleep in the same hole at night together, and if a shrimp gets too close to their cave, they both team up to chase it out. At times, they'll spend 30 minutes right next to one another, and the rest of the time one is hiding or within a few inches of its cave. The other firefish is the least like any firefish I've ever seen. I've never seen it go to its hole during the daytime, only to sleep. An arm in the tank or fast movement just results in a staredown between the fish and I. The hiding firefish I believe is either because it doesn't like my yellow coris wrasse (the other loves it) or it doesn't seem to like the flow much in my tank. I had to turn off my Jebao gyre knockoff because it made both of my firefish hide. I'm hoping after a bit of time it'll come back out like it did when I first got them and they were the only fish in the tank.