Firefish to timid for its own good

[pseudorand]

I recently lost one of my two firefish on vacation. They're both very timid as firefish tends to be, so I've been target feeding them with a syringe. When I went on vacation I let the auto feeder do its thing. When I got back, one of them was gone. One of them had always been more timid and never coming to the top, so I assume it was him and I assume he starved.

What can I do to get the remaining one to tussle with the clowns at feeding time? If just stop target feeding I'm afraid he'll starve. I wonder if he mightn't have survived 2 weeks without food during my vacation.

 

[FlexingFishSticks]

How long have you had the firefish ? I had the same issue when I first got my firefish. I never target fed but the wavemaker would blow some Mysis his way. It took a couple weeks but the firefish eventually came around and now swims with the clowns but is still terrified of the cleaner shrimp lol.

 

[pseudorand]

I've had them (or just the one now) for over 6 months. But I target feed every day, except on the vacation.

A royal Gramma I got at the same time has grown a lot. She still hides from the clowns, but is much more aggressive and comes to the top for food. The firefish hasn't grown much at all. I'm afraid he only gets just enough to survive.

 

[ichthyogeek]

You could "train" your dartfish by getting it to associate with an object (like a turkey baster) or sound (like tapping on the tank), so that it knows when feeding time is? It works with sharks, but I'm not sure if it works with smaller fish.

Firefish are also just naturally skittish fish. I've never seen an overly rambunctious firefish before (although I'd love to have one...)