Firefish

[zuri]

Hey R2R,
Tank is in trouble. Yesterday I had one firefish chase the other one into a corner all day I tried to intervene with a the net as a divider/scarecrow which worked well. Left it propped up in sand the last part of the night. IDK what is going on I missed a feed the day prior to this to be at the hospital for a newborn(NOT MINE)xD! But other than that they have hung out slept together for over a year.

Tank mates have been in for over a year. Bangai, Hovens, Starry B. I recently added 2 Amphiprion sandaracinos juvies 2 months back but they pay no attention to them. other then that what could be going on here weird side note the aggressive Firefish was missing top fin, Once he started chasing seemed alot of the fish kinda started helping chase.
I feed once a day I 1 Brine(cobalt)cube every other day and in between NLS pellets and reef frenzy dime sized I give a very small portion to my bta. am I overstocked, underfeeding?
60g LPS

 

[Brew12]

Hey R2R,
Tank is in trouble. Yesterday I had one firefish chase the other one into a corner all day I tried to intervene with a the net as a divider/scarecrow which worked well. Left it propped up in sand the last part of the night. IDK what is going on I missed a feed the day prior to this to be at the hospital for a newborn(NOT MINE)xD! But other than that they have hung out slept together for over a year.

Tank mates have been in for over a year. Bangai, Hovens, Starry B. I recently added 2 Amphiprion sandaracinos juvies 2 months back but they pay no attention to them. other then that what could be going on here weird side note the aggressive Firefish was missing top fin, Once he started chasing seemed alot of the fish kinda started helping chase.
I feed once a day I 1 Brine(cobalt)cube every other day and in between NLS pellets and reef frenzy dime sized I give a very small portion to my bta. am I overstocked, underfeeding?
60g LPS

Unless firefish are a mated pair they will tend to be aggressive toward each other. This can be mitigated if kept in larger groups. This way the aggression is more spread out. It is more surprising that they got along as well as they did for this long.

 

[zuri]

thx after reading your post I sat pondering how to get this small fish that burrows under base rock.QQ
splash and the aggressor is on the carpet xD LoL this guy not happy

 

[Salty1962]

They do require lids or screen tops.

 

[Pittsford_Pets]

Mine jumped too

 

[zuri]

lol never knew they were jumper's and yea do have a lid I had taken it off and was trying to figure out how best to get one out

 

[eatbreakfast]

Unless they are a bonded pr, firefish are intolerant of one another. Even in large groups 2 will slowly kill off the others. One of the firefish will need to be rehomed.

 

[Sterlingg]

I started w/ 3.. now down to 2 after one hopped out of tank... wish mine would pair , they swim together all day.

 

[zuri]

they offered to trade me at the LFS but I refused rather just have one who's happy then be unsure I got lucky with the jumper when rng smiles you take it no questions

 

[Jessi_reefer]

I read that you can tape a picture of another fish on the side of the tank, or add a mirror, and sometimes that helps to stop the aggression. You can take it down after awhile.

 

[PatW]

lol never knew they were jumper's and yea do have a lid I had taken it off and was trying to figure out how best to get one out

Some fish are very prone to jumping like my carpenters wrasse. Other fish rarely jump. But a simple rule of thumb is that all fish jump. I think that a screen top is Chesapeake insurance.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I read that you can tape a picture of another fish on the side of the tank, or add a mirror, and sometimes that helps to stop the aggression. You can take it down after awhile.

This works for hierarchical fish, not fish that are straight up intolersnr of their own kind.

 

[Jeff Sawyer]

I'm having the exact same issue. I started my tank in Apr, the first fish I put in were two fire fish. From May to Nov they were best buds, when you saw one the other was close by never saw any sign of aggression from either of them. However, in the last couple of weeks I noticed that one is hiding more and sometimes not even coming out when I feed them. When he does come out he looks fine no obvious signs of injury or illness.

I was watching last night and as soon as he came out of hiding the other one attacked him and wouldn't leave him alone until he went back into hiding. Not sure if it's that they were juveniles when I got them or what, but something has definitely changed in their behavior. The honeymoon is apparently over.