harlequin filefish

tee89 · Feb 13, 2022

Hi R2R folks,

I've had a Harlequin filefish for a few months now, its feeding on mysis and oyster feast and i see it picking the polyps of my green birdsnest (not concerned, im planning on keeping LPS only system). Just wanted to see any success stories out there with these types of fish and what else I can do to provide better care overall.

thanks

JumboShrimp · Feb 13, 2022

Sounds cool— do you have a favorite photo to post?

vetteguy53081 · Feb 13, 2022

While I’ve seen many owners with no issues, I’ve equally seen many who’ve had issues with them and coral as they feed on coral and plankton in the wild
It will be a hit and miss with each individual one

tee89 · Feb 14, 2022

JumboShrimp said:
Sounds cool— do you have a favorite photo to post?

as of now i only have this picture, need to setup my tripod and run a photoshoot on this guy

tee89 · Feb 14, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
While I’ve seen many owners with no issues, I’ve equally seen many who’ve had issues with them and coral as they feed on coral and plankton in the wild
It will be a hit and miss with each individual one

Yes and I noticed theres really not much information out there about these fish. So far its eating very well, acclimated almost instantly. Since yesterday i havent seen the fish touch any of my birdsnest polyps which is nice. My concern is long term care with frozen food.

landlubber · Feb 14, 2022

tee89 said:
Yes and I noticed theres really not much information out there about these fish. So far its eating very well, acclimated almost instantly. Since yesterday i havent seen the fish touch any of my birdsnest polyps which is nice. My concern is long term care with frozen food.

i've always admired them as a photo the harlequin filefish was/is on one of the salifert test kits i used to use.
does your system have any aiptasia? i'm not even sure if these guys eat them?

JumboShrimp · Feb 14, 2022

Very beautiful/exotic looking. Enjoy!

tee89 · Feb 14, 2022

landlubber said:
i've always admired them as a photo the harlequin filefish was/is on one of the salifert test kits i used to use.
does your system have any aiptasia? i'm not even sure if these guys eat them?

no aptasia in my system, i doubt they eat aiptasia though. they are stunning, i literally decided to go full LPS with my system, however ive been very lucky to get this one feeding on mysis and roe, so the little sps i do have are untouched as of today.

landlubber · Feb 14, 2022

tee89 said:
no aptasia in my system, i doubt they eat aiptasia though. they are stunning, i literally decided to go full LPS with my system, however ive been very lucky to get this one feeding on mysis and roe, so the little sps i do have are untouched as of today.

i totally agree. one of the most beautiful fish for sure. best of luck with it

tee89 · Feb 14, 2022

landlubber said:
i totally agree. one of the most beautiful fish for sure. best of luck with it

thank you I'll need it

Tchung23 · Feb 15, 2022

I want one so bad!!!!

tee89 · Feb 18, 2022

update - 2 of the most finicky eaters, smashing on mysis shrimp.
Note: Something i noticed, Harlequin filefish on a rare occasion will try to pick on your shrimps. if you have a big enough cleaner shrimp it should be fine, but smaller ones will get destroyed. hope this helps anyone who plans on getting one.

YeetReef · Feb 18, 2022

Hello Tee89. I have kept orangespotted filefish and found that for coral wise they will eat sps polyps
(of course) and some lps polys personally but it depended on the size of the lps frag or colony. SO lets say if you had a tiny torch frag my pair would sometimes try and attempt to pick on it when it wasn't fully open however if it was a bigger colony they wouldn't touch it at all. Also just trying to mix diet is always great. Mysis, fish eggs, some flake foods, live bbs (but only as a treat, or used for weaning) and their are also specific corallivores dried food that you can attempt to get them on. Some people use mass stick but personally I haven't had luck with it. Also in the tank I like to add red gracilaria when possible for them.

tee89 · Feb 18, 2022

YeetReef said:
Hello Tee89. I have kept orangespotted filefish and found that for coral wise they will eat sps polyps
(of course) and some lps polys personally but it depended on the size of the lps frag or colony. SO lets say if you had a tiny torch frag my pair would sometimes try and attempt to pick on it when it wasn't fully open however if it was a bigger colony they wouldn't touch it at all. Also just trying to mix diet is always great. Mysis, fish eggs, some flake foods, live bbs (but only as a treat, or used for weaning) and their are also specific corallivores dried food that you can attempt to get them on. Some people use mass stick but personally I haven't had luck with it. Also in the tank I like to add red gracilaria when possible for them.

Hi YeetReef, thanks for the details. Yes, definitely seen the fish pick at my birdsnest, but one thing i noticed was keeping it fed few times a day helps saving the SPS. I've tried feeding live BBS and it was not interested at all. I feel like at this point the fish only takes roe and mysis (only hikari mysis). i will look into the gracilaria. I literally just got some masstick, going to try some maybe over the weekend. I dont know if its my eyes, but since I added the filefish, my birdsnest looks way better lol