How active are firefish?

[Hal3134]

I used to have 2 Bangaii cardinals for visual interest in an old tank, but disliked the fact that they basically hovered in place with little movement. Now that I have a new tank setup, I was considering "replacing" the bangaii's with 2 firefish, but I'm unclear as to how much they swim about. Can anybody shed some light?

I'm also looking at a purple firefish but they are a bit more expensive.

 

[Crabs McJones]

In my experience, firefish like to hide alot. mine only comes out when its feeding time, the rest of the time she's in her little cave at the back of the rockwork.

 

[tnyr5]

It will hover in place with little movement .

 

[Sailingeric]

I have had my firefish for over year and some days he only pops out for food and other days he is out and about all day long.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Firefish are always out and about, unless they are intimidated. They are easily intimidated however. Even when out and about they dont race all over the tank , they usually just chill in open water. I love them.

Firefish do not tolerate other firefish unless they are a mated pair. Pairing is difficult so just getting one is your best bet.

 

[Hal3134]

Hmm, I'm not hearing ideal things about the firefish. Maybe a couple of zebra striped dartfish might be better for movement. I would pull the trigger on them but I'm not clear how colorful they are. The pics on LA are always the best possible, with great lighting and flaired fins; it's not a great representation of reality sometimes.

I was also looking at an orchid dottyback, but I had one in the past and he hardly ever came out of the rockwork. It was like he didn't exist except at feeding time.

 

[Hemmdog]

How about a rolands damsel. They are pretty nice, swim around a lot, relatively unique.

 

[Hal3134]

Neat looking fish, but the damsel label worries me for aggression.

 

[madweazl]

I enjoy having a few fish that remain relatively motionless amongst the others that graze or dart around. The neat thing about the firefish is how they flick their dorsal, it just adds a different motion to whole of the tank (and they're quite elegant). Gotta have a little mix of everything.

 

[James M]

My firefish is always out but only sticks to the right side of the tank.