I rarely see my firefish

[danielm5]

I'm starting a new IM 15 tank (see my build thread). I've got a couple of firefish almost 2 weeks ago, however, I rarely see them.

I was told to feed them twice a day. I tried but they've never been out when I return to my home in the evening and food would go to the filter. Because of that I'm feeding them only in the morning now. Sometimes I see one of them to go out, quickly eat something, and hide I again. A few times I saw the two of them but not in the last few days. Sometimes I see one of them below the rocks but most of the time I don't see them at all. I'm feeding them Frozen Reef Plankton as recommended at my LFS.

Is this to be expected or should I be worried?

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

My purple steals food from my lionfish!! My helfrichi isnt as bold, but for my purple to steal food from a lionfish is super bold!

I was shocked when he did it. My hawk could beat him up. Your lion would eat him lol.

 

[littlefoxx]

I was shocked when he did it. My hawk could beat him up. Your lion would eat him lol.

She could but theres no way she would! I cant even get her to eat bigger pieces of my predator food she gets, have to cut it up small for her. Looks like my firefish realized shes the best behaved dwarf lion ever and takes advantage!

 

[danielm5]

These fish are super super shy. It took me a few months for my two to be out but when they are comfortable they will be out. How many do you have? If its not male/female pair there likely is bullying going on

I don't know what they are. They were together at the LFS. I haven't seen any aggression so far.. as I said they haven't been out much.

 

[danielm5]

Is the Frozen plankton fine for them? What else should I feed them? @littlefoxx @Townes_Van_Camp

 

[littlefoxx]

I feed my tank reef frenzy, algae, mysis, brine, krill, plankton, and predator food. My firefish seem to go after the algae and some mysis more than anything else. Ive got two preadators in the tank as well with other kinds of fish. These guys really go nuts for any kind of algae but keeping meaty food in is also good for them

Is the Frozen plankton fine for them? What else should I feed them? @littlefoxx @Townes_Van_Camp

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Is the Frozen plankton fine for them? What else should I feed them? @littlefoxx @Townes_Van_Camp

I feed a mix of frozen plankton, mysis, and brine. 25/25/50 ratio. Then I stir in a little bit of garlic nori. My firefish likes all of it. sounds daunting but I defrost cubes of that mix, stir them together with the nori (chopped coarse) then spread it into silicone trays and refreeze it. This way one cube feeds my entire tank.

 

[Roatan Reef]

I must have two very brave ones because Ive got them with maroons, a dwarf lionfish, angel and a marine betta that are way bigger than them. They are out all the time

Same, I only have 1, but from day 1 he was out and about. I did freak out on day 3 when I couldn't find him anywhere, turns out he was sleeping and looked dead, way up underneath the rocks. He hangs out in back right lower section most of time, but has no issue coming up front and chilling, especially when it's food time.

They do sleep when lights are off or mostly dark blues at night, and look dead...but they are not.

 

[Marty Shaw]

I'm starting a new IM 15 tank (see my build thread). I've got a couple of firefish almost 2 weeks ago, however, I rarely see them.

I was told to feed them twice a day. I tried but they've never been out when I return to my home in the evening and food would go to the filter. Because of that I'm feeding them only in the morning now. Sometimes I see one of them to go out, quickly eat something, and hide I again. A few times I saw the two of them but not in the last few days. Sometimes I see one of them below the rocks but most of the time I don't see them at all. I'm feeding them Frozen Reef Plankton as recommended at my LFS.

Is this to be expected or should I be worried?

I’d give it 2-3 weeks. But they startle easily so don’t expect to see too much of them

 

[danielm5]

I'm very sad to say that this morning I've found one of them out of the tank. Last night I cleaned the tank. It must jumped out without me seeing during that. Everyone told me they're jumpers but I didn't think it'd happen in this way.