Purple Firefish - Adding Another

William Morris · May 19, 2018

I have one Purple Firefish that is about 2-1/2" long.
Well established in my 32gal Biocube - bought it about 5 months ago.
Don't know if it's a male or female.
Was thinking of adding two more Firefish.

Good or bad idea?

eatbreakfast · May 19, 2018

Bad idea. Firefish are intolerant of conspecifics in captivity, unless they are a bonded pr.

BoBoBREWSKI · Jul 2, 2018

My two firefish (regular and purple) get along just fine in my 13.5 gallon tank. They ignore each other.

eatbreakfast · Jul 2, 2018

BoBoBREWSKI said:
My two firefish (regular and purple) get along just fine in my 13.5 gallon tank. They ignore each other.

How long have you had them?

BoBoBREWSKI · Jul 2, 2018

eatbreakfast said:
How long have you had them?

Both together, about a month. I had the purple firefish first, then added the regular firefish a few weeks later.

eatbreakfast · Jul 2, 2018

BoBoBREWSKI said:
Both together, about a month. I had the purple firefish first, then added the regular firefish a few weeks later.

Let us know past 6months.

BoBoBREWSKI · Aug 3, 2018

Another month has gone by and my two firefish are still getting along fine. I've never seen them be aggressive towards each other yet. They pretty much ignore each other. They seem to have established their own territory. The purple firefish mostly stays on the right side and the regular firefish mostly stays on the left side of the tank. They both go all over the tank when its feeding time.

BoBoBREWSKI · Oct 22, 2018

Update - Both my firefish (purple and regular) still get along fine, never battle. In fact, they seem to get along better, they swim together/next to each other more and more.

I bought a Royal Gramma a few days ago and today I found him dead. Looks like his rear fin has been bitten off. Do you think one of my firefish did it? Maybe they are trying to protect their caves that the Royal Gramma was hanging out in? The only other fish I have is a small blue/green chromis.

eatbreakfast · Oct 22, 2018

Still have 3months to go...

jsc2087 · Oct 22, 2018

I have a purple and a regular fire fish (with two clowns) in a 65 gallon for about a year now, I have not had any trouble. I know my tank is twice the size of the biocube, so i don't know if this is any help, but I just figured I would share my positive experience.

BoBoBREWSKI · Oct 22, 2018

eatbreakfast said:
Still have 3months to go...

Nope. I've had them 5 months. 1 month to go until your "let us know past 6 months".

suta42 · Oct 22, 2018

BoBoBREWSKI said:
Nope. I've had them 5 months. 1 month to go until your "let us know past 6 months".

I realise eatbreakfast’s reply may have sounded pretty black and white, but unfortunately many of us who have tried this long term ie over a few years, have experienced exactly that.

I had a pair of CI helfrich for about six years. They were large adults at time of purchase, shared a bolt hole from day 1, and were never more than 4-6” apart in open water.

Had these been juveniles I would have been nervous for the first year. Why you ask? Young individuals don’t seem to have punch ups that adults do and often share a hole. Plenty of anecdotes about sexually mature individuals turning on a weaker individual. In the process the loser can have a fatal injury eg broken jaw... pretty crappy outcome for the fish.

Just something to keep in mind.

Hope that helps.

shred5 · Oct 22, 2018

suta42 said:
I realise eatbreakfast’s reply may have sounded pretty black and white, but unfortunately many of us who have tried this long term ie over a few years, have experienced exactly that.

I had a pair of CI helfrich for about six years. They were large adults at time of purchase, shared a bolt hole from day 1, and were never more than 4-6” apart in open water.

Had these been juveniles I would have been nervous for the first year. Why you ask? Young individuals don’t seem to have punch ups that adults do and often share a hole. Plenty of anecdotes about sexually mature individuals turning on a weaker individual. In the process the loser can have a fatal injury eg broken jaw... pretty crappy outcome for the fish.

Just something to keep in mind.

Hope that helps.

Yea I have tried long time ago and no go..

It is possible with a pair or possibly a large tank but I have seen very few cases where it works out long term..

Jesterrace · Oct 22, 2018

eatbreakfast said:
Bad idea. Firefish are intolerant of conspecifics in captivity, unless they are a bonded pr.

Agreed and in a 32 cube there isn't enough room for them to get away from each other. It's made worse by the fact that his current one has been established for several months and will view any new firefish as a threat/competition.

BoBoBREWSKI · Oct 22, 2018

Any thoughts on this?
I bought a Royal Gramma a few days ago and today I found him dead. Looks like his rear fin has been bitten off. Do you think one of my firefish did it? Maybe they are trying to protect their caves that the Royal Gramma was hanging out in? The only other fish I have is a small blue/green chromis.

Jesterrace · Oct 22, 2018

Hard to say if it was the Chromis or Firefish that did it. Firefish are generally considered among the most cowardly fish in the hobby, but there have been some rare examples of them being super fiesty/aggressive. Chromis have been known to be aggressive, but usually it's just to each other.

shred5 · Oct 22, 2018

BoBoBREWSKI said:
Any thoughts on this?
I bought a Royal Gramma a few days ago and today I found him dead. Looks like his rear fin has been bitten off. Do you think one of my firefish did it? Maybe they are trying to protect their caves that the Royal Gramma was hanging out in? The only other fish I have is a small blue/green chromis.

No way it was a firefish they are one of the most peaceful fish. My RG pounds on my firefish.
Chromis can be mean but I doubt it was him too.