QT Ornage spotted filefish

FAHADREEF · Feb 28, 2022

Hello i planning on adding 2 orange spotted filefish to my display but i dont want to risk my other fish by just buying the fish and dumping it stright away in my display, My Qt is running hypo salinity with a small dose of copper will the filefish be able to handle copper and will it be okay in hypo also any tips to getting one to eat

Jay Hemdal · Feb 28, 2022

FAHADREEF said:
Hello i planning on adding 2 orange spotted filefish to my display but i dont want to risk my other fish by just buying the fish and dumping it stright away in my display, My Qt is running hypo salinity with a small dose of copper will the filefish be able to handle copper and will it be okay in hypo also any tips to getting one to eat

Well, my initial advice would be to simply avoid that species. Do you know the supply chain that would be used to get them to you? If they were collected more locally, like the Red Sea, they might do better, but if they are coming to you from the normal sites in SE Asia, my guess is they won't do well for you.

One method that can be used on these is "observational quarantine" If you have a coral frag tank with no other fish in it, you can put the filefish in there for 45 days. They can get started feeding on the corals while there.

The big issue with hyposalinity is that you may not be able to get the filefish to feed during that time, and they will starve. While you can dose these with copper, again, unless you can get them eating, they will starve before you can get them out of quarantine. Never use a "low dose" of copper - it does nothing to protect the fish, it needs to be at a full dose.

Jay