Tell me everything you know about the orange spotted filefish

[Areeflover]

Hey guys I'm interested in getting a pair of orange spotted filefish. But I want to hear everyone's exoerexpees with them good and
bad

 

[noahreefer]

I know these fish eat coral if I’m thinking of the right fish but other than that I have no experience with them

 

[Halal Hotdog]

Beautiful fish. Can be stressed easily to death by large more aggressive fish. During feeding you have to be mindful of this fish eating well, it can easily be out competed by more aggressive eaters. Small mouth=smaller pieces of food. Does not need a lot of room, I would say a 50 gallon or so should be more than enough. You should expect it to nip at corals.

 

[Areeflover]

Beautiful fish. Can be stressed easily to death by large more aggressive fish. During feeding you have to be mindful of this fish eating well, it can easily be out competed by more aggressive eaters. Small mouth=smaller pieces of food. Does not need a lot of room, I would say a 50 gallon or so should be more than enough. You should expect it to nip at corals.

Him dang I want to put a pair in a 25 lagoon

 

[pcon]

If you are asking about the orange spot filefish here you are not ready for one. They are for sure, on the list of fish, that should be left in the ocean, by all but true Experts. Most professional aquarists cannot keep them alive. They are obligate corallivores, subsisting near exclusively on acropora slime. Success generally is in either massive SPS tanks with sufficient growth to satiate their appetites, or in 50-70gal tanks with feeding 10+ times a day. A few expert hobbyists have claimed to crack the code on keeping them in these smaller tanks and training them to subsist on typical aquarium fares. The most credible of these hobbyists refuse to share their secrets as to prevent inexperienced people driving up the demand on these expert fish.

This is really only a fish for the kind of aquarist who has many years of experience and confidence with the classic "Do Not Buy Fish" and after years of success and research really wants to try to push the envelope.

The information, on how to successfully keep these fish, is out there, it isn't hard to find if you know how to look. I am not particularly interested in these fish and I stumbled across it unintentionally a couple years ago. I would recommend anyone seriously interested in these fish, researching the people who had the first captive breeding success, with the two (sub?)species the long nose and short nose. Though the endeavor of simply keeping them alive should only be undertaken by those well prepared.

 

[Areeflover]

If you are asking about the orange spot filefish here you are not ready for one. They are for sure, on the list of fish, that should be left in the ocean, by all but true Experts. Most professional aquarists cannot keep them alive. They are obligate corallivores, subsisting near exclusively on acropora slime. Success generally is in either massive SPS tanks with sufficient growth to satiate their appetites, or in 50-70gal tanks with feeding 10+ times a day. A few expert hobbyists have claimed to crack the code on keeping them in these smaller tanks and training them to subsist on typical aquarium fares. The most credible of these hobbyists refuse to share their secrets as to prevent inexperienced people driving up the demand on these expert fish.

This is really only a fish for the kind of aquarist who has many years of experience and confidence with the classic "Do Not Buy Fish" and after years of success and research really wants to try to push the envelope.

The information, on how to successfully keep these fish, is out there, it isn't hard to find if you know how to look. I am not particularly interested in these fish and I stumbled across it unintentionally a couple years ago. I would recommend anyone seriously interested in these fish, researching the people who had the first captive breeding success, with the two (sub?)species the long nose and short nose. Though the endeavor of simply keeping them alive should only be undertaken by those well prepared.

I actually know everything you just told me. I wanted first hand experiences

 

[pcon]

If you know everything then why are you asking the randos on r2r instead of the handful of people who are know to have successfully kept them? The public aquarists, breeders and hobbyists that have had success with them will generally answer questions from people who show they are serious about keeping them.

I have first hand experiences with them in store and client tanks, from when I worked in a fish shop, as well as being friends with a couple of the aforementioned hobbyists who have had a modicum of success. What do you actually want to know? you just asked for experiences, you got what conventional experience says: Extremely difficult fish, 50gal+ min tank as they like to roam horizontally and vertically, needs near constant feeding and/or large acro supply to much on, even then low probability of success. There is not much to add unless you have a specific question.