Purple Firefish question

[Bob I]

Does anyone have any anecdotal evidence regarding the survival of Purple Firefish . I bought two on Feb 8th 2004. In September of the same year, I saw only one occasionally. I purchased a new one to see if it would bring the other one out of hiding. It did bring it out, but it did not look good. Today only the new one is in evidence. That one still looks good. I have a horrible feeling the other two became worm food. Any thoughts Interestingly the Mandarin I bought one week later (Feb. 15th 2004) is still doing fine in the same tank.

[Azilla]

i thought that firefish didnt get along well with other ones of its kind???

[JTrigger]

Yep, they're best kept singly unless they're a perfect match.. I bought 3 initially, 1 died within 24 hrs, the second one disappeared within 1 wk, no stands the lone soul who's out and about constantly foraging for food.

JT

[Quinn]

What I've read suggests that they are best kept in groups. I know of a few people who had done this successfully.

[monza]

I bought two about two years ago to add to my reef. My tangs and clown had no part of the new tank mates. Had to get them out super quick, one did not survive the tang/clown assault other is super fat living in my sump. He is the only fish there.



Dave

[Bob I]

The interesting point is that they were swimming around happily one day and they appeared to get along. Then suddenly they went into hiding. They did not even come out to eat. Perhaps they became lunch for the Stenopus zanzibaricus who also hides all the time. I am not about to tear the tank apart to see what happened. I will just see how the single remaining specimen does.

[christyf5]

I had two of the red firefish (Nemateleotris magnifica). They got along fine while they were juveniles (I guess). I had them both for about a year and then noticed that one was substantially bigger than the other and would constantly chase the smaller one into hiding. I was getting worried as the little one couldn't even come out to eat. I had to feed at one end of the tank and then while the feeding frenzy carried on, I would spot feed the little firefish at the other end of the tank. Eventually the larger firefish succumbed to a dinoflagellate bloom in the water column (as did a few other fish ). The little firefish survived and never got any bigger but he certainly came out more after that. I was tempted to add another but if the same bullying was going to happen it just wasn't worth it. I had the little firefish for a total of 3 years before he jumped in June.

Everything I've read on these guys indicates that groups are best when the fish are juveniles. I guess they feel more comfortable in larger numbers. However, if they don't pair off as they get older the larger ones will kill the smaller ones until there is one firefish left (unless you have a giant tank with lots of hiding spots maybe).

Christy