anyone have an orange spot filefish?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12253252#post12253252 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Greg Hiller
>I can guarantee u the Mr hiller does not have that fish in his tank<

I can guarantee you that he does. :D And has had the fish for about 4 years now (just checked my notes), and the fish has eaten nothing other than Acropora, Pocillipora, and Hydnophora. Does not touch LPS, or Montipora. Won't take any prepared or frozen or live foods. It was originally in my 110 for about a year or so before I shut that tank down and moved everything into my 400 G. Dozens of people have seen this fish in my tank, so please let's not say it is a figment of my imagination. :rolleyes:

How does false info like this get spread around? I've also tried adding a second fish to mate up with the first. My understanding is that Joe Y. at Atlantis has successfully done this in the Atlantis reef tank.



I got a hold of a second filefish and had him in my frag tank and he/she? fattened up. Once it was healthy I introduced it into the 400 G with the resident filefish. Unfortunately, they did not seem to get along as the new filefish went into hiding and was never seen again.

I'm surprised of the mentions above of people adding one to a large tank and having so many problems. My fish seems to spread any damage around to all the colonies, and other than keep the polyps retracted, doesn't really cause any damage. My pair of golden angels cause a lot more damage, eating tissue at the base of some Acro colonies (and NO it's not the AEFW flatworms).

There are some shots of my 400 gallon in this thread, but they are a bit dated, there's been a lot of growth from that time.

http://www.bostonreefers.org/totm/2006Fall/

The front page of my old web page has some photos of the fish. (greghiller.com) There was someone at my place just a few weeks ago that made a little video of the tank, and as I recall by turning out some of the lights at the end of the shoot we were able to get the fish to do the standard 'perch' that they when they are getting ready to sleep. Mine sleeps in it's choice of staghorn Acroa. I believe they got this all on film.

FWIW, if you ever dive in the Indo-Pacific you know that this fish is extremely common, there's one hovering over just about every Acropora you will see. Someone in my club recently compared them to hummingbirds....good analogy.

Let me state my position again on this fish....if you have 100 gallon or larger system with a lot of Acros or Pocillipora, and don't mind having the polyps retracted, go for it. Don't expect the fish to take any prepared food of any kind. Also, you will need to get the fish quickly from a shop (or mailorder) as they are not likely to feed it Acros for you. :) They are still available in the hobby. I saw one at a shop just a week ago.

I stand corrected!- LOL

We recently tried one in a 375 full sps and had to be removed in days due to damage.

I guess the point i was trying to make is certainly this critter can and will demolish any smallish tank on its way w/o problems.
And its not an everyday every tank type of fish. i

Its a shame that it is still offered in our LFS since the average reefer will buy this fish only to see him die and or wither away w/o proper diet.

Congrats on your marvelous fish and hoping your polyps are plentyfull.
;)
 
Thanks Greg for that update. I have to say I'm a big fan of your Aqua delight! It's one of my favorites and probably the best acro I have. Hardy, grows fast, fantastic color it just does not get any better then that. A true all star! Keep up the good work!
 
>Is it your observation that they are "light" eaters? Has "nature" found a way to balance their appetite with the growth and health of corals.<

My experience is that they never spend any significant amount of time on any one coral. They move from coral to coral every 10-15 seconds or so. They eat Pocillipora pretty happily. Lots of people have WAY more Pocillipora in their tanks than they need. Brown Pocillipora in these parts is REALLY easy to come by. ;)

>How would you go about removing a fish like this? <

If you have a branching coral it will perch in it at night. You might end up hurting the fish that way though as it will be 'cocked' in place. Really though, these fish are pretty poor swimmers. They are not hard to catch at all. They don't tend to be very timid in my experience. If one filefish is being terrorized by another though, that's a different situation. I was not able to find the new filefish after the old one spooked it (story was mentioned earlier).

>We recently tried one in a 375 full sps and had to be removed in days due to damage.<

That really surprises me. Did you actually have damage that you could quantify? I mean was there an Acropora with big chunks missing? Or were the polyps just retracted and you got worried. In the FWIW department, Acropora in the wild usually only extend their polyps at night.

>I'm a big fan of your Aqua delight!<

It's grown into a nice big table in my tank...even with the filefish! ;)
 
We recently tried one in a 375 full sps and had to be removed in days due to damage.<

That really surprises me. Did you actually have damage that you could quantify? I mean was there an Acropora with big chunks missing? Or were the polyps just retracted and you got worried. In the FWIW department, Acropora in the wild usually only extend their polyps at night.

Greg a little bit of both- this fish went into a tank that also has multiple BF(double saddleback/as well as large angels)
The fish just kept at one particular stag that has been at my friends tank for 5-6 years w/o taking a break for a good while thus the decision was made.

As far as pocci I wish that would be the targeted sps LOL.
 
>The fish just kept at one particular stag that has been at my friends tank for 5-6 years <

So there was significant damage done to this coral? Parts of it were dead?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12282795#post12282795 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Greg Hiller
>The fish just kept at one particular stag that has been at my friends tank for 5-6 years <

So there was significant damage done to this coral? Parts of it were dead?
Froim your experience I gather that is not the case(damage) his stint in the tank was short lived thus no visible damage, although it certainly look like it was well on its way.
:rolleyes:
 
Great discussion. I am surprised only a few people have ever had one on here, let alone still have one in their tank. Again, I don't think I would ever try it even if I had a large SPS system, but I am glad to hear you have had success Greg. Its just ashame that I still see these beautiful fish for sale in the LFS, although much less frequently than 10 years ago. I remember when I first started with saltwater fish 16 years ago, I bought every "pretty" fish I saw, including the orange spot filefish. After going through a couple hundred dollars of fish I couldn't keep alive, you learn your lesson. I buy a new fish once every few years now!
 
>thus no visible damage<

Now I understand. No polyp extension---> conclusion: must be bad --> fish must go.

Anyone out there that is ever considering this fish. Please, before you put it in your tank, take a deep breath and repeat to yourself three times...'polyp extension is not a big deal'. And Expect little to no polyp extension. Even though it's a small fish it can make the polyps retract for all the Acros in a very large system.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12298807#post12298807 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Greg Hiller
>thus no visible damage<

Now I understand. No polyp extension---> conclusion: must be bad --> fish must go.

Anyone out there that is ever considering this fish. Please, before you put it in your tank, take a deep breath and repeat to yourself three times...'polyp extension is not a big deal'. And Expect little to no polyp extension. Even though it's a small fish it can make the polyps retract for all the Acros in a very large system.

I rather like little to no polyp extension during the daytime. At night, I check my PE with a flashlight .. and it's amazing.
 
I'm surprised that your fish is able to get enough to eat, if all the corals are keeping their polyps retracted. Have you noticed any skeletal damage at all, or does it just nip at the polyps themselves?
 
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