File fish?

ZCCRX

New member
These fish are a no-go in a reef tank right? I was finding some pretty little yellow/gold ones in the serf yesterday and my little boy asked me if we could bring one home for the tank. I told him that I wasn't sure it would be safe for the corals so we let them go. These would be a west coast Florida species of some sort. Also there was a yellow seahorse which released as well, are they a possibility?
 
filefish are obligate coral polyps eaters.
so IMHO the answer is no although it has been done but polyps are not visible in tanks ith them.
 
Filefish love corals.

Seahorses really need species-specific tanks, due to their temperate zone (and penchant for diseases at 74+) and poor ability to feed. They also suffer from hydroid attacks.
 
The filefish you are finding are either pygmy filefish, which feed on shrimps and crabs, or they may be ocean triggerfish which as young look like little yellow filefish. The way to tell the difference is look at the first dorsal fin, in the file fish there are 2 stiff spines and in the trigger there are 3. If you pick them up in your hand they usually put the fins up and you can easily see the spines. Filefish are a large group and most eat inverts from the sargassum or bottom, the coral eaters are the ones like the orangespot and some of the pacific fantails. They usually don't accept other foods, but the rest of the group will do well on any meaty frozen food like mysis.

As for the seahorse it is a lined seahorse and even though the standard is to keep them in cooler temps, recommend under 74, the surf temp in that area is 80's and above and I've kept many in my reef at higher temps. The main problem I've had is getting them to eat frozen foods. They usually don't try to eat food that doesn't move but if you have foods available or can switch them to frozen quickly they are really cool to watch. I've kept the pair I have now for 3 years in my reef at 81 deg.
 
I have had a couple of these filefish your talking about. They did unbelievable in the transition into eating prepared foods. Awesome personalities also. They are meats eaters as mentioned before.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12529943#post12529943 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by philter4
The filefish you are finding are either pygmy filefish, which feed on shrimps and crabs, or they may be ocean triggerfish which as young look like little yellow filefish. The way to tell the difference is look at the first dorsal fin, in the file fish there are 2 stiff spines and in the trigger there are 3. If you pick them up in your hand they usually put the fins up and you can easily see the spines. Filefish are a large group and most eat inverts from the sargassum or bottom, the coral eaters are the ones like the orangespot and some of the pacific fantails. They usually don't accept other foods, but the rest of the group will do well on any meaty frozen food like mysis.

As for the seahorse it is a lined seahorse and even though the standard is to keep them in cooler temps, recommend under 74, the surf temp in that area is 80's and above and I've kept many in my reef at higher temps. The main problem I've had is getting them to eat frozen foods. They usually don't try to eat food that doesn't move but if you have foods available or can switch them to frozen quickly they are really cool to watch. I've kept the pair I have now for 3 years in my reef at 81 deg.


Thanks for the great info. I will check the spines next time I go to the beach. I guess either way, they would be better in a fish only tank.
My tank hits 83 degrees at the peak of the light cycle so I probley should leave the seahorses in the ocean, too bad, there very pretty fish.
 
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