Firefish, is this even possible?

[sunshine2382]

I have two firefish in my tank. one is a magnifica the other is a decora. As far as I knew these two will not and cannot breed. However, since introducing them to my tank they immediately paired up. they share a burrow and swim the tank together. I thought I had lucked out because I know that because they look similar they could have been aggressive toward one another. In the last 3-4 days the Magnifica (the larger of the two) has been staying in the burrow and only comes out to eat. the decora has been hanging around the opening to the burrow. When the magnifica comes out of the burrow the decora is not aggressive and does not chase it back into the burrow so what's up? is it possible these two have eggs? I tried searching online but there isn't much breeding info for firefish out there so any suggestions or ideas would help

tank/ water specs

75 gallon
3 GSPs
2 Firefish
1 lawnmower blenny
1 filefish

Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 15-20
phosphates 1

running sump and skimmer setup with refuge tank

 

[hotelbravo]

That sounds pretty cool. Keep us updated if you find out anything. Sorry I do not have any valuable input.

 

[gogo7]

keep your eyes open after lights out.
keep us up to date with this one...

 

[billsreef]

Since they are the same genus, it is conceivable they could spawn together. Whether or not the eggs are viable is another story....but again hybridization of such closely related fish is not unheard of.

 

[Azedenkae]

Yep, Bill's right. It is possibke, just not sure what may happen.

For the record, even fish from different genera has been known to be able to hybridize.

Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[Moort82]

It's been seen more than once. The offspring share characteristics of both. Just type in firefish hybrid in google and there is a like to a place that "builds reefs".

 

[sunshine2382]

thanks everyone It is neat to know that they can breed now it will be kind cool to see what happens

 

[kizanne]

Very exciting keep us posted.