Harlequin filefish, one year in my care today!

["Umm fish?"]

Well, the momentous day is upon us, fortunately with no drama. The filefish have now been in my care exactly one year and it fortunately seems like its just another day, hopefully with many more to come. Tomorrow marks another milestone of sorts: it'll be exactly 10 months since either of the fish have seen a coral.

So, without further ado, the couple from today:

For more about these fish and the past year, you are invited to my website where I've written a short article to commemorate the occasion. (For those of you that have seen it already, the only things new are two more photos from today.)

http://www.ummfish.com/index.php

 

[SDguy]

Congrats!! They look fantastic!

 

[Elysia]

Thats wonderful -- its great to see how healthy they look!

 

[uhuru]

Congratulations!

 

[andrewkw]

Congrats

 

["Umm fish?"]

Thanks, y'all! 'Tis a pretty good feeling. Now I need to get some larvae going....

 

[Varanus37]

Definitely something to be proud of. They both look great.

Bill

 

[tcmfish]

Great Job!!! :dance:

 

[Big E]

WTG that's awesome.

 

[flameangel88]

Great looking pair. Just finished reading the story from your web and what a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing.

 

[snorvich]

W O W!! That tells the story. I am truly impressed. Any progress on raising young ones? I read your very informative article!!

 

[Crustman]

Great job with a very difficult species.

 

["Umm fish?"]

Thanks, everyone. Steve: Working on breeding them is one of my priorities for the year. Last week I noticed that their courtship was pretty intense. Well, I sat there for an hour ready to steal eggs, and when the female finally spawned the male wasn't paying attention and didn't get in there. He didn't look very happy about that. But I do want to get going on it.

 

[tahoe61]

Thank you for giving Matt credit in the opening of your article. He may do things alittle differently, but I think he deserves credit for all his hard work and commitment. He has definitly faced some tough criticism for his efforts. And Congradulations on your acheivement maybe the day will come soon when hobbyist can keep this fish successfully, and you have contributed to that.

 

["Umm fish?"]

Well, it would be intellectually dishonest not to talk about Matt's achievements, especially since his work directly influenced me trying these fish. Also, his _Coral_ article is fantastic and very well-written and should be a main source of information for anyone who wants to try weaning these onto alternative foods. And that's all beside the fact that I like Matt and think he's a pretty cool guy. Hopefully I can continue down the path of replicating his work this year (with rearing some larvae) and maybe push that a step further (to rearing larvae in numbers).

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

Very nicely done. Those little files are just beautiful and it is awesome to see them in a non SPS system eating prepared foods. :thumbsup:

 

["Umm fish?"]

Thanks. I don't think there's anything wrong with having them in an SPS system. I do think it makes sense to make sure that they are eating alternative foods first, though, because I've seen pictures of them starving to death in SPS systems.

 

[jhawkor]

Beautiful. It looks like these fish couldn't have gone to a better owner.

 

["Umm fish?"]

Well, thanks. I do what I can, but I'm sure there are better.

 

[sedor]

What a beautiful little story. Congrats on your success!