Helfrichi Firefish

curlykid

curlykid

New member
i special ordered one at my LFS today, and i'm pumped! my LFS ordered it through their higher quality vendor (same as LA), so i'm sure it will be higher quality than their regular orders. please share your experiences and recommendations below.
 
I love the little guys. i have 4 in my 300. i have heard they can be a little difficult. i originally started with 6 but 2 wouldnt eat in qt (but they were a little beat up when they arrived). the four remaining are great fish, they all seem to get along just fine and even seem to school some of the time. they're colorful and peaceful. they're great.

a quick video.

<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fBA3YoHAYyM?hl=en&fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
I had one and really enjoyed her. She was a very peaceful fish and ate very well from day one. She met her demise after my clowns discovered their anemone and she came to close to it. They attacked her and pushed her into the anemone right as I was watching, it was sad and there was nothing I could do.
 
For the OP: They are a beautiful gentle fish, easy to feed, and well worth their place in the right system. Also pretty bulletproof after quarantine.

IME a pair if you can get them - and not just any two thrown together at a shop - are a great addition to a quiet tank. They are always out and about and within a few inches of each other.

For launchnukes, just curious... how long have you had your four and how big are they?


HTH & good luck!
 
Thanks guys. They're all about 2" (fair size firefish, not huge, not tiny). They've been together for about 2 months or so. I know, not too long but as of now, zero aggression between them.
 
And steve, I think I've read every one of your posts about multiple helfrichis so I know I am pushing my luck but I had to try. Lol.
 
launchnukes said:
And steve, I think I've read every one of your posts about multiple helfrichis so I know I am pushing my luck but I had to try. Lol.
Click to expand...

I don't blame you. Worst case, you end up with a bonded pair but best case, all of them work. In my opinion, if there is no perceived aggression from tank mates AND none among them, it may actually work. Simply awesome seeing them in that video, enough to make me want to try the same. I assume you got them from Quality Marine?
 
Awesome fish. I've had one in my 37 gallon for close to a year now. Very pretty and different colors. I went to my LFS the other day and they had about five of them on sale for $59 each, cheapest I have ever seen them. Too bad I didn't have room for another one.
 
+1 on the carpet surfing comment. Nothing worse than seeing your prize fish all dried up on the carpet. Keep the tank covered or have lighting that is dimmable rather than the instant on style to reduce the jumpiness. Great fish otherwise.
 
tank's covered, so no worries. i love that video launch, yours look great. how much variety do these guys need to have in their diet? Is three different foods okay? (mysis, bloodworms, brine shrimp)
 
snorvich said:
I don't blame you. Worst case, you end up with a bonded pair but best case, all of them work. In my opinion, if there is no perceived aggression from tank mates AND none among them, it may actually work. Simply awesome seeing them in that video, enough to make me want to try the same. I assume you got them from Quality Marine?
Click to expand...

Thanks steve, they're too cool. I ordered them through a lfs and they said they got them from ca but I'm not sure where. im sure it was quality marine though. just not quite quality marine prices, they whacked me for a few bucks. lol.


curlykid said:
tank's covered, so no worries. i love that video launch, yours look great. how much variety do these guys need to have in their diet? Is three different foods okay? (mysis, bloodworms, brine shrimp)
Click to expand...

thanks. i'm sure that'd be enough variety. mine eat everything. I feed a mix of mostly mysis, cyclopeze, and brine.
 
So, i picked up my firefish on saturday. Yes, two, he talked me into it even though i wasn't so sure. One was clearly healthier than the other. I drip acclimated for one hour (my tank and their tanks have similar parameters), and dropped them in the tank. They looked great and were swimming together, but the rougher of the two was having some trouble keeping up. I then turned off the moonlights, and they quickly found a sleeping spot that suited them. Sunday morning. I go downstairs and look in the tank, the smaller, healthier one is swimming out and about, but the rough one is sitting in his sleepy hole. I try feeding some H2O life fish & reef to lure him out, my waspfish and the one firefish ate. So i proceed to get ready for the day, but when i come downstairs, the troubled firefish is spinning around in circles in a large cave, hitting things and extending his jaw. Then he fell to the bottom, so i proceed to flush him, i've got him in my hand, then he starts wiggling again. so i put him back in, falls to the bottom, so i go to flush again, and he dies in my hand. What a beautiful fish, so sad to see it dead. But, the other one is perfectly healthy and happy, eating just about anything but mysis.
 
it is my recollection that these are deepwater captured in Fiji. Sounds like perhaps it was not properly decompressed.
 
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