Multiple firefish

[symon_say]

I have always love this fish, and my LFS bring some beautiful firefish, i have read about aggression of firefish and that they will kill each other unless is a matted pari, but you can distinguish male from female, so is posible to have multiple firefish i'll like to add 6-7 firefish.

Tank is 140g

 

[sponger0]

Ive heard they do best in odd numbers. Like 1,3,5,7 and so on. Also they should be the same color or they may fight.

 

[rssjsb]

I have always love this fish, and my LFS bring some beautiful firefish, i have read about aggression of firefish and that they will kill each other unless is a matted pari, but you can distinguish male from female, so is posible to have multiple firefish i'll like to add 6-7 firefish.
Tank is 140g

The first part of this sentence doesn't support the last part. Being able to sex them only makes it more likely that you can keep 2, not 6 or 7. I don't think this is a harem fish.

Having said that, neither sponger0 nor I have first-hand experience with these fish, so maybe someone who has tried this will respond.

 

[symon_say]

I talk in terms of aggression, if I have 6u or 7 the aggression will be less to 1 single individual, but I don't know if this fish is like chromis that in the end you'll only have 1 or 2, for now I put just 2 that seen to hang out together in LFS maybe I get lucky and have a pair.

 

[J2T]

I had tried two hoping for a mated pair. They got along great for about a month or so, hanging out together and even sleeping in the same hole. The one of them got aggressive and started bullying the other. He ended up finding a hole and jumping out before I could get him out and it was too late when I found him.

I really don't think a group of them works, think its either 1 or a mated pair...though I'm honestly not sure if there is a large tank with plenty of room.

 

[Tremelle]

I have a pair of purple firefish and a pair of helfrichi firefish. Neither pair was purchased as a bonded or mated pair, but were purchased and introduced at the same time. I have not had any problems. Each pair is in a different tank.

 

[cakemanPA]

I had 3 Helfrichi Firefish in QT. I watch the 2 larger chase the smaller on around. A day later it was gone. The bigger of the 2 remaining killed the other one 3 days later. The last one found a gap in my netting at my overflow 2 days later. I won't try multiples again unless I have a mater pair. Fortunately the ones that I got were at wholesale price.

 

[snorvich]

You will end up with two. It takes a while (months not days) but more than a male + female pair will disappear.

 

[symon_say]

even if they are 10-12??

 

[J2T]

I have a pair of purple firefish and a pair of helfrichi firefish. Neither pair was purchased as a bonded or mated pair, but were purchased and introduced at the same time. I have not had any problems. Each pair is in a different tank.

How long have they been together? My two hung out and were great together and then a month or so later things got ugly. They seem to get along great at first but unless they are male and female it probably won't work out long term from everything I have read and seen.

 

[rssjsb]

even if they are 10-12??

Yes. These fish aren't like cichlids or barbs, where crowding changes the behavior. Their biology and life cycle are different.

Putting them in big groups will not change the outcome that Steve has described.

 

[andrewkw]

Hmm this thread is a little disappointing and I wish I had read it earlier. I just got a group of 5 yesterday. They were $5 each, I hate to say the cheap price influenced me but I do recall seeing some people keep groups of them.

They are in my 90 gallon garden eel tank. I was looking for some peaceful fish to keep with them. It's not really a reef and is fed heavily. All 5 are eating now so we'll see. I can always move 1 or 2 to my reef tank should they start to kill each other off.

here's a quick video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWCupX14ZQ8&feature=share&list=UUIbSWBAKI5ZcPAcLBee4NhA

 

[jfuka78]

Any success with these in a high flow tank? Is a lot of flow ok, I have around 50x in tank.

 

[smtank]

I ordered 3 very young ones and added them all at the same time. One became dominate but never overtly aggressive. This is a 28 gallon tank as well with a lot of hiding places. They lived peacefully for years until I sold the live stock.

 

[andrewkw]

I ordered 3 very young ones and added them all at the same time. One became dominate but never overtly aggressive. This is a 28 gallon tank as well with a lot of hiding places. They lived peacefully for years until I sold the live stock.

Mine are all small so maybe I will get similar results. I don't have a ton of hiding spaces despite it being a 90 gallon since I have very limited rockwork but there is still enough spots they can all have there own. I did notice 2 slept together on the sand while the other 3 hid in various spots I couldn't even find 2 of them and were convinced they found a way to jump despite the tank overflow included being 100% covered. They all came out and hung out together once the lights were on.

 

[dRockReefer]

I went from 7 firefish to 1 in a few months. None of the firefish showed signs of disease or illness before I would find them dead.

I was told they would play well in a large group. It definitely was not the case in my tank.

 

[b0bab0ey]

...for now I put just 2 that seen to hang out together in LFS maybe I get lucky and have a pair.

This is the only way I've ever gotten more than one to survive long-term together. You find two that appear to have paired and hope that's what you've got.