Multiple Purple Firefish?

[IPT]

Any keep more than one at a time that are not known to be a mated pair? Would like 3 for my 120 but not sure if it's safe.

 

[Titans_Reef]

Your 120g is big enough that if they do get aggressive towards eachother, they can swim somewhere else. Ive kept 2 purple firefish that were not a mated pair before. They died because I had a bobbit worm in my tank and during 2 WC, one at a time they swam into the hole where the bobbit was lol. I took out the worm from my tank but I replaced the firefish with a hoveens wrasse.

 

[el aguila]

Purple fire fish are a little more aggressive than the regulars. I would recommend that you do a search here on RC on them. Most peoples experience will tell you that it won't work unless you happen to get very lucky and get a male/female pair.

I love their coloration and tried 2. A local LFS had several in one of their larger frag tanks. It looked like there were 2-3 pairs that had paired up. However when we tried to pull one pair out they got all mixed up.

The 2 that I took home hung out together in my 190 for about a month. Then all of a sudden all hell broke loose and the larger one started chasing the small one until it holed up permanently.

I've been looking for a pair ever since in an LFS, but like mine, just because they are swimming together due to the shock of captivity doesn't mean that they are a true pair. It might be possible to purchase a large group, and the dominant male might "fall in love" before he kills all of the others off, but it is not something that you can count on.

 

[eatbreakfast]

A 120g may not be big enough for 2 that are not a pr. In some cases the dominant one will drive the submissive one into hiding or the other side of a tank, but other instances they will kill the submissive one. This can occur in even huge tanks. In a 10ft 1000g aquarium a dozen firefish went in, and over the course of 3 months whittled themselves down to a pr that have now been there for 2 yrs.

 

[johnike]

My three dwindled to one over a couple years time.

 

[degibson84]

I had two regulars in a 220. I only have one now. It only took about 2 weeks before the one never "woke up"

 

[snorvich]

A 120g may not be big enough for 2 that are not a pr. In some cases the dominant one will drive the submissive one into hiding or the other side of a tank, but other instances they will kill the submissive one. This can occur in even huge tanks. In a 10ft 1000g aquarium a dozen firefish went in, and over the course of 3 months whittled themselves down to a pr that have now been there for 2 yrs.

Exactly.

 

[Fish Biscuit]

I found what I hoped to be a pair of Helfrichi & took a chance. All was good for 3 months & they even showed spawning behavior. One day all hell broke loose with chasing & the other hiding. It got so aggressive the nastier of the 2 chased the timid one from underneath my button only to chase it some more.

The next night the aggressor was relocated & now lives in fear of an occ clown who doesn't bother it at all, you know what they say about paybacks.....

 

[IPT]

okay, sounds like it's a no go. Thanks guys.