Orange or purple firefish?

Orange or purple firefish?

  • Purple

    Votes: 22 62.9%
  • Orange

    Votes: 13 37.1%

  • Total voters
    35
why can you have only one.....unless your tank is just not large enough, there are quite a few accounts of different species dartfish being kept in the same tank.
 
why can you have only one.....unless your tank is just not large enough, there are quite a few accounts of different species dartfish being kept in the same tank.

Most of the research I've done says that two will become one, even in a big tank. It would be great if I could have one of each though! Any experiences of keeping both would be appreciated...
 
search on here or post to the fish purchases sticky.

i dont know how large your system is, but i have read more than a few times that 2 dartfish of different species (i.e. one purple, one red) in the same tank can be kept peacefully, especially if added at the same time.'

maybe someone else here can chime in, as i am not any kind of experienced with these...had one that kept jumping into the overflow *due to a coral beauty I believe) and eventually i never saw it again...its probably jerky under my stand or the baseboard heater....boo. was super bummed about it.
 
Keeping 2 or more firefish is quite rare and are mostly kept in groups of three of the same type. Defiantly go purple because I have tried several orange and they hide and then starve. My first go with a purple is still alive and loves to swim right in the middle of my tank and shares a burrow with my pink strip goby.
 
been keeping the red for years.
with two they stay out more.
the purple i have now only comes out to eat then darts back in. thought they were more bold..but not mine.
 
I voted for the orange because that is my second favorite firefish/dartfish. Consider the Helfrichi firefish. This is the most beautiful of all the dartfish, in my opinion. It is more expensive. They go for $80 at my lfs. The helfrichi is similar in behavior and habits to the more common firefish.
 
Tank size would be helpful. LFS has 3 red/oranges and one purple they have kept together for a year so far in their 220 display. The reds are always out together and the purple only comes out to eat. From what i've seen, it's not because of aggression just shyness...
 
Wow, those helfrichis really are beautiful! It's a shame I've never seen them for sale in any of the fish shops near here though, I'll have to enquire.

On tank size it's a 120 US gallon 5' tank.
 
In my experience 2 will live together. Always a good idea to add to the tank at the same time an take them from the same stock tank at the LFS. This way they're more familiar with each other which will alleviate any hostility or aggression
 
Keeping 2 or more firefish is quite rare and are mostly kept in groups of three of the same type. Defiantly go purple because I have tried several orange and they hide and then starve. My first go with a purple is still alive and loves to swim right in the middle of my tank and shares a burrow with my pink strip goby.

Firefish are not mostly kept in groups of three or more. I'm not sure where you got that idea. Mostly singles. Sometimes mated pairs.

You can't make a generalization about behavior with a sample set of three fish. Ime, there's not a behavioral difference between orange and purple.

I think purples are prettier.
 
The purples certainly are beautiful, but I have always thought the red, or orange, had a subtle beauty.

I voted orange.

I have to say I'm leaning towards the orange at the moment, I agree with what you say about the subtle beauty of them. The purples are more overt, almost like they're wearing over-the-top makeup.
 
Firefish are not mostly kept in groups of three or more. I'm not sure where you got that idea. Mostly singles. Sometimes mated pairs.

You can't make a generalization about behavior with a sample set of three fish.

I should clarify that this is after talking to my LFS when I lost my 2nd orange (they have about 7 display tanks for them, where they have tried up to 20 times over the past 23 years to do orange firefish, and after their first time with a purple it worked.) Also from my research before I got my orange several sources said they are kept in groups in the wild, but rarely, unless you have at least a 125g tank you can try different species or not already bonded pairs or threes. I am not trying to generalize, but that is a large group of fish at different times, not to mention that while looking for info on a bluethroat triggerfish, the number one people said was "what color is your firefish? because if it is orange it will most likely hide until starvation." I am not trying to fight, but please don't disprove my comments as I only comment when I have extensive research about it.
Hope this helps!
 
Perhaps I have been lucky, but I have always been successful in keeping a pr of the regular firefish with either a pr of purples or a pr of helfrichs in any tank I have ever done( ranging from 50 to 156g tank) without losing one for a couple of years.

I try and get the smallest individuals possible and get them at the same time.
 
I love them both. The purple, however, looks exactly like Beaker from the muppet show. That makes him doubly-cute.
 
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