Orange spotted filefish who eats frozen food

[pecero]

I had never thought in this fish. I know how hard his food, but I didn't know he could also eat frozen food. Would it be viable to support his in a 30g aquarium without SPS?
Is a shy fish or could live with very active mates as Acanthops, damsels and clownfish?

 

[mark54321]

I have pair of those in my 120 gal., no SPS at all. Got a pair from DD, did not want to eat anything for first week, i started to worry. Second week they started to sample small brine, mysis and fish eggs. Now, three months later they are one of the most aggressive eating fish in my tank. Most of their tankmates are deepwater anthias, potters angel, royal gramma and yellow wrasse. I know 3 months is not a long term succes yet, but they got fat and look good.

 

[MondoBongo]

these guys are my holy grail fish... some day.

i actually caught the acro bug by stocking up my tank in preparation for them.

from everything i have read people have been having a reasonable amount of success training them on to frozen. some of them stick with it, others reject it for seemingly no reason after eating it for a while.

it seems like having some sacrificial acros (i have read they prefer A. millepora the most) is a good backup strategy while attempting to train them.

one thing to note, there are actually two species of file fish commonly referred to as orange spot. although when most people in this hobby refer to them, they are talking about the Harlequin File fish, or Oxymonacanthus longirostris, which is an Indo-Pacific species. NOT the Atlantic (Caribbean) cousin, Cantherhines pullus.

http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=caribbean_diving_guide&id=180
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_spotted_filefish

here are some of the better articles i've found on them:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blo...otted-filefish-have-very-selective-coral-diet
http://************.com/2011/03/04/orange-spot-filefish-impossible-challenging-captivity/
http://www.bluezooaquatics.com/resources.asp?show=371

i actually ordered the old issue of Coral magazine profiling them too, worth the back issue cost.

 

[teemee]

I've had very good success with them in the past. IMHO, the secret to get then eating is Nutramar Ova, and before long, they'll be sucking back mysis. Unfortunately you can't get ova in Canada anymore, at least I can't find it. I was hoping to try another pair but without it, I'm apprehensive to even try. BTW - I have tried w/o it with 0 success.

 

[pecero]

In one of the shops in my town I have seen eating frozen food, so it 's used , but I do not know if it will be enough for him or need to eat too corals.

I've been thinking seriously, but I think my aquarium is too overcrowded. I have 30g with 7 fish, some invertebrates, soft corals and LPS. I have not problem with the parameters, but the space is limit and maybe the C. Acanthops will be shown aggressive with he.

It's a cool fish :lolspin:

 

[MondoBongo]

Sadly it's not just Canada, you can't find ova anywhere anymore. DFS and MatineDepot keep pushing back the available date. Have been for months. Seems there are major supply issues.

 

[rlpardue]

There is a distributor in Florida who can import lobster eggs. I'm desperate for Ova but can't find it, so I'm going to roll the dice and order Dutch lobster eggs lol

 

[Mrs B]

Here is my Orange Spotted file fish,he eats mysis,reef paste and new era flake.

[URL=http://s851.photobucket.com/user/kbird197/media/Orange%20Spotted%20File%20Fish%2021st%20Feb%202015.jpg.html][/URL]

 

[pecero]

Finally I bought a oxymonacanthus eating frozen food. It takes four days in my aquarium and what was my surprise to see that eats flakes Sera too.

The fish was very thin and did not look good ( disastrous shipment from the store) but in these four days has greatly improved.

 

[joshky]

I'd love to try one of these in the future...or a pair.

 

[Dmorty217]

Females seem to last much longer than males for whatever reason