"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
That should help somewhat. I would have another tank ready in case they need to be separated.
Orange Spotted Filefish
- Thread starter Dizzle63
- Start date
"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
That sounds about like what Sanjay is doing. If yours turn out to be like mine, it might be a good idea to go ahead and get a cleanup crew organized and in place and to start slowly getting the tank used to having more and more food dumped in. I know that I wound up with ammonia spikes and some nasty bacterial mats because the tank wasn't ready for the nutrient load. Peppermint shrimp and nassarius snails might make good cleanup crew members. Maybe hermit crabs, amphipods, mysis shrimp. The good thing about the amphipods and mysis is that their population will increase to the food load. At any rate, lots of animals to eat the leftovers. A decent amount of flow to keep food in suspension, but adjustable. If the fish get weak then you'll have to turn it down for a while. It might be a good tank to also put in sun polyps, since you'll have the food in there. 
Plan on large water changes (40-50%) every couple of days for a while.
Oh, and now's your chance to get your frag farm going in case they never take to frozen foods.
Plan on large water changes (40-50%) every couple of days for a while.
Oh, and now's your chance to get your frag farm going in case they never take to frozen foods.
Sanjay
Premium Member
Well, since my name being mentioned here....
Here are some pictures of the 5 OSF ( I think 2 males and 3 F) I have had in my possession for exactly a month. These pictures were taken when I first got them, so a couple of them are a little thin.
I have not fed them any coral and they are now pretty much eating anything I throw in there... PE mysis, pacifica plankton, Hikari micro pellets, and their favorite food - caplin roe.
I have all 5 so far in a 20G tank, bare bottom and hooked up to a wet dry filter. Basically using my clownfish grow out setup. The wet dry helps to keep the ammonia in check. The tank is bare bottom so its easy to clean up excess food.
Its been a month and they have put on more weight and are all looking good. There has been no major wars breaking out so far, just some chasing and pecking.
sanjay.
Here are some pictures of the 5 OSF ( I think 2 males and 3 F) I have had in my possession for exactly a month. These pictures were taken when I first got them, so a couple of them are a little thin.
I have not fed them any coral and they are now pretty much eating anything I throw in there... PE mysis, pacifica plankton, Hikari micro pellets, and their favorite food - caplin roe.
I have all 5 so far in a 20G tank, bare bottom and hooked up to a wet dry filter. Basically using my clownfish grow out setup. The wet dry helps to keep the ammonia in check. The tank is bare bottom so its easy to clean up excess food.
Its been a month and they have put on more weight and are all looking good. There has been no major wars breaking out so far, just some chasing and pecking.
sanjay.
"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
I think you have the sexing right, Sanjay. That's three females and one male plus one other in the bottom photo, and in the second photo there are two males. I'm glad that all your took to food so easily. Congratulations!
That's a male in the Live Aquaria shot.
That's a male in the Live Aquaria shot.
Western_reefer
Reef keeper
Do you know how much it was going for?<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15639633#post15639633 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trex7
Divers Den just had one today!
LuvAngels88
New member
$29.99
iamwhatiam52
New member
How do we tell the boys from the girls?
Also, if I try keeping these beauties, is it best to try a single, a pair, or small group?
Also, if I try keeping these beauties, is it best to try a single, a pair, or small group?
"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
Again, these fish are all very individualistic in what frozen foods they will take, if they ever take frozen foods at all. The foods that Matt got them weaned onto are not the same foods that I got them weaned onto. And mine are not eating the same foods that Sanjay uses, though it's interesting that different types of eggs played a role for each of us. Mine took about 7 months before I saw them take their first mysis. The key with them is not to follow a set script, but to be very flexible and _watch the fish._ Expect there to be setbacks. When there are, try something new. Please believe me, they aren't easy fish to get to eat.
Look at Sanjay's picture here:
Male, male, female, female
The key is the anal vent covering. The male's is more orange, has a darker outline, and has lots of white spots. The female's is duller in color and has few, if any, spots. The males move this around as a communication device during courtship.
Look at Sanjay's picture here:
Male, male, female, female
The key is the anal vent covering. The male's is more orange, has a darker outline, and has lots of white spots. The female's is duller in color and has few, if any, spots. The males move this around as a communication device during courtship.
Sanjay
Premium Member
Yes, its generally hard to predict what a particular fish may take a liking to. So its good to have a wide variety of foods to feed, especially for difficult fish. My full range of food choices that I always seem to have around are
1) Mysis shrimp: different brands - PE Mysis, Hikari. They are different sizes so that helps
2) Arctic Pods from Reef Nutrition - great food that most fish have a hard time resisting
3) Fish eggs - Nurtramar Ova, Caplin Roe
4) Different Size Pellet foods - Hikari Micro Pellets, New Life Spectrum
5) Flake food - spirulina flake, others
6) Live Baby Brine Shrimp
7) Live Blood Worms
With this arsenal of food, I can usually get any fish to start eating prepared foods.
I think the other thing that often helps is that fish see other fish eating and chasing something.. they want to do it too. So having a group may make it easier to get them feeding than just having one fish.
sanjay
1) Mysis shrimp: different brands - PE Mysis, Hikari. They are different sizes so that helps
2) Arctic Pods from Reef Nutrition - great food that most fish have a hard time resisting
3) Fish eggs - Nurtramar Ova, Caplin Roe
4) Different Size Pellet foods - Hikari Micro Pellets, New Life Spectrum
5) Flake food - spirulina flake, others
6) Live Baby Brine Shrimp
7) Live Blood Worms
With this arsenal of food, I can usually get any fish to start eating prepared foods.
I think the other thing that often helps is that fish see other fish eating and chasing something.. they want to do it too. So having a group may make it easier to get them feeding than just having one fish.
sanjay
"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
Yep, though the white polka dots are easier to see and the females rarely have any. The males always have lots.
isseym328
Premium Member
I was thinking about trying a pair of these beautiful fishes out in my tank. However I do have sps in there. Is it possible that, if I feed them a certain type of food they like, they will eat that over the sps that I have? Or is this going to be a risk that I have to take?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
"Umm fish?"
Premium Member
I know that Matt keeps them in small tanks, but IMO and IME they need some swimming room. Mine are in a 4' x 1' x 1', which works pretty well for them but they use every inch of the 4', all day long. Now they aren't strong swimmers like tangs, but they do use the space.
If I wanted to put a pair into an established tank, I would be absolutely positive that I had another tank for food training, _completely_ cycled, with a large cleanup crew, and already accustomed to a large bioload (lots of food). Ammonia is hard on these fish. For that matter, you should start getting your cube accustomed to four meals a day because you _will_ be feeding that often to keep these fish. That's one of the reasons that I don't really think these fish are good candidates for SPS tanks, unless you feed the heck out of your SPS. (I do. But I'm kind of crazy.) But I still don't have mine in a coral tank.
I would also plan for doing at least one water change per day for the foreseeable future if they are in a smaller water volume. You will be dumping food into the tank. But, again, they need good water quality.
Do you have a large frag tank set up and growing well? If they never take prepared food, then you must give them a steady supply of corals. Where are those going to come from?
Do you have the time? You _have_ to watch them eat (not just dump and leave) at least four times per day until they are fat. Then you still have to feed them four times per day, but you don't have to spend as much time because you have a greater cushion if something goes wrong. It took me three months or so to get them to that point. EDIT: And, in the beginning, if I only managed three meals in a day with them, I could see them lose weight.
One thing that seemed to help them eat for me (and my experience was a little different than most others) was to have a small, non-threatening fish with them that _is_ a strong eater. It kind of seemed to help them decide what was food. But, they are _slow_ eaters at first, so that means even _more_ food so the files get their share. I started them with an absolutely tiny convict tang, believe it or not. That sucker grew _fast._ Juvenile cardinalfish seem to work well, too.
Sorry. I know these are tough questions, but the fish deserve you thinking about these issues before you buy them.
If I wanted to put a pair into an established tank, I would be absolutely positive that I had another tank for food training, _completely_ cycled, with a large cleanup crew, and already accustomed to a large bioload (lots of food). Ammonia is hard on these fish. For that matter, you should start getting your cube accustomed to four meals a day because you _will_ be feeding that often to keep these fish. That's one of the reasons that I don't really think these fish are good candidates for SPS tanks, unless you feed the heck out of your SPS. (I do. But I'm kind of crazy.) But I still don't have mine in a coral tank.
I would also plan for doing at least one water change per day for the foreseeable future if they are in a smaller water volume. You will be dumping food into the tank. But, again, they need good water quality.
Do you have a large frag tank set up and growing well? If they never take prepared food, then you must give them a steady supply of corals. Where are those going to come from?
Do you have the time? You _have_ to watch them eat (not just dump and leave) at least four times per day until they are fat. Then you still have to feed them four times per day, but you don't have to spend as much time because you have a greater cushion if something goes wrong. It took me three months or so to get them to that point. EDIT: And, in the beginning, if I only managed three meals in a day with them, I could see them lose weight.
One thing that seemed to help them eat for me (and my experience was a little different than most others) was to have a small, non-threatening fish with them that _is_ a strong eater. It kind of seemed to help them decide what was food. But, they are _slow_ eaters at first, so that means even _more_ food so the files get their share. I started them with an absolutely tiny convict tang, believe it or not. That sucker grew _fast._
Juvenile cardinalfish seem to work well, too.Sorry. I know these are tough questions, but the fish deserve you thinking about these issues before you buy them.
