small alien
The fungus is among us.
It's awesome. None of my fish will touch Rod's. None of them.
Oxymonacanthus longirostris - a week in review.
- Thread starter seahorsedreams
- Start date
small alien
The fungus is among us.
I take that back. My orange-tail file will eat anything. I mean anything. That guy packs some serious bio-load for a little fish.
Luis A M
Premium Member
I´d like to update my experience with this wonderful fish.Check: http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=191&t=6999
My two females have grown nice and fat.After they attained a good body condition they refused some of the foods they previously took.Now they are basically taking only Otohime C1 and seafood mix.This last I don´t even have to serve on their coral branch,just toss it in the tank!
Now at last I found two small males in a LFS.They were in pretty good shape,looking healthy and inspecting the substrate as if looking for food.
I bought the larger one and put him with the large females.I offered him some seafood mix in the old Acropora branch and he started to feed on it right away.No need to sacrifice a living coral piece as per the previous protocol.The other food he is taking so far is bbs.
As you can see experiences with this fish can be very different,and success could be related with the individual fishes or their physical condition when bought.But I think that given a tank without competition from other fish,this is not a difficult fish to keep and feed.Easier than mandarins for sure.
My two females have grown nice and fat.After they attained a good body condition they refused some of the foods they previously took.Now they are basically taking only Otohime C1 and seafood mix.This last I don´t even have to serve on their coral branch,just toss it in the tank!
Now at last I found two small males in a LFS.They were in pretty good shape,looking healthy and inspecting the substrate as if looking for food.
I bought the larger one and put him with the large females.I offered him some seafood mix in the old Acropora branch and he started to feed on it right away.No need to sacrifice a living coral piece as per the previous protocol.The other food he is taking so far is bbs.
As you can see experiences with this fish can be very different,and success could be related with the individual fishes or their physical condition when bought.But I think that given a tank without competition from other fish,this is not a difficult fish to keep and feed.Easier than mandarins for sure.
small alien
The fungus is among us.
Very interesting, Luis. Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences.
uhuru
New member
Happy 2011! My OSFF has now been in my care for over a year. He has been on a commercial diet for 1.5 yrs. To celebrate here is a new video. He is eating Roggers Reef Food with spirulina. I use a cheese grater to make it bite size for him. Once it starts playing you can choose the HD option.
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I still feed him browned out SPS when I can. Recently I gave him a larger colony, and he decided to use it to sleep in. When you see them sleep this way you realize how well camouflaged they actually are at night, especially when they take on that weird shading pattern. The interesting thing is he only occasionally nips at this colony. This leads me to believe that an OSFF that is VERY WELL FED will not do significant damage in a mature SPS tank - at least no more than an angel. Again though, this would have to be an OSFF that is adapted to prepared foods and kept full throughout the day.
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I still feed him browned out SPS when I can. Recently I gave him a larger colony, and he decided to use it to sleep in. When you see them sleep this way you realize how well camouflaged they actually are at night, especially when they take on that weird shading pattern. The interesting thing is he only occasionally nips at this colony. This leads me to believe that an OSFF that is VERY WELL FED will not do significant damage in a mature SPS tank - at least no more than an angel. Again though, this would have to be an OSFF that is adapted to prepared foods and kept full throughout the day.
small alien
The fungus is among us.
Thanks for sharing. Can you describe the tank setup?
uhuru
New member
Its a 40g oceanic "cube" that is connected to a larger multi-tank system. It is basically the fuge of the system, with a 6" mud/sand bed, caulerpa, ulva, shoal grass and 6500K MH lighting. I use a tunze nano wavebox and 6055 on "long pulse" for gentle flow but lots of water movement. Since its connected to a non-photosynthetic system it receives the same hourly feeding of baby brine shrimp, cyclopeeze, nutramar ova, fauna marin products, phyto-feast and oyster-feast.
seahorsedreams
New member
Congrats!
Mine are still cruising. They got another couple of roommates. A trio of Barnacle Blennies we've had for 3 years now. There was suppose to be 4, but the last one wouldn't come out of the old tank.
Mine are still cruising. They got another couple of roommates. A trio of Barnacle Blennies we've had for 3 years now. There was suppose to be 4, but the last one wouldn't come out of the old tank.
small alien
The fungus is among us.
Just for fun. A little video action of my pair. Cuz, well, mo' OSFF is mo' better! Hope you don't mind, Renee. 
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seahorsedreams
New member
Of course I don't mind! Thanks for sharing.
kingfisherflesh
New member
This has probably been said...but havent had a chance to read through the whole thread.
These fish are greedily excepting nutramar ova...and I have been considering buying one.
Wont happen in this tank though I dont think.
These fish are greedily excepting nutramar ova...and I have been considering buying one.
Wont happen in this tank though I dont think.
small alien
The fungus is among us.
Cool, Greg. Thanks for sharing. How are your pair doing? Ever since I read in a thread about you guys putting a lot of your animals in a single large tank, I've wondered if that has happened. Status update? :wavehand:
wayne in norway
New member
Sadly mine died some days ago - he never got the hang of captive foods and just wasted away I guess.
An observation - people who are doing well have multiple fish - is this making it easier, are the fish less stressed? I did see a fat and captive solitary example this weeked.
Another q - has anyone actually seen these eating acropora vigorously - I put frags in mine and it just seemed to suck some slime
An observation - people who are doing well have multiple fish - is this making it easier, are the fish less stressed? I did see a fat and captive solitary example this weeked.
Another q - has anyone actually seen these eating acropora vigorously - I put frags in mine and it just seemed to suck some slime
namxas
Things With Stings R Us!
Our pair is doing very well, and now share their digs with a single P. flavoguttatus anthias, and three barnacle blennies (A. balonorum).
We still have our 210 peninsula in the works, but have had some other remodeling projects eclipse the 210. The 210 will be home to our medium-bodied lions (P. radiata, P. mombassae, and P. antennata), an Inimicus japonicus, and a S. brasiliensis.
kingfisherflesh
New member
I think that their role in the wild is to eat diseased/damaged polyps...giving the corals something that actually probably helps.
In a tank they end up being confined, run out of polyps, and in starvation turn to eating ALL polyps.
In a tank they end up being confined, run out of polyps, and in starvation turn to eating ALL polyps.
small alien
The fungus is among us.
What makes you think that, kingfisher?
Thanks for the update, Greg. Cheers.
Thanks for the update, Greg. Cheers.
kingfisherflesh
New member
Just observations I have made of many animals that eat coral polyps in captivity.
When you see an angel on a reef, they dont keep coming back to the same coral, they pop a few times, and then they move on.
Same thing with my angel in captivity...it has almost killed two corals...but then moved on.
I have also witnessed it eat diseased/damaged polyps off of a favia, but never touch it before or after.
Honestly, this is more of a guess...but there is a pair of these orange spotted pipefish at the Aquarium of the Pacific, and in talking to their aquarist (after sitting awhile and observing) I fronted the question to him, and he said that they had never noticed considerable damage to any one colony.
Maybe it is just the size of the tank...or maybe my theory plays into it...but I think that these fish are more maintainers of the reef rather than eaters. (Not saying they dont eat the polyps, just saying that it might actually serve a beneficial capacity)
small alien
The fungus is among us.
Interesting ideas. I did see mine nip at a mini-carpet anemone and it was the one of the four I have that was not doing well. They nip at my Montipora spongodes and it has always appeared very healthy. My guess would be they eat (rather than maintain) the reef but they often focus on weakened animals. Hard to say. Fun to speculate.
