Oxymonacanthus longirostris pair enters a mixed reef environment

[pinnatus]

Do these fish (when healthy) swim well enough to avoid being sucked onto a Koralia 4 powerhead? I got a pair and the next day they were stuck to a powerhead and died soon thereafter, so first I thought they were just not good swimmers and the current in my tank was too much for them, but later I began to suspect that they weren't healthy to start with. I put them in my 240 gallon tank, with 3 K4 powerheads plus dual returns creating flow in the tank.

 

[small alien]

They are strong swimmers. I speculate that the high flow environment of their preferred natural food requires it of them. They certainly would not get sucked into a K4 if healthy. They do sleep in some odd places and I guess they might sleep wedged behind a K4, but not stuck to the intake side.

Cheers.

 

[Monkeyfish]

I agree with Small alien - Probably not healthy to begin with.

I introduced frozen formula 2 to the tank today and everyone, including the OSFF devoured it. I have yet to find anything that these fish will not eat with the exception of unsoftened pellets.

Currently my OSFF eat Hikari mysis, frozen formula 1 and 2, nutramar ova, Cyclopeeze and live blackworms. I ordered Prime Reef flakes and I imagine they'll eat that too.

 

[D5HP]

I use Safari on my Mac and I'm definitely going to be using this page monitor to verbally cue me when the Diver's Den page updates on days that the OSFF is in the sneak peek...once I'm ready. Thought I'd share with you all in case you were interested.

 

[small alien]

Neat!

 

[Monkeyfish]

AAAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!

Last night I checked on the tank before going to bed. All was well.

This morning the female OSFF is missing. Fed the tank. No fem OSFF. Looked on the floor, in the sump in the overflow... nothing. The male is swimming around flashing, looking for her. I couldn't find any remains in the tank, but if she died during the night the CUC would have let little, if anything, to find.

It's days like this that make me want to quit the hobby. Crap, I loved that fish.

Hopefully the male will do okay on his own. I'll have to keep my eye out for another female.

 

[sprintermike]

Eric,
What part of the country are you in?

 

[Monkeyfish]

NY. Long Island. Why do you ask?

 

[BlueFyre]

Sorry about your fish

 

[namxas]

That sux, but IME, these fish are fine kept singly...they actually do a bit better when not in pairs, as they don't bicker over food.

 

[sprintermike]

I agree with Namxas.
When I have had a pair, I never kept them together for long, they were always fighting over food. Plus, the male displays were not well recieved and the females always seemed stressed.
I was asking where you were Monkey, because I saw you waited for a long time for them. I don't know what you LFS situation is, but I would just pick another one up there if you really want one.
I have gotten a lot of these to eat frozen foods (still working on getting any to take flakes/pellets). In fact, I've had about an 80-90% success rate (getting them to eat frozen) in the last 3 years on several of these fish. All of the animals I got from a LFS. Mostly they were in OK shape. As long as you don't get one that is totally emaciated, and you have a QT tank were you can train one to eat frozen, I think you'll be ok.

 

[small alien]

Terrible. Bummer. The pair behavior is very cool. Mine do indeed bicker over food as you say, Greg, but it doesn't really bug me and both male and female are chunky. The male always chases the female at feeding time. Not much the rest of the time. RIP OSFF.

 

[Monkeyfish]

Thanks all. It was just unexpected as both fish appeared healthy, were eating a variety of foods and seemed to be getting along with their tankmates. Ah well. Hopefully, the male will be around for years to come.

 

[small alien]

New Video of Pair Behavior

New Video of Pair Behavior

The pair was very frisky last evening as is often the case after a water change. The male really got colored up and the female faded to some degree. Plus some really cool swimming and fin flaring. The male's fins even got a bit yellow. I hope you enjoy...the OSFF.:wavehand:


<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZNAq08xDi84?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZNAq08xDi84?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>

 

[Monkeyfish]

Very nice. I miss my other OSFF

How long have you had the starfish for?

 

[small alien]

I've had the Fromia for about 3 months. I had one before for about a year that didn't make it through a tank upgrade.

 

[Monkeyfish]

It's been about a month since the OSFF were introduced to my 180g FOWLR. The female vanished, but the male is out and about and quite plump. None of the other fish bother him, though he appears wary of the tassled filefish which is roughly 3 times his size, so a little caution may be prudent .

The OSFF no longer eats mysis. His preferred foods are Ocean Nutrition frozen formulas 1and 2, nutramar ova, cyclopeeze and live blackworms. On ocassion, he will eat flake or pellets. He generally grabs food out of the water column, but also picks at the rocks.

I'll be donating my Dardanus magistos to an aquarium later this week. Perhaps the OSFF will be more eager to pick food off the substrate without the Herminator in the tank!

 

[small alien]

How big is this Herminator? :eek1:

 

[Monkeyfish]

The crab's shell is about 8 inches wide.

This picture is about 18 months old. His shell was only about 4 inches wide when I took this.

I'll see if he'll pose for me later tonight.

 

[small alien]

Wow! That is a cool animal!!! Don't let it get on your face.