Oxymonacanthus longirostris pair enters a mixed reef environment

Wayne - where did you get yours from?

As for food - I've got PE mysis, Hikari mysis, nutramar ova and Cyclopeeze awaiting their arrival. I'll probably pick up some spirulina/brine shrimp too.
 
Dyrego in Kilden, Stavanger, but I would think that's a long way for you to travel. It came to there from DeJongs.
Still eating brine shrimp from the water column like crazy, and looking at other floating stuff so I have much hope. I also tried the D-D reef paste but it only seems to want to eat floating stuff. Bizarre.
 
I've had one in a glorified QT for 2 1/2 weeks now. I have a long list of stuff it won't eat (so far) but it will eat brine and small pieces of mysis out of the water column. There are a couple of acros in there, but it's ignoring them (?).

I've been feeding it at least 4 times a day - this fsh has a tiny mouth (to my eyes), and is also rather slow. It's always willing to eat tho', but I'd like to get it onto something dry and nutritionally denser.

Maybe try some Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef Flakes. Mine love them. Good luck. Any pics?
 
Monkeyfish, once you get yours eating one of those frozen foods, try soaking some small NLS pellets in the thaw juice of the frozen food they're eating and then mash them up and put them in the water column. Once mine were eating the roe, I did that with NLS pellets with great success.

You are about to embark on a really cool journey with these fish. Enjoy!
 
:bounce3: Wahoooo! "The eagle has landed." They're acclimating to the QT now.


:celeb3::celeb2::celeb2::celeb2::celeb3:

This was my first time ordering livestock on-line. DD did an excellent job packing the fish. Each was quadruple bagged (in large shipping bags) with heat packs that were still warm when I opened the box. VERY happy with DD and will order from them again.
 
They are the best, no doubt. I just ordered from them today.

Please feel free to use this thread to post your progress with your new pals if you like.

Pic?
 
I'll try and get some pics up.

This morning they ate hikari mysis and nutramar ova. Not as aggressively as I'd like, but we're off to a good start.
 
The pair continues to do well. The female had a tiny bit of white around her mouth about a week ago but that cleared. I really don't know what it was. They are both eating very well. The male chases the female some when there's food in the water. Here's a little video.

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And for those who haven't seen the QT thread, here's them eating flake back in the day.

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And pellets.

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And just a moment to give thanks for the glory that we see in our tanks every day. These orange spotted filefish are, to me, the most beautiful reef fish I have ever seen. And their behavior is equally interesting and complex. And the honor I feel for being able to have them in my home and observe them on a daily basis is very great. I hope we will all take a moment to recognize the glory of creation that dwells within ours tanks. A woo and a hoo. :)
 
And just a moment to give thanks for the glory that we see in our tanks every day. These orange spotted filefish are, to me, the most beautiful reef fish I have ever seen. And their behavior is equally interesting and complex. And the honor I feel for being able to have them in my home and observe them on a daily basis is very great. I hope we will all take a moment to recognize the glory of creation that dwells within ours tanks. A woo and a hoo. :)

+1

My pair are in their 2nd week of QT and are eating mysis, cyclopeeze and nutramar ova. They've shown some interest in NLS pellets, but haven't really eaten them with gusto yet. I plan on keeping them in QT for another few weeks to broaden their culinary palate. ;)
 
+1

My pair are in their 2nd week of QT and are eating mysis, cyclopeeze and nutramar ova. They've shown some interest in NLS pellets, but haven't really eaten them with gusto yet. I plan on keeping them in QT for another few weeks to broaden their culinary palate. ;)

Great! I was actually wondering about your fish this morning (yes, I wonder about other people's fish). Have you tried soaking the pellets in frozen food juice? And smooshing them up.
 
I let the pellets soak in a cup with the other foods, but haven't smooshed yet :). Maybe I'll try mashing them up a bit.
 
They seem to like the little tiny pieces. Do you turn off your flow and let them pick from the bottom? I think that's key as well. Cheers!
 
I don't turn off the flow, but anything they don't snatch out of the water column ends up on the bottom of the tank. They do seem to love eating of the bottom. I feed heavy and they spend 60-90 minutes chowing down intermittently. Once or twice a week I do a water change and vacuum up any leftovers.
 
Originally, I was planing on putting them in the 180 whose current inhabitants are a carberryi anthia (his friends didn't survive QT), a bluehead fairy wrasse (Cirrhilabrus cyanopleura), a copperband butterfly, one green filefish (Acreichthys tomentosus) and a Singapore angel (Chaetodontoplus mesoleucus) along with a couple of skunk cleaner shrimp.

However, due to the OSFF being small (about 2.5 inches) I'm worried about them getting enough food. Because of the anthia and fairy wrasse I feed the tank heavily 2x day, but the OSFF are slow eaters and I'm not sure how they'll fare with the competition.

I may end up with another tank just for them - which I'd rather not do, but I'd hate for these guys to end up in that great aquarium in the sky after all of the effort involved with their care... plus they're my favorite fish!
 
Mine are with some green chromis that eat very quickly and he seems to manage, but I have to feed heavily. I feed blood worms, plankton, and mysis mixed in a cup and I squeeze one big baster full, sometimes more if I see he hasn't caught anything. He likes the mysis most, but he'll eat the blood worms pretty good too.
 
I feel like mine compete well for food, but I feed heavily also with no flow so there's plenty to pick at for 10-20 minutes. I do this at least twice daily. I think they're also eating some something in my tank, maybe some sinularia and they pick at my montipora spongodes. I don't have super competitive eaters but the leopard wrasses, firefish, coris wrasse and others are pretty chompy come feeding time. The files are far from slow or feeble in a community environment. Not at all like pipes or dragonets. Also, I feed flake daily and they're one of the main consumers of that, so they get plenty. I was just looking at pics of mine from when they were in QT and they've put on considerable weight in the 10 months in my care. And, truly, they haven't been that hard to keep fed. Plus, they're very interesting community fish in terms of bahavior and looks. I can't imagine my tank without them. Also my favorite fish! :)
 
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