Pair of Helfrichi firefish have lost that lovin feelin...

S

slojmn

Premium Member
I bought a "pair" of Helfrichi firefish from Live Aquaria some months ago...maybe 5 or so. They came in really healthy and happy, eating within 5 hours of adding them to the tank. They hung together all the time, within 2-3" of each other. After a few months I started to notice one on one side of the tank sometimes and the other on the other side. As the time has ticked by I see them more and more apart. Sometimes they are mouth to mouth in that somewhat aggressive manner I have seen other fish do with each other. They each have a bolt hole into the same rock, just different access and exit spots, hard to know if they have separate "housing" in the rock or a nest together. I am just wondering, have they lost that lovin feeling, needing to move on from one another. What do you all think??
Is this normal for a supposed "pair" of Helfrichis to not pair up for real?? They are fine together in the tank, keeping their space but occasionally together. I have no worries just curious as to other peoples experience with pairs of these fish.
 
Thats funny. I wouldnt imagine that there would be an issue if they're in one of those 60 or 70 gallons. I always see dartfish, purple's, helfrichi, red's, grouping or pairing up. Even if its at the lfs in the small tanks.
 
edwing, interesting...I know that clowens can get a new mate if the old one dies but my clowns have been paired up and spawning for years now. It just seems that the Helfrichis are not really "paired" up anymore. I liked it when they hung in mid-water together.
Justinandkrista,
Thank you for the compliment on the site :). I have the Helfrichis in the 60g...it really isn't LPS only, mostly SPS in the end...I guess I really have two mixed LPS/SPS tanks.
 
I had a pair of helfrich's. Eventually, one killed the other. And that was in a 6 foot tank. In the future, I will not consider purchasing a pair. If I were you, I'd remove one if possible. I was quite surprised that even my 6 foot tank was too small for the two of mine.
 
Well despite the anecdotal experiences on reef central from all the folks who say they can keep multiple firefish, unless you get a true mated pair, they end up hating each other. Now this may not happen in the first month, two months or even six months, but it is eventual.

Or at least it is in normal sized aquaria.

And they tend to get intimidated by other plantivores.
 
A bit OT here--
I've 2 golden butterflies (don't know if I've one of each M/F) they swim, eat together but when I feed live mussel there is no love between them and they'll defend the territory for feeding. If I feed live food more often I can see they will kill each other off.

Hopefully your pair will get back together.

btw--your tank is beautiful!
 
No, they will not get back together. One will live and the other not. Semilarvatus are wonderful fish albeit not reef safe. I used to keep a trio of them. I handled the feeding aggression by feeding in multiple locations.
 
Interesting...hmmmm, I would hate to lose one of them down the road. Catching them would be a nightmare as they bolt so fast it is impossible to catch them in my tank. Of course they picked the rock at the bottom of the tank holding up other rocks as their home. I am having the worst luck lately with fish!!!!!

I will have to mull this one over. I have another tank to put one of them in, it is just a matter of catching one, seems darn near impossible without tearing the tank apart. I suppose I could take apart that side of the tank that their rock is on. Then put their rock in a bucket and somehow separate one of them from the rock quick enough to get it isolated in the bucket, then dump that one in the other tank. Seems the best course of action. I think I have a plan for next weekend :).
 
Unfortunately, they are planktivores so a fish trap will not work. You might try resting a net near their home and leaving it there so they get accustomed to it. They are, however, incredibly fast.
 
I have a single N. helfrichi, they are definitely one of my favorite fish.

I hope your pair works out.
 
From what I've read firefish live in groups as juveniles and at some point they form pairs and no longer live communally. There are a number of reasons that you may see groups of them together in a dealers tank with no apparent problems. The large group spreads the aggression so no one individual is under constant attack, they are all juveniles, the transient nature of the inhabitants in dealer tanks prevent territories from becoming established, and you may not spend enough time really watching them to observe any aggression. The one problem with keeping them together in large groups at the dealer level is if the number dwindles the aggression can become more pronounced to the point of being lethal to some of the inhabitants. This would be most evident at the retail level where they are kept together for longer periods as opposed to wholesalers who keep them for much shorter times. I paired up a couple of small Helfrichs in 2004 and they are still together. They are in their fourth tank now (45,250,50T and now a 120H) and they still hang out together. They lived with a regular firefish and a purple firefish in the 250 along with 55 other fish ( fairy wrasses, flasher wrasses, and anthias mostly) and while they favored a certain area of the tank they were out and about everyday and didn't seem the least bit bothered by the activity of all the other tank mates. Because of their tolerance for living together in groups when younger it may seem like you have a pair only to find out you do not as they mature (as has been pointed out.) However having to acquire a pair that paired in nature in order to have a pair in captivity is certainly not an absolute. It's just risky and you have to ask yourself what are you going to do to intervene should it not work out.
 
just dave, Great info. My guess is they may not be an absolute pair. I am still a little up in the air about what to do. Thus far no real aggression at all...just the occassional mouth to mouth scenario...seemingly rare but I have witnessed it. I think I will adopt the wait and see attitude. I have a plan to separate them if needed...I just need a day to perform the "tank re-structure" to carry it out. Thankfully I have another reef tank with very mellow fish to put one of them in if need be in the future. I would guess they were just hanging out next to each other for long enough that the vendor called them a pair. Like I said before, they were always together for the first few months. Not so much anymore but sometimes they are on the same side of the cube. I guess ultimately, time will tell.
 
snorvich said:
Well despite the anecdotal experiences on reef central from all the folks who say they can keep multiple firefish, unless you get a true mated pair, they end up hating each other. Now this may not happen in the first month, two months or even six months, but it is eventual.

Or at least it is in normal sized aquaria.

And they tend to get intimidated by other plantivores.
Click to expand...

Would you say this is the same for scissortails?
 
edwing206 said:
I read that only angelfish a truly paired for life........
Click to expand...
Not true. There are many fish that pair up, and quite often not just for reproduction but rather to have a buddy who watches their back while they are eating. Foxfaces, Chelmon and Forcipiger are good examples of fish that need a lookout while they have their snout deep in a crevice to reach a tasty bite. Even same sex pairs have been observed.
I started a thread with links to scientific papers about reef fish pairs, you may want to check it out. The first paper has a pretty long list of reef fish that from pairs.

As for the firefish, they likely were not a pair, or one changed sex (not sure if these guys can).

Also, pairs can break up for many reasons...

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Ab129
Replacing a clown
Replies
11
Views
339
Uncle99
Uncle99
newlifeolsen
Mix of fish for my 150 saltwater fish only tank
Replies
0
Views
774
newlifeolsen
newlifeolsen
K
upgrading tank and need more info
2
Replies
27
Views
2K
wvned
wvned
A
Stocking Recommendations for established 92 gal
Replies
8
Views
1K
Aquado
A
K
Compatibility
Replies
3
Views
1K
wvned
wvned
Back
Top