hey guys i bought 8 firefishes about 3days ago and they were all out on the first day but now only 4 of them have been coming out. i checked behind my tank and on the floor and didnt find any bodies so im guessing that the other four didnt jump out. are the firefish killing each other off? i didnt see any aggression between them at the fish store but there were like 15 of them inside a little cubicle tank. is it possible that they weren't showing aggression because there was no territory for them to claim? im thinking of getting like 3 more but i wont if i know that they are killing each other off or something. any suggestions? should i get some more or should i not even try and push my luck? thanks guys.
stared with 8 firefish now down to 4??
- Thread starter Jiggz
- Start date
Peter Schmiedel
New member
You have been miss informed. Nemaleotris only lives in pairs, so even your 4 will be reducing themselves to only 2. Only young juveniles school for a very limited time.
crzy4reefs
New member
yes you have been way miss informed.........like peter said juveniles swim together but for a short time.........they are usually good in pairs or just keep one per tank...........
TWallace
New member
On a related note, do the males and females have distinguishing characteristics? I posted a thread on this several days ago but no one responded. I have one firefish and would like to get another, but I don't want to end up with two males or two females. I think I read that the males have a longer dorsal spine, like dragonets do, but not sure.
Wolverine
Premium Member
That's not really reliable. If you have two coexisting nicely, then you probably have a male-female pair.
Jiggz,
In all honesty, I would never shop at the store you got those from again. I mean that. They're out for money, and they're clearly giving out bad information. Stores like that do a lot of damage to the hobby.
Dave
yeah i think ill stay away from that store. well yesterday i didnt see any of the firefish come out. but when lights when out something caught my eye, it was one firefish dashing around the tank dieing. about 10minutes of spazzing out he died. so today im going to look for the rest of the firefish underneath the rocks, cuz i have a feeling that they're gone as well.
blstravler
Member
Is the pairing of the firefish also hold true for Helfrich's Firefish ?
If I want to get a pair would you suggest purchasing them together and not seperate?
If I wanted to mix a pair of Helfrich's with Red's in the same tank do you think they would be OK?
They will be going into a 180 gal reef with tons of room to do as they please.
TIA
Keith
If I want to get a pair would you suggest purchasing them together and not seperate?
If I wanted to mix a pair of Helfrich's with Red's in the same tank do you think they would be OK?
They will be going into a 180 gal reef with tons of room to do as they please.
TIA
Keith
Wolverine
Premium Member
I would say yes. You can always take your chances and just get two, but people are a little more hesitant to do that with Helfrichi's because of the cost.
I've seen it go either way with multiple groups of firefish in a tank that size. If they set up their territories far enough away from each other, it will be fine. If they set up shop close, you might lose one of the pairs.
Dave
blstravler
Member
Thanks Dave.
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