Yellow assessor--great fish!

I have a yellow and I just added a blue two days ago. Yellow is on one side of the tank, blue on the other side. So far NO PROBLEMS
 
These seem like interesting fish but are they out and about much? I was thinking they spend most of their time hidden under rocks and in caves. Do you get to see them much?

THanks.
 
These seem like interesting fish but are they out and about much? I was thinking they spend most of their time hidden under rocks and in caves. Do you get to see them much?

THanks.


Depends on the size of the tank and other inhabitants.
In a small peaceful tank they will be out and about. In a big tank you may not see it much
 
Just picked one up for $60 yesterday. It immediately ate frozen mysis while being drip acclimated. Cool fish!

Good deal! I bought mine - rather small, about 1" - from a local wholesaler through a reefer for $80 out here in SoCal about 10 days ago. I saw him for the first time yesterday, dashing out from under a rock and quickly hiding again. Great little fish though - he already swims upside down.
 
i've had 2 in a 34 gal solana for about 6 months now. they're cool little fish to observe.

they still swim upside-down and sideways all the time. they still hide in the caves pretty often too, they'll come out after feeding in the morning and evening if i lay perfectly still for a bit. they will kind of leap frog each other around the open space in the tank, darting in and out of the rock at various points. my rockscape has a lot of small connected caves and access holes.

when i first put them in i did not have enough rock in there for both of them to be comfortable, i had to add some to create more cave space.

they are not out in the open most of the day. i'm wondering if i should add another fish the "help" them out? im happy with them and have kept them alone until now just so they are happy and have plenty of time to get used to my tank. there is an obvious pecking order. the bigger one sometimes bumps the smaller one out of his space.
 
I love these cute lil fish too! Swimming upside down is perfectly natural for them. That's how they hang out in the rocks in nature.

bobbychullo, what about getting a pair of firefish? Not sure on the compatibility but I would think they would be fine. Both peaceful, except for others of the same kind in their tank. Maybe they would help each other come out. I'd watch for pair off DD.
 
My yellow Assessors

My yellow Assessors

I got two little guys from my LFS and they are still hiding a bit, but when they come out, they are adorable. They swim upside down and sideways. Very funny to watch. It has only been a week in the display, so waiting for confidence to build in them. One is out a lot. The other I hardly see.

Oh, ORA now breeds these guys. Those are the ones I got (don't like to pull from ocean if can help it). :)
 
mine are both ORA

@Korrine: i was thinking about that. my local LFS has numerous firefish in stock constantly. its just a matter of when i want to get them...

two helfrichi would be sweet but expensive, can i keep pairs of those? i was trying to avoid a cryptic fish so they didn't fight with the assessors for cave space...

i paid $43 each for my assessors :)
 
I got some from ORA. I have seen them once in the month since I got them. I have a big tank with a lot of rock though.
 
mine are both ORA

@Korrine: i was thinking about that. my local LFS has numerous firefish in stock constantly. its just a matter of when i want to get them...

two helfrichi would be sweet but expensive, can i keep pairs of those? i was trying to avoid a cryptic fish so they didn't fight with the assessors for cave space...

i paid $43 each for my assessors :)

It seems to be easiest to find pairs of Helfrichis. DD occasionally has pairs of other fire fish. I would think twice before adding firefish if you are not sure that they are a mated pair.

I bought 2 purples from a LFS that had a group. Watched them for 10 minutes, picked out two that were hanging out together away from the others, and thought that I had a mated pair or at least male and female.

They continued to swim everywhere together in my tank for a month or two. The all of a sudden they were not together. The more dominant one now chases the more timid fish every time he sees it. This has been going on for four months. In a smaller tank the timid one would probably be dead, but I have different areas broken up by rock work and plenty of places to hide.
 
I have an ORA yellow assessor. When I started in saltwater tanks the assessors were the number one fish that I wanted to have, and being able to purchase one that was captive bred was a real bonus (plus they are less expensive than wild caught.) For months the assessor shared my 93 gallon cube with a small yellow goby, and the assessor was out and about all the time (at which time he swims normally.) The rock work is mostly pillars with some overhangs, and he oftens swims vertically against the pillars and at night swims into small openings in my live rock. When I added a fairy wrasse recently the assessor was picked on a bit, but it did not take long for the assessor to reclaim his "night rock" and swim out in the open again.

My tank will now revolve around my assessor; only extremely peaceful fish are going to be stocked in there with him, and likely very slowly. Has anyone added an assessor to an established assessor before?
 
Tagging along here for a discussion. I've recently added a few new fish to my Solana (a green clown goby and a tailspot blenny). Although the blenny has only been in there since Saturday, I don't see him a whole lot. Very skiddish. I also wanted to add a yellow assessor, but I'm worried about having too many "hidden" fish.
 
Just curious but... For those of you that have ORA or captive bred yellow assessors, how is the color?

I've owned wild caught assessors and the yellow was very vibrant in color. I've read where the ones from ORA are not as bright, (more of a mustard color), as the wild ones.
 
I agree. I haven't owned a yellow assessor, but I've seen both wild caught and captive bred. Captive's don't have quite the same color. I wonder if it's something lacking in their diet? They all come from bright colored wild stock. They wouldn't breed them if they weren't good stock.
 
I've read the same FWIW. I've seen the ORA's and the color is nice, so I'd be curious to see how much more vibrant the WC ones are. Although I'm not sure I can shell out $100 for a WC assessor.
 
Just curious but... For those of you that have ORA or captive bred yellow assessors, how is the color?

I've owned wild caught assessors and the yellow was very vibrant in color. I've read where the ones from ORA are not as bright, (more of a mustard color), as the wild ones.

I recently asked this question and the general consensus was that juveniles are mustard color regardless of wether wild caught or captive bred.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1970703
 
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