Pairing Purple Firefish

[Roman120G]

Hello

would like to have a pair of Purple Firefish.

have been reading about it and there is no obvious difference between male and female.

there are two options:

1. buy two of them and hope they will bond
2. buy 3-5 of them and wait for the pair to bond and get others back to LFS.

second option could work to other species, which gender is hard to identify ( bicolor blenny, royal gamma)

please, share your thoughts and experience

thank you

[Ms Tanky Panky]

I have had 5 in mine for around 6 months. One is a wee bit bigger than the others and they tend to give him his space but I've not noticed any other conflicts as of yet.

[Roman120G]

great, you have been lucky,

i have been reading a lot about the firefish and out of 3 species ( purple, red and helfrichi - which is pretty expensive) the purple one is the most aggresive.

it is not know how to gender them only to wait until they mature and hope.


i am still debating on which way to go, start with a group of 3-5 or stick to the pair and hope they turn out to be male or female.

I am trying to have most of the fish in my tank to be pairs.

even started a thread in Reef Fishes forum - "Keeping fish in pairs and groups"

check it out.

thank you

[Ms Tanky Panky]

I forgot to add that I also have 5 of the red so maybe that figures in there. It is in fact the reds that are always out in the open while the purples tend to hang close to the rock. They all went in at the same time and were in a Q tank for 5 weeks together before going in the display. Perhaps they were so happy about moving into a bigger space it has not occured to any of them to fight over it : )

[Roman120G]

how big was your QT?
and did you have all 10 of them at the same time in QT?

did you do any preventative medication? Prazipro, Cupramine, Tank transfer, etc?

thank you

[Ms Tanky Panky]

The Q is a 55 and I put the pvc tubes as well as some leftover freshwater tanks fake plants for cover. I never really saw any squabbles in there. I did the same thing with my 2nd batch, cardinals, 3 Ks and 3 pjs, a royal gramma, 2 anthias and 3 chromis. I lost one of the pjs but it was after I put them in the DT. My 3rd round was 5 banners and 3 yellow tangs and my last one will be a bl naso, and a regal tang.I used my 55 cause I wanted to add each group at the same time instead of having to go for a year or so QTing a few at a time. All of these fish have been small and young as well. When I'm finished with my stocking list, my plan is to make the 55 into a lion den with a fuzzy drawf and a scorpion. I have been very lucky in that I didn't have any health issues and think a lot of that came from ordering most all of them from L A. I'm not comfortable with treating fish with anything if I don't see any problems with them but thats just me.

[smtank]

I was told for years that multiple Fire Fish was not doable.

I ordered 3 very young ones and added all at the same time.

http://i1088.photobucket.com/albums/i337/corailline/firefish1.jpg

The dominate male developed became apparent after about 3 months. He never showed any real aggression, it was mostly posturing. They all lived in peace until I took the tank down.

A very under appreciated fish IMO.

[Roman120G]

The Q is a 55 and I put the pvc tubes as well as some leftover freshwater tanks fake plants for cover. I never really saw any squabbles in there. I did the same thing with my 2nd batch, cardinals, 3 Ks and 3 pjs, a royal gramma, 2 anthias and 3 chromis. I lost one of the pjs but it was after I put them in the DT. My 3rd round was 5 banners and 3 yellow tangs and my last one will be a bl naso, and a regal tang.I used my 55 cause I wanted to add each group at the same time instead of having to go for a year or so QTing a few at a time. All of these fish have been small and young as well. When I'm finished with my stocking list, my plan is to make the 55 into a lion den with a fuzzy drawf and a scorpion. I have been very lucky in that I didn't have any health issues and think a lot of that came from ordering most all of them from L A. I'm not comfortable with treating fish with anything if I don't see any problems with them but thats just me.

that sounds good,

my QT is only 20g due to space.

looks like I got two LFS to accept the order of pairs. They are working on it.
Hope it will work out.

did you do any preventative medication? Prazipro, Cupramine, Tank transfer, etc?

[Ms Tanky Panky]

I don't do any meds unless I'm sure it is nessasary or treat the water with anything and I stay on top of the water changes so I can feed them as much as possible. Treat them like a man, build them a man cave they can hide in, keep their bellys full and leave them alone! They will do just fine ; )

[Roman120G]

ok, thank you for the info

[afrinaya]

I purchased two decora (purplefish) a month ago, paired them, so far so go. They were in two different tanks at the LFS, they hadn't spent any time together, so it was a bit of an experiment.

They have spent the month in QT together, and yesterday they went into my DT. They share a cave, share food (damn they can eat for little fish), swim together, explore together, and best of all they don't hide! They are very peaceful, but scare easily and shoot back into their cave, but they are back out in seconds. They have made friends with the lawnmower blennie who thinks they are just weird, and he ignores them most of the time :spin1:

If you want a pair, I'd suggest buying them together, and add them to the QT and then DT at the same time, and they should stay friends. Adding them at separate times may create issues.

As anyone here will tell you, what works for one doesn't always work for another. For me, my pair is working.....

[bb]

I just bought two purple that I'm hoping will bond. The are in qt now. So far so good. Kinda wishing I bought more given the successes some of you have had.

[doakota1]

I purchased 2 Helfrichi they did fine together for about 6 months, I came home from work and looked in the tank and saw one just destroying the other one. I tried to save him but it was impossible, he kept going into the rock work

[tphill]

I bought 3 Fire Fish last night. They are currently in a 10g QT and doing fine. Hopefully it will stay that way.

[Roman120G]

thank you for sharing

I have been reading a lot about them and initially, while they are young they do not fight, which most of us see when we get them. We are certainly hope they are male/female.

but when maturity comes, that is the time when we will for sure find out who is who.
and if you have two males, one of them ends up dead or jumps out.

that is the most concern of many LFSs who usually sell their fish as young.

they may have 10 firefish in one tank and all doing great. Again, all because they are young and play along. But 3-6 months later, same 10 firefish will have tons of fighting.

and that is the time to find a pair.

you will have one or more Agressor(s) and many agressee(s).
and hopefully a few fish that Agressor(s) do not bully. Those, would be female(s) in most cases.

the problem is that LFS will certainly not keep their fish for that long, simply not cost effective.

that is why, we have to take a chance.

one good option is to buy 5 of them and wait until maturity starts and hopefully find a pair and return other 3 back to LFS before they die or jump out.

I have also read that out of 3 firefish species ( red, purple, helfrichi) - purple is the most aggresive. Lucky for us (((

these are my thoughts.

keep sharing your observations in QT and DT.

especially let us know the size of your QT when you mention how many Firefish you have at once and if you do any Preventative Medication like: Prazipro, Cupramine, Tank Transfer, etc. If yes to any, then how long and what dosage.

all of that will benefit other people who are about to purchase their fish.

thank you