emperor angels and firefish advise please

[i love fish]

does anyone know how long it takes for an emperor angel fish to reach maturity (ie- until it gets it's new pattern)
also
does anyone have firefish? I'm thinking of getting a pair and want to know what to expect and if there any particular needs they require (sleeping accomidation, food, etc)
thank you

 

[our gang]

it took almost a year for my angel to start changing and it has been a good 6 months and he's not even close to being finished. It takes a while, but is cool to see.

 

[morval]

firefish in the wild have a "bolt hole" the hide in when they feel threatend.
so for mine i bought a fake barnacle that he used the first few days but he then found a hole in a peice of live rock thats just bigger than his body and he loves it in there. so i would suggest somwhere that they will be able to hide.
mine eats small peices of flake food and also picks off the bigger peices of plankton i feed my filter feeding stuff.

 

[i love fish]

thanks

 

[deborahw]

The firefish are jumpers! They are real skidish, thats why they need a dart hole. They commit sushi if you don't have a good glass top. A wooden one won't work as they have too large of space between the slats on top, and the firefish are small enough to jump right out.
Same with purple Tile fish. Nothing hurts worst than finding your $80.00 Tile fish you just bought two days before on the floor in the morning.

He was so and beautiful.
I was told that as long as my tank was covered (mine was wood) he would be fine. I needed a glass top to keep him safe.
Hope this helps.

 

[1boatnut]

My purple firefish mainly stays in it's dart hole in the rock.Although a beautiful looking fish,mine is rarely out. Something to think about when plunking down 30 bucks or so for a ghost.