Help with fire fish trio

[durabane]

Have a trio of Fire fish they have all been doing really well and getting along great lately 1 has started hiding under a rock and only coming out when i feed. is it possible that the hider is a female looking for a spot to lay eggs or should I look into other avenues
any suggestions would be greatly heeded

 

[aquaman]

It is more likely hiding from the other fish, but we need more info. How big is your tank? And what else do you have in it? Fire fish will do well together in large 100+ gal tanks (minimum), in groups, but get territorial in smaller tanks

 

[aquaman]

Actually, i just did some double-checking, and even in the case of a 100 gal it is too small for anything other than a mated pair. If you did not buy them as a mated pair from the store, then it is most likely aggression, and the one hiding will eventually did. After that happens one of the other two will be chased and start hiding until it dies, and you are left with one. This is not good for the fish that die, nor for the one that lives as it will stress that fish out as will (continually guarding it territory) and make it more susceptible to disease.

 

[durabane]

have 100 gallon and 125# live rock mix fiji and aquacultured 4 in coral and sugar sand mix for sub coralite deluxe pro pc 2 65watt 10000k and 2 55watt true actinic. Getting up there in fish now 3 fire fish 2 true percs 1 royal gramma 1 scooter dragonet 1 princess damsel 1 brittle star 2 cleaner shrimp 1 peppermint shrimp and btw let me tell u they work great on aptasia had a few about 6 from LR purchase and in less than 6 hours they were all gone. running at 1.026 sal 8.3 ph 0 nitrate >.03 ammonia calcium additive is reef builder buffer. Corals I have 1 sebae and 1 sponge or shroom covered brista rock with 8 worms and either 2 pitstol shrimp or 2 mantis cant tell. and a couple shroom rocks. everything is growing living great. just the one fire fish is hiding on a side note are they fire goby's or just fire fish heard them called both

 

[durabane]

wow was told that they were schooling fish that look really cool in pairs of trios

 

[aquaman]

Originally posted by Durabane
Getting up there in fish now...either 2 pitstol shrimp or 2 mantis cant tell...just the one fire fish is hiding on a side note are they fire goby's or just fire fish heard them called both

Yes, your tank may be a bit over crowded, and if you have 2 mantis then the over crowding will not be a problem for long as that maybe all you have left in your tank. I hope they are pistol shrimp. You can look at SWF sale on the side and look at the picture and descriptions to see what it is. If they are mantis, they probably will hid most of the time. As for the name of fire fish, it is a common name and will change from place to place and even store to store but that is the one most on this board use. Lastly, I am not sure but i think a gramma will also chase the fire fish as they have a similar body shape, and are territorial them selves.

 

[aquaman]

Originally posted by Durabane
wow was told that they were schooling fish that look really cool in pairs of trios
Not according to what I have read, and i spent some time recently reading up on them because I just got one.

 

[durabane]

as for the shrimp they look like hermit crabs living in small caves in the LR all I can see is one large pincer and one small pincer and a pair of antenea sticking out of the hole they have never come out as far as i have seen.
Fish will swim right in front of them and sit on mushroom rock within inches of them and they never move.

 

[durabane]

http://members.aol.com/fishpage/firefish.html
of the fire fish that is

 

[aquaman]

One thing you will learn quickly in this hobby is there are more opinions then there are aquarists. If you look hard, enough you will find someone who agrees with what you want to hear. This is always nice, but is never beneficial. Often time the experts will disagree on a mater and two or more camps on an opinion will form. That is because when you are talking about living organisms each have its own personality and will differ from one to another. Therefore we must speak in general terms be prepared to change our opinion if there is sufficient evidence, and sometimes agree to disagree. In the case of the fire fish, I would agree with the experts that I have read (at this point they all say the same thing) to keep just one in a small to med tank. If I see evidence to the contrary then I might change my mind, but I would still rather err on the side of caution.