purple firefish

[flyinbrian]

Anyone that has cared for ar knows anything about purple firefish give me a pointer or two. Any experience stories? can they go with others of their type?mandarins?
check my info below and tell me if I am fine for one

 

[kris walker]

Ah, a beautiful choice!
How deep is your sand substrate? They like to burrow if they can't find a suitable cave to use as a retreat when they are scared.
From "Marine Reef Aquarium Handbook" it says they are carnivorous planktivores (eating zooplankton and pods) that hover in the water column. They sometimes associated their homes with other fish or shrimp, so they appear to be friendly. They are also perhaps the easiest saltwater fish to breed in captivity, depositing eggs inside a burrow, crevice, shell, or PVC pipe that is defended by the male.
I think your stock and hardware is fine with them.
kris

 

[flyinbrian]

very thin layer only about 1/2 inch

 

[kris walker]

Then the firefish will not be able to burrow as you probably have guessed, but if you have some crevices or caves in your LR structure, that should suffice. But I have no direct experience with them, so you should wait for another to answer before you do anything.
kris

 

[karlas]

i dont have purple but do have the reds. the purple firefish is very similar to the reds as far as care. they are very easy to feed accept most foods flake, frozen, pellet. they are very hardy and have some natural resistance to ick. firefish are very shy and should not be put in with aggressive fish also they can really jump when startled. they do well as 1 or in pairs but mixing species is not a good idea they can fight though some people have mixed reds and purples w/o problems but not reccomended. they do well with most other blennies and gobies. depending on the goby they may even share their home with them my pair does this with a blue gudgeon. if their home gets filled with sand the bg will dig it back out for them. if they do not feel threatend by other fish they will show themselves a lot but anything that is aggressive at all and they may hide a lot.

 

[karlas]

i forgot they should be alright with the percs, mine chased the ff for about 3 days and they hid but now they are all cool with each other and no probs with them. they come out all the time again

 

[don-9]

I have 2 purples that I bought from a guy who was going back to freshwater. He had 3 but I did not buy the third because it always hid from the pair. So I suggest 1 or 2 if you can find a pair already together. They get along fine with my other fish(yellow tang, yellow tail damsel, cinnamon clown, 3 neon gobies, yellow watchman goby). Both use to go into the same cave that they had dug out at the base of a rock. They now hide in the rock work. As far as feeding mine eat live brine shrimp, flakes, frozen, and I have seen them pick at dried seaweed a couple of times. At first they hid alot but now after about 4 months they are out most of the time while the lights are on.

 

[jumpfrog]

My favorite fish. I had two who always hid and both died when tank crashed. Now I have just one and he's out all the time. Great eater, will eat almost anything. I've never seem him near the bottom of the tank and he's the first to go to bed each night and the last one to get up. Get's along great with Y. Tang, scissortail goby and 6 line wrasse. Highly recommend him.

 

[zack schwartz]

I had mine and I left the room for a mintute and he was on the floor dead. He jumped out of the smallest hole possible.

 

[zack schwartz]

I had mine and I left the room for a mintute and he was on the floor dead. He jumped out of the smallest hole possible.

 

[joe's reefer]

it should be fine in your tank just buy another 1 or 2 of dead or live sand.because they make"caves" in the sand under rocks.but they arenty very active,my experience, and their great with mandarins and others of their own.