Documenting My Experience With Orange-Spotted Filefish

[Chrisanthellae]

One month ago today, I acquired my first Orange-Spotted Filefish, AKA Harlequin Filefish. She was pretty emaciated and was a bit of an impulse buy, but I couldn't resist when I saw her eating frozen brine shrimp at the LFS. The LFS had a few more of these available, but she was the only one eating.

When I got her home, I was pleased to see she wasn't shy at all pretty much right away. She would eat the occasional brine shrimp but mostly spent her time picking at a cactus pavona coral. I saw reports online of people having good results from Masstick with these guys so I ordered some and gave it a try. It was an instant favorite! She picked at it constantly, all day every day. I could clearly see her belly filling out.

With how well she was eating, and having read about how social these fish are, I decided to go back to the LFS and get her a partner. Surely she could teach him to eat, even if he's not eating at the LFS, right? Turns out that was 100% correct! Within 20 minutes of adding the new male filefish he started picking at the Masstick!

Initially, they engaged in some posturing, fin displays, and a little bit of nipping, but nothing too concerning. By the next day they had completely worked out their differences and became inseparable. I believe they are a bonded pair now.

Today, one month later, you can clearly see the original female has much improved body composition:

I'm honestly astounded at how easy these fish have been so far. The key is the Masstick. They go for it before I even take my hand out of the tank! But they also seem to pick at a bit of everything around the tank, even some algae here and there. And yes, definitely corals too.

 

[kevgib67]

One month ago today, I acquired my first Orange-Spotted Filefish, AKA Harlequin Filefish. She was pretty emaciated and was a bit of an impulse buy, but I couldn't resist when I saw her eating frozen brine shrimp at the LFS. The LFS had a few more of these available, but she was the only one eating.

When I got her home, I was pleased to see she wasn't shy at all pretty much right away. She would eat the occasional brine shrimp but mostly spent her time picking at a cactus pavona coral. I saw reports online of people having good results from Masstick with these guys so I ordered some and gave it a try. It was an instant favorite! She picked at it constantly, all day every day. I could clearly see her belly filling out.

With how well she was eating, and having read about how social these fish are, I decided to go back to the LFS and get her a partner. Surely she could teach him to eat, even if he's not eating at the LFS, right? Turns out that was 100% correct! Within 20 minutes of adding the new male filefish he started picking at the Masstick!

Initially, they engaged in some posturing, fin displays, and a little bit of nipping, but nothing too concerning. By the next day they had completely worked out their differences and became inseparable. I believe they are a bonded pair now.

Today, one month later, you can clearly see the original female has much improved body composition:

I'm honestly astounded at how easy these fish have been so far. The key is the Masstick. They go for it before I even take my hand out of the tank! But they also seem to pick at a bit of everything around the tank, even some algae here and there. And yes, definitely corals too.

Beautiful fish, I’m glad it worked out for you!

 

[Chrisanthellae]

Here are some of my observations so far.

Corals they nip at:

• Pavona
• Elegance (visible damage)
• Psammocora
• Acros
• Pocillopora
• Duncan (maybe)

Corals they ignore:

• Mushrooms
• Plates
• Goniopora
• Candy cane
• Zoas

As far as tank mates go, they seem to be compatible with everything, including other filefish. Their current tank mates include:

• Aptaisia Filefish
• Copperband
• Foxface
• Blue Hippo Tang
• Black Leopard Wrasse
• Two Spot Hogfish
• Golden Dwarf Angel
• Schooling Banner
• Zebra Eel
• Hermits
• Snails

However, they are aggressive toward their own kind. I was enjoying these guys so much I thought I'd try making them a school. I acquired one more male and female. Even after spending the night in an acclimation box, the original pair chased and nipped the new pair relentlessly. It wasn't just male on male aggression either. Both the original male and female teamed up on both newcomers. I'm not sure if this would have worked out if they were all added at the same time, but I can say with certainty that once a pair is established, you cannot safely add more. I didn't let this go on too long. I brought the new pair back to the LFS.

 

[Tahoe61]

Amazing observations. They definitely require a level of expertise, they look very healthy. You don't see the Orange Spotted File Fish as reliably available today, which is good.

 

[joseph scott]

So they eat aggressively enough that your other fish don’t eat all the Massstick before they can get to it? Do you have to broadcast feed Another food to keep your other fish busy allowing the Filefish to have the Masstick to themselves? Just trying to figure out what works if i every were to try keeping these.

 

[Chrisanthellae]

So they eat aggressively enough that your other fish don’t eat all the Massstick before they can get to it? Do you have to broadcast feed Another food to keep your other fish busy allowing the Filefish to have the Masstick to themselves? Just trying to figure out what works if i every were to try keeping these.

They pretty much always get to the Masstick first, because they are the least afraid of my hand in the tank. I do feed the other fish frozen food daily as well but not necessarily at the same time or in any sort of strategic way. I do use a good amount of Masstick though, enough that they can pick at it for at least 30mins - 1hr even if the other fish eat some too. Ideally I do this twice a day, but they seem to maintain a pretty round belly from just once a day as well. This does produce a lot of waste and sometimes leftover Masstick will fall to the substrate. I see this as a benefit because it grows my pod population and feeds my hermits.

One way I've been experimenting with making the Masstick last longer is by cutting it with other foods. I've blended in as much as 50% by volume of GP Advanced micro pellets and aquatic foods golden pearls (both very affordable on Amazon). I add in a tiny bit of Guar Gum powder to help bind it all together and make it more sticky. Honestly I think they eat the blend even more aggressively than the plain Masstick! They do NOT eat the pellets out of the water column though, at least not yet.

Eventually I'd like to develop my own recipe that completely foregoes the Masstick, or at least fine-tune the blended version.

 

[joseph scott]

Great info for people thinking of careing for these fish!

 

[Chrisanthellae]

Update:

The male has started showing food aggression toward the female. This may be my fault for slipping on my feeding schedule and sometimes skipping days.

Solution:

• Consistently feed twice a day, enough to last several hours (basically keeping Masstick always available)
• Feed in 2-3 spots in different areas of the tank