Keeping more than one fire fish?

[JessKaye]

Hi team, looking to add one (or more) fire fish to my 200l early mixed reef - currently only has two clowns, a dwarf hawkfish and I decided to roll the dice and try a yellow tail damsel too (so far seeming to get along with everyone).

My LFS has both purple and red fire fish in store, both in the same tank, no clear pairs, and has said that you can have more than one in a tank or even mix red and purple. What I’ve read online seems to say that you should only keep one due to issues with aggression. I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions!

Cheers,
Jess

 

[Rob A]

It depends on space I have 7 in my 300 gal lagoon w/no issues. I had 6 in my 180 gal they paired off somewhat and slowly I ended up with 1.

 

[Tahoe61]

I had 3 in a 30 gallon, that thrived. When I was researching Fire Fish care I came upon information that suggested getting the youngest fish possible and adding odd numbers of Fire Fish increased the chances of success.

 

[PleaseThink]

Firefish are widely known to be monogamists and are generally intolerant of congeners. Will whittle themselves down to a mated pair or lone individual, just a matter of time.

If you look into the anecdotes of housing groups “success stories” tend to have limited timeframes. Very few true successes where a group is housed for normal lifespans of these fish, and most of those successful anomalies are in the truly large, 1000gal and up size tanks.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I've always kept one. They're fairly intolerable of stress, so why risk it?

 

[winzig]

I have had pair in a 6foot tank for two years with great success