Longfin bat fish in mix reef tank

hectat2 · Jul 24, 2015

I wen to my lfs and see this nice looking fish and i ask the guy if is reef safe and he say yes now i reading in every page say no somebody have any suggestion in this case ? Or i have to sale the fish ?

ngvu1 · Jul 24, 2015

Yeah, I never heard bat fish is reef safe. I have not seen them in CA though.....Maybe that is why :-) We CA people love corals

ZoaCollector · Jul 24, 2015

They come from man grove areas so the water flow needs to be minimum or they get beat up easily. They are also not fast eaters so competition needs to be to minimum as well.

hectat2 · Jul 24, 2015

U tink he go for the corals

Reefing Madness · Jul 24, 2015

Those guys are not reef safe. I had one, and he even went after my Anemone. Contrary to belief, they are easy to care for, will eat anything thrown in the tank, and can fend for themselves.

runzwithscissors · Jul 24, 2015

Mine was an exception. Grew to 12" and never had him munch on anything but me fingers.

HmoneyReefOkc · Jul 24, 2015

yeah I think it really depends.. Probably more times than not it is not a good idea to add a "non-reef safe" fish as they typically hold true to claims and will eat shrimp/corals... but many predator fish are "reef safe" in terms of corals just not inverts and smaller fish..... I've got a threadfin lookdown in my reef and is he technically reef safe? heck no to small fish that he can fit in his humungous mouth. He has eaten any of the smaller fish that he can get. but does he eat my corals? nope. shrimp? no, but i bet he would if they didn't have so many hiding places and were the right size.

Cleo642 · Jul 27, 2015

runzwithscissors said:
Mine was an exception. Grew to 12" and never had him munch on anything but me fingers.

He's a beauty.

hectat2 · Jul 27, 2015

This is mine

Cleo642 · Jul 27, 2015

hectat2 said:
This is mine

Beautiful fish, what size tank is he in?

runzwithscissors · Jul 27, 2015

He's in a 180'at the moment. Just moved so I'll be upgrading (again lol) back to a 300. I think he's left corals alone because like some people, I have a tendency to over feed. He eats silversides from my hand, and even from a pup other fish have never bothered him. Probably the easiest and most social fish I've ever had. I bought him at 3 inches or so, got this large by a year. I did have a Pinnatus several years ago. Had to trade him in as he did munch on a lot of coral.

Cleo642 · Jul 27, 2015

runzwithscissors said:
He's in a 180'at the moment. Just moved so I'll be upgrading (again lol) back to a 300. I think he's left corals alone because like some people, I have a tendency to over feed. He eats silversides from my hand, and even from a pup other fish have never bothered him. Probably the easiest and most social fish I've ever had. I bought him at 3 inches or so, got this large by a year.

I am sure he needs a tall tank. I heard they can be very sweet.