BigNano
New Member
Hello, I Wanted to share my experience with this fish.
The fish arrived in Colorado from the West Coast in good shape, not emaciated or showing any easily visible signs of damage or disease. So far so good.
She went into a 10 gallon observation tank with some small peices of rock from my main tank, some PVC and a small acro skeleton.
I read and watched anything I could find about the fish beforehand, and had every kind of food people reported having success with ready to go, along with what my current fish eat.
The first two days the fish just hid behind the skimmer I had running. She came out a few times but would bolt at any movement near the tank. Some time on day three she was out and seemed to be looking around the tank.
In this time I tried roe, tiny bits of mysid flakes, cyclops and calanus, but it showed no interest in any of them, even if allowed to settle on the bottom. I also offered rods food and white worms in a feeding cone, still no interest.
I smeared masstick on the acro skeleton, hoping to trick the fish, but taking it out and putting it back in the tank stressed the fish out a lot and it wouldn't feed from it.
Water changes from offering so much food was also keeping the fish very skittish, and by day 7 it was getting skinny and I was worried.
I was prepared to sacrifice an acro Frag from my display, but decided to give it another day. I mixed masstick using garlic guard and fish roe and stuck that in the corner she had been spending most of her time in, and she eventually took a peck at it.
She was not eating aggressively, but it was better than nothing. Over the next 2 days she began to steadily eat. I was able to get her eating from the acropora skeleton once she decided masstick was acceptable. I also began adding selcon to the mix at this point.
I had intended to actually quarantine the fish once it began eating, buy it still seemed very stressed in the 10 gallon. I took the risk and moved it to my 30 gallon after 10 days in observation.
I used the same acro skeleton for the masstick mix, and then transitioned to the glass once I was comfortable she was still eating after the move.
I believe moving it to the display tank was the right call, as she calmed down and began eating as much as I would offer.
I'm at 2 months now, and while I know that's not enough to claim long-term success, feeding is not a problem. The fish never hides and is very bold. She will take masstick from my fingers before I have a chance to stick it to the glass, and will stare at me when hungry and im sitting near the tank.
Easily one of the nicest fish I've had. Very aware of what's going on outside the tank, interactive, peaceful and usually out swimming around the water column or picking at the sand or rockwork.
Chunky filefish pics:
The fish arrived in Colorado from the West Coast in good shape, not emaciated or showing any easily visible signs of damage or disease. So far so good.
She went into a 10 gallon observation tank with some small peices of rock from my main tank, some PVC and a small acro skeleton.
I read and watched anything I could find about the fish beforehand, and had every kind of food people reported having success with ready to go, along with what my current fish eat.
The first two days the fish just hid behind the skimmer I had running. She came out a few times but would bolt at any movement near the tank. Some time on day three she was out and seemed to be looking around the tank.
In this time I tried roe, tiny bits of mysid flakes, cyclops and calanus, but it showed no interest in any of them, even if allowed to settle on the bottom. I also offered rods food and white worms in a feeding cone, still no interest.
I smeared masstick on the acro skeleton, hoping to trick the fish, but taking it out and putting it back in the tank stressed the fish out a lot and it wouldn't feed from it.
Water changes from offering so much food was also keeping the fish very skittish, and by day 7 it was getting skinny and I was worried.
I was prepared to sacrifice an acro Frag from my display, but decided to give it another day. I mixed masstick using garlic guard and fish roe and stuck that in the corner she had been spending most of her time in, and she eventually took a peck at it.
She was not eating aggressively, but it was better than nothing. Over the next 2 days she began to steadily eat. I was able to get her eating from the acropora skeleton once she decided masstick was acceptable. I also began adding selcon to the mix at this point.
I had intended to actually quarantine the fish once it began eating, buy it still seemed very stressed in the 10 gallon. I took the risk and moved it to my 30 gallon after 10 days in observation.
I used the same acro skeleton for the masstick mix, and then transitioned to the glass once I was comfortable she was still eating after the move.
I believe moving it to the display tank was the right call, as she calmed down and began eating as much as I would offer.
I'm at 2 months now, and while I know that's not enough to claim long-term success, feeding is not a problem. The fish never hides and is very bold. She will take masstick from my fingers before I have a chance to stick it to the glass, and will stare at me when hungry and im sitting near the tank.
Easily one of the nicest fish I've had. Very aware of what's going on outside the tank, interactive, peaceful and usually out swimming around the water column or picking at the sand or rockwork.
Chunky filefish pics:
