Pregnant Orange Spotted Filefish?

[Reefchik]

My filefish have always been a little on the plump side, but I noticed today the female is looking a little extra... voluptuous. Any input is appreciated!

I do seem to remember someone on here had some success with rearing at least a couple of the babies before. I'm curious how insane it might be to try to rear them if she is in fact pregnant and they do continue breeding, or if it's just not even worth the trouble.

 

[KrisReef]

You will need a pair, these lay eggs

I have never had a successful marine baby except perhaps for molly's? Lots of clownfish eggs but I call the fr coral food and never have tried to raise the live food needed for this kind of situation.

Nice work on keeping momma well fed and healthy!

 

[Reefchik]

I have a male as well, and they do seem to be paired in that they stay close together all the time, but I've never actually seen any specific courtship behavior that I have noticed?

 

[Reefchik]

 

[KrisReef]

I forget who had a spawning pair of these? Beautiful!

@Paul B ???

 

[Tripod1404]

Here is some info. Relatively straightforward as far as marine fish go if you can get them to lay eggs and collect eggs or larvae.

They have relatively large eggs, and larvae and eggs stick to a surface. I believe they like to lay their eggs on algae, so you can try a bundle of cheato and transfer cheato to a separate tank if they lay on it.

https://downloads.regulations.gov/NOAA-NMFS-2014-0072-0012/attachment_26.pdf

 

[Largeangels]

Awesome! Very nice pair. I had a pair for a few years.

 

[Reefchik]

Here is some info. Relatively straightforward as far as marine fish go if you can get them to lay eggs and collect eggs or larvae.

They have relatively large eggs, and larvae and eggs stick to a surface. I believe they like to lay their eggs on algae, so you can try a bundle of cheato and transfer cheato to a separate tank if they lay on it.

https://downloads.regulations.gov/NOAA-NMFS-2014-0072-0012/attachment_26.pdf

Hmm, I have a bunch of gracillaria in my main display refugium, I'll try putting some of that in there and I'll check out the link. Thanks!

 

[Paul B]

I forget who had a spawning pair of these? Beautiful!

@Paul B ???

No, not me, I wish I spawned those.

 

[eyecandyaddict]

I have raised these once in the past. The eggs are very hard to see. Yours might be easier she looks to be holding a lot of eggs. Our pair laid a little every day could never find where they laid. The the larvae are green. never was able to find the eggs before they hatched always got larvae in a floating air lift egg collector. Do you have any live feeds going or algae cultures?

 

[Reefchik]

I have raised these once in the past. The eggs are very hard to see. Yours might be easier she looks to be holding a lot of eggs. Our pair laid a little every day could never find where they laid. The the larvae are green. never was able to find the eggs before they hatched always got larvae in a floating air lift egg collector. Do you have any live feeds going or algae cultures?

I don't have any cultures or anything going yet, I'm kinda waiting to see something actually happen first lol. Slight update, I have added all kinds of macro and they show zero interest of course, but they love this spot on the sand? I know the video is horrendous, but I had to take it from across the room or else they get distracted and start begging for food. I don't actually see anything there though, maybe they are just practicing?

 

[Reefchik]

Aaaaahhh they are doing it! On the magnet cleaner of all places, which would be fantastic for getting them moved into something else except I haven't prepped for that. I was really questioning if they were going to actually spawn, but now I need to decide whether I want to attempt this with a future spawn, assuming I can find the eggs again next time.

 

[Reefchik]

Aaaaahhh they are doing it! On the magnet cleaner of all places, which would be fantastic for getting them moved into something else except I haven't prepped for that. I was really questioning if they were going to actually spawn, but now I need to decide whether I want to attempt this with a future spawn, assuming I can find the eggs again next time.

I don't actually know for certain these are filefish eggs though. They just look very different from any other snail or other type of eggs I have ever seen in any of my tanks. Maybe I can get a few under a microscope.

 

[Reefchik]

I don't actually know for certain these are filefish eggs though. They just look very different from any other snail or other type of eggs I have ever seen in any of my tanks. Maybe I can get a few under a microscope.

Scratch that, I may have found the culprit

 

[b1llvance]

Reach out the Chad Vossen at Vossen Aquatics. He’s currently working with this species.
Also, from my conversations with him, these eggs should be green, and very distinct.