White-Spotted Pygmy Filefish

[MinnReef]

I ordered in 3 White-spotted pygmy filefish at work and was curious if anyone knows how to sex them and if they can be kept in groups? I ideally would like to have all 3 in a 25 peninsula but that might not be possible.

 

[lion king]

Yes you can sex them, the males have like little bristles on their caudal peduncle, which is the area between their body and their tail. You can keep pairs as a male and female, 2 males are likely not going to be ok in a 25g. Sometimes females will tolerate each other in some species, I don't know about this particle species. The angst between males is not good to allow to escalate, if you get 2 or 3 males you should only allow one to remain. These guys do live as couples and not harem style, so it is probably even best to pull a female if you end up with a male and 2 females, unless they decide to share(hehe). If you end up with 3 females you could let it ride to see how it goes.

 

[MinnReef]

Yes you can sex them, the males have like little bristles on their caudal peduncle, which is the area between their body and their tail. You can keep pairs as a male and female, 2 males are likely not going to be ok in a 25g. Sometimes females will tolerate each other in some species, I don't know about this particle species. The angst between males is not good to allow to escalate, if you get 2 or 3 males you should only allow one to remain. These guys do live as couples and not harem style, so it is probably even best to pull a female if you end up with a male and 2 females, unless they decide to share(hehe). If you end up with 3 females you could let it ride to see how it goes.

I will see what we got in terms of M/F tomorrow at work so far they are all in the same tank and not doing anything terrible to each other...

yet

 

[Bossman]

I picked up a bonded pair through LA's DD. The larger of the 2 chases the other around here and there. But no damage done. The bigger filefish will chase any fish around the tank. And these aren't big fish. I really like the pair but more than 2 may be a challenge.

 

[MinnReef]

I picked up a bonded pair through LA's DD. The larger of the 2 chases the other around here and there. But no damage done. The bigger filefish will chase any fish around the tank. And these aren't big fish. I really like the pair but more than 2 may be a challenge.

I will densly plant (macroalgae) and have lots of lines of sight breaks or I might just get one and that be the only fish so I won't have to worry about chasing

 

[Bossman]

To my surprise, the filefish love nori. They always are one of the first to get on the nori when I add it to the tank.

 

[MinnReef]

To my surprise, the filefish love nori. They always are one of the first to get on the nori when I add it to the tank.

I've noticed they pick at the rocks and sand at work, also have seen pictus blennies on LA for the past week and might use birthday money to get one (dream blenny)

 

[lion king]

I will see what we got in terms of M/F tomorrow at work so far they are all in the same tank and not doing anything terrible to each other...

yet

The male does not display until a certain maturity, I'm not exact on this species. If they are small they may all initially appear as female. The real angst won't begin until they mature, so initially they may all play well together. You just need to keep an eye.

 

[MinnReef]

The male does not display until a certain maturity, I'm not exact on this species. If they are small they may all initially appear as female. The real angst won't begin until they mature, so initially they may all play well together. You just need to keep an eye.

Ill stick with one then. Livestock will be as follows:
White spotted pygmy filefish
Pictus blenny
Pair yellowline or shakrnose gobies