gist41980

These are my all time favorite reef fish. When I set up my first reef One of these had the misfortune of being bought by me, though I did keep it alive for 4 months. Internet wasnt the mass of info then as it is now and the lfs told me they ate brine shrimp. It did at times eat from the water column and seem to pick at pods on the rock work but wasnt enough to sustain it for long. I hope I can get enough sps going to keep 1 or 2 of these in the future. Good luck and ive read that smearing some food on a dead sps branch can entice them to feed

I don't know which to feel sorry for the coral or the fish......

Not only did you get one but a pair, in that small of a tank one of two things are going to happen. Either your sps is going to be gone quickly or the fish are going to die, most likely both. I'm sorry I don't share your enthusiasm on these fish. Yes they are beautiful, but I don't feel they should be sold to the general public. Its actions like these that deplete the real reefs of natural fish for just a few short months of our enjoyment. There are just some fish that shouldn't be harvested. ORA said the Mandarins ate frozen food as well, ask most that have bought them, they don't live doing this.

Blown, sorry you don't share the enthusiasm. That small of a tank? I believe 93 gallons to be plenty for the two. I know of 6 people who have not only kept them alive for over a year but they are by all accounts thriving and in the case of pairs spawning. All while feeding a variety of frozen foods. In addition, where I bought them from Diver's Den, has started the process of having them recognize other sources of food. I would love it if the had a test or some sort of inspection before someone could buy certain species of fish, orange spotted file fish, mandarin and the such. So that it is ensured that the buyer has educated themselves on keeping the fish. But please do not make general assumptions on my knowledge or preparation to keep these fish. Perhaps I should have added a disclaimer to my post that these fish require special care and knowledge.

In related news, they greedily consumed nutramar ova and mysis that I had smashed into smaller bits. As I have stated, Divers Den did the work of introducing these foods to the fish. That is why I acquired them from there. If one were to see them in the LFS and buy them, be prepared to do a lot work at getting them to eat frozen foods.

Nothing was said about your knowledge, your reading way too much into it. In general I feel these and others shouldn't be sold to the general public (as stated above). As for the size of the tank in the video it looks like a small cube, sorry didn't realize it was 93g. I still I feel the amount of SPS needed far outways the "coolness" of the fish. Just because something comes from Divers Den doesn't guarentee success. Don't take what I stated personal, its more of a general problem witht he hobby statement.

I understand. I often feel similar to you in certain situations. Admittedly I took it more personal than I should have. There are lots of sea critters that make me cringe when I see them for sale. There is a community that seems to be doing very well with the Orange Spotted File Fish and that is why I got them.

Yea i have read some hobbyist are now breeding these at home and on a diet free of sps. If you think back alot of the animals we keep were once said to be unkeepable by the home hobbyist. I think the problem blown is refering to is a real one with lfs that dont educate them-selves on the livestock they offer. I know when i was sold mine 15 years ago it was doomed because of ignorance of needs, but on the same note if people had not repeatedly tried to keep some of the livestock that we all have in are tanks today you wouldnt have the diversity or info that is available to us today. Tried to make this un-biased and hope you keep us updated on this gist and wish you success with your endeavor

Someone in my area was selling some small colonies of sps yesterday so I took a trip over to see them. I ended up getting 3 nice colonies and 1 free large colony that has seen better days. I did this in hopes of diversifying the filefishs' attention across several different corals.

A video of them eating:

Now for a couple of my observations:

The larger filefish is not all that interested in eating coral. She always goes for nutramar ova and can be seen picking it off the sand bed and rocks.

The smaller filefish is much more interested in coral, although she at times eats the ova as well. She is almost constantly at the new free large sps colony that that is loosing tissue and color, she absolutely loves it.

The larger filefish continues to let the smaller one know who is boss.

Gorgeous fish, all five of them. I could see myself doing something similar if I didn't love SPS so much, and did the research you alluded to. Instead, I'll just keep watching your videos.