Tropical Fish Forums

[Mike612]

I currently have a pair of Orange Firefish in my 75 gallon. A pair of Helfrichi Firefish are available at my lfs and I would love to add them to my tank. Would the two species coexist well together? Am I better off just keeping one pair?

[FloridaBoy]

I think you might be headed for trouble, because the two are already established in there. It's kind of a crap shoot, you might have success---but some different Firefish species have also been known to clash in the close confines of typical aquaria. The fact that you have a thriving pair is good (some people have trouble just getting one compatible pair) and that in itself is maybe worth avoiding the temptation and possibly upsetting the apple cart. More opinions for you here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/drtfshcompfaqs.htm
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Keepin' marines happy for 25 years

[Mike612]

Pretty much what I thought.

I think I'll remove the Orange Firefish. They're nice, but I've been waiting for 5 years to finally find Helfrichi Firefish and now that a pair's available, I've got to take my chance and take care of them.

Thanks for your advice FloridaBoy

[FloridaBoy]

Last time I saw one was in 2005, about 80 feet down near the mouth of Saiez Tunnel in Palau...
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Keepin' marines happy for 25 years

[Mike612]

You saw a wild one?! Lucky guy... That must've been amazing.

80 feet though? They're usually found at slightly deeper depths, aren't they? Did you see a single one or multiples?

[FloridaBoy]

Well now that you mention it I think it was just one or two of them, I never would have found this fish without our dive guide. I got off one or two shots but this little guy was right on the bottom in the rubble and there was a pretty stiff current, plus my strobe didn't hit, so this is unfortunately my best shot, see below... We also saw several pairs of Nemateleotris magnifica, these were up higher living in caves along the vertical walls. Also in this area there were plenty of the little Purple Pseudochromis, I managed to get a bit closer and got a decent shot of that one, see below...




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Keepin' marines happy for 25 years

[Mike612]

Amazing colors.

Thanks a lot for sharing FloridaBoy. Seeing as how the Helfrichi Firefish is rare, I can't imagine that we have too many wild pictures of them. Most are probably aquaria pictures so your picture is a real delight

[FloridaBoy]

My pleasure Mike.
I have about 1,500 digital images from that one trip, one day I'm going to produce a little book or something...
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Keepin' marines happy for 25 years

[Mike612]

Haha you should FloridaBoy. I would be the first one in line to purchase a book written by you.

I got the Helfrichi pair this morning and so far so good. I added them with the lights off. They went straight into the rocks. I turned the lights on a couple of hours later. They came out almost instantly. The Orange pair saw them and the male Orange went after I believe the female Helfrichi once, but then pretty much gave up on the idea. Now the four of them are swimming together and seem to get along very well

Pray with me that they'll stay this way.

[FloridaBoy]

Sounds good, maybe you dodged the bullet...
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Keepin' marines happy for 25 years