~Flighty~
Now with more baby
Thought I would start a thread on these guys. I have two now and am looking for a female.
Matt Pedersen has been breeding these fish. The thread is very long (34 pages at this time) but so well done documenting his work with these fish starting with "rescuing" a few from the LFS
http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=191&t=1922
and he wrote a comprehensive article for coral magazine
http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/new-future-harlequin-filefish
These fish were once falsely thought to be obligate coral polyp eaters and not keep-able in anything other than huge reef tanks. It seems this misinformation was due to poor collection and handling and is now thought to be false.
I have two males now. Both MAC certified. Both fish are eating both PE Mysis and formula one flake food. I assume they would eat most other foods you could offer. They will eat out of the water column and will eat the food that has landed on the rocks and substrate. Multiple feedings per day are best for these fish, but that is pretty easy with them eating flake. I had no problem getting them on to frozen food. Both seemed as interested in eating as the average newly imported fish. I did nothing special to get them eating. I suspect they are attracted to the red flake food by the color though since they quickly went after that.
They are perfectly comfortable in high or low flow and do not seem to be bothered by moderately aggressive tankmates. They have not bothered any corals in my tank so far, but I make no guarantees on behavior in other tanks. Minimum tank size is not known since they are only recently being kept alive, but my two seem to be doing equally well in a low flow 42 and a high flow 120.
Here is a pic. You can see that he is a male by the brightness of the orange on his bottom fin and the clearness of the white spots down there. Females will have a muddier color on that fin and less distinct spots. The orange on the mostly clear top fin is a sign of a male too.
Edit to add link if the pics are broken
http://picasaweb.google.com/FlightyMail/April2009Pics#
Here is the recently introduced male. You can see that his belly is very full but he is still pinched and needs to put on fat. It shouldn't take too long at the rate he is eating to get him looking good.
I hope to acquire a female and set up a breeding pair.
Special thanks to Patrick from Aqua Addicts for ordering these guys for me and putting up with customers scolding him for ordering unkeepable fish. I would have been one of the ones scolding him a few months ago.
Matt Pedersen has been breeding these fish. The thread is very long (34 pages at this time) but so well done documenting his work with these fish starting with "rescuing" a few from the LFS
http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=191&t=1922
and he wrote a comprehensive article for coral magazine
http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/new-future-harlequin-filefish
These fish were once falsely thought to be obligate coral polyp eaters and not keep-able in anything other than huge reef tanks. It seems this misinformation was due to poor collection and handling and is now thought to be false.
I have two males now. Both MAC certified. Both fish are eating both PE Mysis and formula one flake food. I assume they would eat most other foods you could offer. They will eat out of the water column and will eat the food that has landed on the rocks and substrate. Multiple feedings per day are best for these fish, but that is pretty easy with them eating flake. I had no problem getting them on to frozen food. Both seemed as interested in eating as the average newly imported fish. I did nothing special to get them eating. I suspect they are attracted to the red flake food by the color though since they quickly went after that.
They are perfectly comfortable in high or low flow and do not seem to be bothered by moderately aggressive tankmates. They have not bothered any corals in my tank so far, but I make no guarantees on behavior in other tanks. Minimum tank size is not known since they are only recently being kept alive, but my two seem to be doing equally well in a low flow 42 and a high flow 120.
Here is a pic. You can see that he is a male by the brightness of the orange on his bottom fin and the clearness of the white spots down there. Females will have a muddier color on that fin and less distinct spots. The orange on the mostly clear top fin is a sign of a male too.
Edit to add link if the pics are broken
http://picasaweb.google.com/FlightyMail/April2009Pics#
Here is the recently introduced male. You can see that his belly is very full but he is still pinched and needs to put on fat. It shouldn't take too long at the rate he is eating to get him looking good.
I hope to acquire a female and set up a breeding pair.
Special thanks to Patrick from Aqua Addicts for ordering these guys for me and putting up with customers scolding him for ordering unkeepable fish. I would have been one of the ones scolding him a few months ago.
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