BKLYNREEF123

Advanced Reefer
Location
Brooklyn
Rating - 100%
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Hey MR

I have a pair of purple fire fish. I started out with 4 about 13 months ago. I was down to 3 within a month. From 3 I was down to two about 8 months ago. Within the past 2 weeks I noticed that one of the fire fish is hiding under a rock. It comes out to feed, but does not freely swim about the tank like it did for many months. I also noticed a nip in the tail fin. I have not seen the fish out swimming enough to determine who might be picking on it. There have not been any new additions of fish recently, in fact I have removed fish. At first I thought maybe they were spawning and one may be guarding the clutch. The nip on the fin makes me think its being harassed... The tank inhabitants are 2 fire fish, a pair of maldeves anthias, a pair of clowns, a corris wrasse, leopard wrasse, blue line wrasse, and a pair of blue chromis. I have very few hermits and the ones I do have are tiny. other than that my inverts consist of snails, sandsifting stars, and a small urchin. Wondering if anyone has any insight.
 
Location
Queens, NY
Rating - 100%
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People push fire fish as schooling fish, but I think of them as pairs or harems.
Males fight other males off and during the fight, one male will jump out, since he has no concept of there being no water on the other side of the glass.

If you have 2 left, and they tolerate each other, you probably have a pair or less likely 2 females.

If you believe your tank is well populated with other friendly dither fish, if your hiding friend is probably not scared of its environment and should be swimming safely and securely in the open, then your conclusion of having a nesting pair is reasonable.

To prove this, you'll have to watch and see the eggs hatch or see a cloud of larval fish drifting around at dawn or dusk. OR you'll just have to open it up and see if there are eggs in there. That's just if you want to know for sure.

If you want, you can place short pipe sections of 1/2" diameter into the sand sticking straight up, and see if they accept that as a nest. That's easier to do, scatter them around the tank. My Molly miller blennies nested in 3" pipes sections for over a year.
 

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