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Is there a spot left for me? Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Just a quick update. Male and Female OSFs are doing well. Male is now eating much better and is putting on weight. Since he has survived 8 wks, I think he will be around for the long haul. Happy new year! Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Looks like it was a weekend romance. Aggression is back. I'll give it another day, but male will probably be back in acclimation box. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

How cute. Sharing the same coral... Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

For those following along, I removed the acclimation box and let the male back in with the female. Weekend went well...aggression is minimal and seems to only happen during feedings. Otherwise, they mostly hang out together. Couple other interesting notes on behavior. The male is doing what my female used to do...sort of obsessively go up and down the glass fighting with his reflection. I remember being annoyed by this with my female...wore of in a couple weeks. The other interesting thing with the male is his beak is a little crooked. I wonder if he was injured during collection. I don't think it affects him in any way...but just something that distinguishes him. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Some pictures. You can see the males head is boney and thin. Female is thick throughout body. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Other fish in tank: 1. Red Spit Cardinal 2. Target Mandarin 3. Helfrichi Fire Fish So I did put together a protocol. However, never really got to test it as I lucked out with OSFs already eating brine shrimp. Just be aware that of my track record: 1st OSF never ate; lasted 4 weeks; died with the rest of my tank due to velvet. I suspect one of the fish I ordered was infected. Lessons learned: only take on one difficult fish and quarantine. Note after tank was nuked, I left it barren and pretty much empty for my next OSF atrempt. 2nd OSF arrived DOA 3rd OSF was gotten locally after being weaned but was so thin it did not survive transition to another tank. 4th OSF looked healthy and ate live brine from the get go. 5th OSF was gotten from another fish keeper who had him for 6 months. Came in under weight but at least meagerly eating brine. After a couple weeks, I have it eating live brine, frozen brine, nutramar ova, and Masstick. He gets a full belly now and should hopefully recover to a fat and healthy OSF. Here are the basics: Prep: 1. Have multiple SPS for OSF to snack on. 2. Have multiple coral skeletons to coat with food. 3. Have several live and prepared foods on hand (live brine, blood worms, frozen gut loaded brine, nutramar ova, LRS nano reef frenzy, selcon, nouri polyp, Repashy, and Masstick) 4. Be prepared to feed 4-6 times per day 5. Have an aquarium that you can maintain high water quality with heavy feedings. Wean: 1. Drip acclimate OSF 2. Prep a mix of live brine, frozen brine, worms, nutramar ova, lrs nano reef, nouri polyp, and selcon. Basically throw everything in but the skeletal coating stuff. 3. Dose food a couple times and see if it eats anything. 4. If it does eat out of the water column and focuses on a particular ingredient, increase that ingredient in mix and alternate single ingredient and mix. 5. If it is not eating well out of the water column, or needs to put on weight, coat portions of coral skeleton with Repashy and Masstick each mixed with selcon and nutrama ova or any of the other ingredients it seems to prefer. Make this available to the fish throughout the day. 6. If not eating well from water column or skeleton. Alternate coated skeleton live SPS throughout the day and dose the mix. Literature indicates that Millipora is the preferred SPS. Alternate SPS to maximize life of SPS...time to recover between OSF exposure. Tips: 1. You have about 3-4 weeks to get it eating 2. Worms are the 1st food I give up on after a week if it shows no interest in them 3. Live brine worked best for me, followed by frozen brine, nutramar ova, nouri polyp, and lrs nano. 4. Once fish was eating well I reduced the live brine until it was eating frozen. Kept up with the mix without live components and after several months, it eats everything. 5. I tried many SPS types including Millipora with little success for my non-eating fish. 6. You'll spend way more on SPS and food then on the fish. 7. OSF will pick on SPS in the tank. However, I have NOT found this to be too detrimental to the SPS... SPS just seems to hide or reduce polys extension. Hope this helps. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Just a quick update. The last of the 10 is doing great. I even reduced feedings to twice a day for several weeks. No clue as to why these fish are hard to keep. 9 dead with no rhyme or reason; 1 lives with no rhyme or reason. While I would love to get more of these, they clearly are a delicate fish that may be very susceptible to stress and disease. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Only had the male for a couple of weeks. Won't declare success until he is fat and healthy like the female. Based on Matt's article, I expect this to take several weeks. Good news is that he is definately eating and getting a full belly dailly. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Its been awhile since my last update. So it's been 7 months since I got my OSF. She eats everything and is fat and healthy. I recently got a male OSF from another fish keeper. While he was successfully kept for over 6 months his head was skeletal and tail thin. However, he would meagerly eat brine shrimp. After a week of peaceful cohabitation and increasing appetite he became aggressive. In talking with Matt Pedersen, he suggested separating the fish until the male becomes fat and healthy. So he is now in an acclimation box getting 4-6 feedings a day plus a coral skeleton with Repashy gel and Masstick. He has taken to the brine shrimp, nutramar ova, and the Masstick. Really like the masstick and Repashy as they allow me to leave food in the tank that the fish is able forage all day long. It can then be removed and has little impact on the system. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

So according to OSF guru, my female is indeed a female and the aggression could be due to the male's hunger. He is definitely not a fat and happy camper. Since he is actively eating my mix now, and Matt has put me on to Masstick and Repashy I have seperated them and will focus on getting the male fat and happy. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Last week, I picked up a male OSF from NJ from someone who has been keeping him for several months. I was hoping he would like my female and pair. After a week of cohabitating peacefully, and getting him to eat my mix, he has become very aggressive. I am thinking of rehoming him if he does not start behaving. Any recommendations on the behavior? I have reached out to Matt Pedersen for advice and to see if my female could actually be a male. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Awesome! Just got a male for my female OSF. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Looking forward to seeing you. Any chance you would be able to discuss Orange Spotted Filefish? Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I really think it's feedings. When doing 4-6, didn't lose any. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

And then there were 2 again...strange.

One is the loneliest numbet... Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Read the article, but am not convinced. Theory has to be that the rock and coraline algae is out competing the coral for nutrients. My bet is they were both under feeding their respective tanks. Mature rock is always contributing to the nutrient levels of the tank. If your tank is spotless, I bet there is not enough nutrients for the coral to thrive. Corals in my tank had similar issues and I started with dry rock. Water parameters were solid tank was 9 months old, but everything seemed to slowly fade away. I upgraded the lights to a custom built LED. Still not sucsessful with SPS / LPS. Then I got my OSF and Cardinal fish that required frequent feedings. Suddenly, EVERYTHING started to grow like nuts. Soft coral and hard coral alike. With this growth came some unwanted algae...but hey, that what the cleanup crews are for. I am now a strong believer of feeding your tank. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

If you are giving away some coral or want to trade...then yes. I can use some for my Orange Spotted Filefish to graze on. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Everything has a price. Make an offer I can't refuse. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Tucked away for the night... Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Steady at 2, can't recommend these fish. ;( Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

So I was curious about the polyps and checked them out when the lights went out and through the night...and there they were! Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Red Spot Cardinals. I have another thread on them. Not recommended as they appear to NEED frequent feedings or they disappear. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Actually the SPS is doing fine...but different. My birds of paradise is growing but shows little to no polyps. Rainbow Birds Nest is growing but has very small tight polyps. I have an unknown monti that is green and hairy...now it's hairs are gone. Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk