Red tail FIREFISH

[newtoreef]

Hi everyone!

I have two red tail firefish on my 90 Gallon for about 7 months now. They were always together and having fun. This past week or so I started noticing that one of them would disappear for a day or so and couple days ago I saw the top fin got really short. The other firefish is bulling him and nipping on him constantly and i don't know why because they used to be friends....

What should I do ? I have a 6 gallon tank under my display that I can use for emergencies should I separate them ?? If I should which one do I need to take out? Any advice is really appreciated !

Thanks

[JLW]

Firefish are kind of weird: they basically get along, but also hate each other. They're aggressive toward each other in order to set up a definite pecking order, with one being an Alpha, and the remainder must Kneel Before Zod or else. In order to assert itself, the head firefish will be rather rough on subordinate individuals. The Beta individual will be nasty toward the Gamma and below, and so on.

 

In an ideal situation, there are like 50 of these things to spread the aggression out. No one gets picked on so much that it loses fins -- or worse. When you have two or three or even four of them, there's not enough to diffuse the aggression, and everyone picks on the weaker members. This can result in death. This is even worse in the confines of the tank, where a subordinate individual doesn't have the option of running away or just plain getting out of town -- though, if the tank isn't covered, he might give it a shot anyhow.

 

So, you have two choices. Buy 48 more, or get rid of one. :-D

 

Unless you're able to remove one, the weaker individual will eventually be killed.

 

As to which one to remove, given how hard they are to catch in a scaped tank... whichever one you catch first.

 

You didn't say if your tank was a reef or not, but if it isn't, you COULD also just try adding more hiding places... might work. Maybe.

[newtoreef]

yeah I was trying to catch the weak one but no luck he is pretty fast... I have a reef tank with lots of hiding places. I will to catch him again. Thanks for your reply.

[davelin315]

I think dartfish also go into seclusion when they are breeding. The female will hole itself up and not be seen for up to a couple of weeks. In our systems, though, that typically ends up with it being trapped in the den and dying... Not saying that's what's happening, but it's possible (if I'm thinking of the right type of fish).

[Coral Hind]

They are very peaceful with other fish but as you have found out they can be aggressive to their own species unless they are a mated pair. If your tank is big enough you could add a couple more which spreads out the aggression, kind of like keeping a group of yellow tangs is better then just two. What other fish are in the tank?