September Fish of the Month: Firefish

Septembers fish of the Month: Firefish

Red Firefish
http://www.fishbase.org/images/species/Nemag_u3.jpg

Purple Firefish
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ckBlasgNSz...0/firefish.jpg

Helfrichi Firefish
http://www.aquariumdomain.com/images...iFirefish4.jpg

Lifespan and size: 2-3 years to 3"
Location: Coral Sea(Red Firefish and Purple), Indonesia (Red Firefish and Purple), Maldives (Purple Fire Fish), Marshall Islands (Helfrichi Firefish only)
Care Level: Easy
Temperament: Peaceful
Tank Size: 15 gallons

Since there are a few fish that we commonly keep in our reef tanks that belong to this group of fish we'll concentrate on all three instead of just one. The 3 most common from this genus kept in our aquariums are the Red Firefish (Nemateleotris magnifica), Purple Firefish (Nemateleotris decora) and, the Helfrichi Firefish (Nemateleotris helfrichi). All are very peaceful fish and excellent choices for just about any reef aquarium. All will readily take to aquarium foods like, Pellets, Flake, Mysis shrimp, prawn eggs, and Brine shrimp. Firefish can be kept alone or in small groups. They typically feel more comfortable in small groups and this encourages them to be out and about in the tank more. Firefish are also notoriously known as jumpers! It's very wise to keep your tank covered if you don't want to find your Firefish on the floor! Keeping several easily accessible hiding spots such as caves, cracks, or holes under your live rock will help give these fish an alternative choice to dart to should they be startled by another tank occupant. When it comes to compatibility, Firefish can be kept with just about any other fish, although they do prefer more mellow tank mates. The Red Firefish and Purple Firefish are commonly found on shallow reefs and tend to be less timid than the deeper water Helfrichi Firefish.

Please feel free to post your own photos and experience with this fish!

I love these fish, so fun to watch and one of the few species of fish that is both very hardy, and still very active in the tank. My dog loves this fish too. As an inexperienced aquarist i put two of these in a open to 75g tank. i saw them when i put them in, they looked very happy... I never saw them again after that. the best i can figure is they jumped out and the dog ate them before i found em... so YEA Your tank Totally Needs a lid. I finished my new canopy last month complete with screen top and back so very soon i hope to add a new pair.

word of caution to take heed in Jeff's comments about choosing peaceful tank mates. I recently purchased a Helfrichi and it appears my likely my powder blue tang got the best of it.

I had a scissortail that bullied my firefish into the rocks, so he never came out and swam around. Well, leter on down the road the scissortail jumped out and I discovered him all too late. The bright side is that now the firefish is out and about all the time. I have live rock built up on both side of my tank (a valley set up) and he's happy being directly in between the two rock mounds. He only goes to the rocks when somethings going on that he's scared of, i.e.; my hand goes in the tank, the lion fish is eating, formerly the scissortail. He gets along great with the lion fish, coral beauty, orange spotted goby and all others. Highly recommend them because theyre beautiful, easy to keep, cheap, and very peaceful open water swimmers.

Great fish. The regular fire fish gets a beautiful purple color on its head when their healthy.