New Pair of Firefish hiding for three days

[Big-B]

Hey there everyone.

I bough a pair of firefish this w/e and they have been hiding under a piece of live rock for three days now. I have a 29 gallon nano with 1 clown fish and a flame hawkfish in there with them. I also have 1 anemone and some mushrooms, polyps and other soft coral. Nothing fancy or threatening I think. Any idea why the two of them would be so skittish (i assume)? Never had any fish hide this long after introduction.

Thanks

[Felicia]

My firefish was pretty shy for the first couple days and then gradually started coming out more. Now it's out all the time. I know from reading before I bought mine that they are known to be a bit shy as far as fish go and they do require places in the rocks to hide, so hiding is pretty normal for them. I'd give it a few more days and see if they start to warm up.

 

Also if it makes you feel any better, I didn't even catch a glimpse of my yellow watchman goby for a week or more after adding him. I was about convinced he had died and then all of a sudden he started coming out all the time. I think they just need time to adjust and feel comfortable in their new environment.

[Trogdor447]

yea.. firefish are going to be real skiddish.. heck mine hardly came out until he went carpet surfing.. BTW your going to need a lid if u want to keep him.. Mine managed to find his way out between my hob fileter

[dan06277]

Mine hid for a week. I just kept feeding until he finally came out. Now he is out all day long and battles two clowns and a wrasse for chow.

[HVani]

My purple firefish took a couple days before he would come out. Now he's out all the time but is still pretty skittish. Is the tank in a high traffic area? mine is on my desk so he got use to me sitting around on the computer all the time.

[Big-B]

My purple firefish took a couple days before he would come out. Now he's out all the time but is still pretty skittish. Is the tank in a high traffic area? mine is on my desk so he got use to me sitting around on the computer all the time.

 

 

Thanks everyone for responding. I'm feeling like I didnt introduce a lamb to the slaughter now... I'll give them some time. One did come out to eat today which was nice to see. the tank is in a semi low traffic area. My 4 year old liked pointing at the fish today when it came out to eat which scared it back until another piece of food floated by and the 4 yo finger got put away ha ha. natures balance. IWe'll see

Thanks again

[Big-B]

Thanks everyone for responding. I'm feeling like I didnt introduce a lamb to the slaughter now... I'll give them some time. One did come out to eat today which was nice to see. the tank is in a semi low traffic area. My 4 year old liked pointing at the fish today when it came out to eat which scared it back until another piece of food floated by and the 4 yo finger got put away ha ha. natures balance. IWe'll see

Thanks again

 

Hello again. I thought I'd follow up on this thread as I have more info to share. As it turned out the first pair of firefish died within a week. I found one and the other disappeared. My LFS was cool enough to refund me after they tested my water and confirmed the parameters were reasonable(nitrates about 20ppm was sorst of lot). I introduced another pair and they were behaving about the same as my first pair were except they seem to venture out sooner than the first pair. Both were eating-1better than the other. Today, 9 days after introduction, I think one of them is gone as I couldnt find it anywhere and I found a crab eating small bit of something suspicious. I am beginning to suspect my green tip anemone(not a bulb type) may have something to do with all of this because about 6 weeks ago my bicolor disappeared as well.

 

I have a 29 gallon oceanic with a lot of LR. I modified the back chambers with a CPR backpack I had from my previous tank which was destroyed in an earthquake 2 years ago. Other tank mates include a Flame Hawkfish(which on a separate issue is looking pale and I need to change his diet a bit), a Clown Fish, and currently 1 confirmed firefish. The anemone is getting larger than it was and I guess at its max is about 4" in diameter. It's mouth looks rather large at times!!! I also have some mushrooms, devil hand coral, a couple of sorry looking polyp colonies and the usual collection of snails and crabs.

 

Please advice as I am not keen on losing my fish.

Thanks in advance.

B