Purple AND orange firefish together?

[jipps]

I posted this is my other thread but I think that thread might have been swallowed by disinterest already.

I was thinking of putting a purple AND an orange firefish in a 10 gal together? Is it possible that they'd co-exist? or even pair up and mate?

[xtopher]

they will not pair up nor will they swim together, but cool enough one will pick one side of the tank the other will take what's left. At least this is how mine acted

[three90s&125sump]

as long as you put them in at the same time and feed them well.

[jipps]

hmm two posts with opposite opinions haha

any others?

[three90s&125sump]

No, they say the same thing. They wont be friends but you can do it.

[Esper]

From my experience, I wouldn't do it in a small tank.

I bought a red/purple pair against my better judgement that seemed to get along in a small tank at the lfs. when introduced to my 30 gallon, they'd pair up constantly, even sleeping right next to each other at night. once they became established and realized they were the only two fish in the tank, they constantly bickered and bullied each other for territory. i believe the reason they seemed to get along so well in the lfs and when first introduced into my tank is because they were defensive to external threats from unfamiliar environments. once they got comfortable, they become competetive with each other. the red one died (of stress, I assume--it was the less aggressive of the two) after 2 months of looking completely healthy. I still have the purple one in my 20L.

if you have a very large tank with lots of live rock and nooks and crannys, they may have enough room to stake out individual territories. in small tanks, they will view other firefish as competitors for food/rsources.

[jipps]

Oh oh sorry I didn't quite understand.

What are the chances of putting two purple firefish and having them becomes friends/pair/mated?

[skeety]

bump.

If they are both the same species, They should get along. not sure about mated pair thought. Kind of a luck of the draw with that.

[PowerManJ316]

I am interested in trying something similar...I have a 75 with lots of rock and hiding places. I have had a shy purple firefish for about 1 month now and would like to get a orange as well. The purple firefish has his territory, but is not real aggressive defending it. I also have a rainford goby, six line, and percula. Am I sentancing the new firefish to a death sentance if I get one???

[partobe]

I have a 150 with 2 firefish. I put them in at the same time. For the first week they stayed side by side after that they split up. Now only one swims around the other only comes out to eat and when he does the other one chases him back into the rocks. Both of mine are orange

[ShirleyM]

we've had purple firefish. They like to hang out together -- 2, 3, etc together.

They LOVE to jump and they jump high -- especially in a small tank. Ours jumped right through the eggcrate! So... I'd get them for a large tank, but not a mini-reef.

We kept a neon dottyback in a mini-reef (10-gal) very successfully. Only fish in there.