ID this fish please have pic. red sea fish

layla13 · 20-04-2010

they also have a poitny scale on their heads like a horn lol and stay in pairs most of the time.. reminds me of a hawkfish but has a horn and diff. design thanks

Singularity · 20-04-2010

orange spotted filefish ?

layla13 · 20-04-2010

lol not sure... its green with yellow dots and has a round mouth hole.. and a very gentle natured fish from what i can tell.

layla13 · 20-04-2010

i did a search for it and yes it is a orange spotted filefish :-D TY! i have them in a tank with two clownfish and 3 anemones and two maximas. they really nice i hope i can keep them going for a loong time it said they eat coral.. and dont have coral in the tank.. hmmmmmmmmm lol

Obi-Wan · 20-04-2010

Oxymonacanthus halli, is the species shown in your pic.

The Orange spotted filefish is O. monacanthus, not found in the Red Sea.

This is NOT a fish for a new tank, beginner, or an aquarium devoid of correct natural food.
I find it even harder to believe it's kept by somebody who cannot identify the fish ...but I understand you may have just received it or caught them yourself...or maybe they're NOT in your tank????

I can't help but sound abit strict or harsh here...but this is a very SPECIALISED fish, requiring extremely critical attention to it's needs.

For instance, do you know it inhabits coral rich fringing reefs and ,and feeds on Acropora polyps, almost exclusively?

What efforts are being made to emulate the high flow, oxygen rich, relatively intensely illuminated habitat?

And what will be done about providing their , very necessary, food source??

ie. Acroporid polyps

Even if you DO TRY to match needs, you would need around a years worth of dense, healthy stony coral growth to provide a decent grazing ground for these filefish. Far too late to try NOW...

Best to return them ASAP to their habitat...it's heartbreaking but for the best.

Again, I appreciate that those are beautiful to look at.
Though, not at the risk of losing your respect for natural beauty and sacrificing "just 2 feeshees"

This reply is in the spirit of ENCOURAGING you to be a better aquarium owner, and nothing else should be inferred.

Good luck, and thanks for asking and caring!

layla13 · 20-04-2010

you are right it is a diff type found in the red sea further research showed me.(ive never seen them before) and i didnt know theyre hard to feed or anything the place i got the fish from had them available so i said yes i accept what is offered there isnt a store with the fish in tanks.. i didnt get any info on it. thats why im researching it now. i love animals so please dont be harsh and those fish are adorable.. so tomorrow i will go to the sea and snorkle to find the food it does eat what else can i do now. i live across the street from the beach red sea. where theyre from.

layla13 · 20-04-2010

i will try to feed them.. i live across the street from the red sea beach so it isnt a problem to find coral lol and i snorkle alot. when i got thgem they were like shocked and looked like they were dying and now they look happy so far.if it doesnt work to feed them for sure i will put them back in the sea its not like its difficult.

**millepora** · 20-04-2010

Hi Layla,
My good friend Liaquat has given you very accurate and well intended advice. It�s great that you live right next to one of the most beautiful coral reefs in the world and I�m sure Acroporids are abundant over there, but I don�t think it�s cool to go break off a few heads of Acropora every other day from the reefs to satisfy your fishes needs in your tank. In the wild these fish will not over feed on a single coral and kill it, but rather move over the reef pecking here and there causing hardly any damage at all, where as in an aquarium they are forced to peck the coral or corals to death. It would be great if you informed the people at your pet store as well, they probably had no idea.

Just a comment on your tank if I may�
Your lighting intensity doesn�t seam to be very high, I may be wrong and you have a couple of high powered light about to come on�.
The reason I say this is that you have a couple of very high light demanding specimens in your tank. Ie. Clams and Anemones. Not sure if your were aware? Cool

Falcon · 20-04-2010

slmz layla

try coating a dead coral skeleton with various frozen foods such as brine shrimp etc but just a little and leave in the tank but be sure not to pollute the tank by leaving it too long or allowing too much it to drift into the water

generally more experienced reefers know how to do these things and as an inexperienced reefer you run the risk of killing of your entire tank by trying this!hence my first advise to you would also be-release those two in the ocean...get them once you have atleast a year or two of solid experience

layla13 · 20-04-2010

yes im working on the lighting lol the pics arent that great kuz i used a phone to take the pics so its definitely brighter then in the pic and i am adding more types of lights soon. the anemones and the clams seem to be doing well so far and look healthy and i feed the anemones a few times a week and i have 2 clownfish in there also but yeah i know i need more intense lighting.

and about the coral.. the beach i go to is a resort beach and not anything like the natural beaches along the red sea coast. foriegners tromp the small reefs anyway so its not like the corals at that beach are pristine and well kept anyway. the beach is heavily abundant with the corals they eat. how do the ppl that keep the filefish as pets do it? i did take a small coral just to put in the tank and they did pick on it so at least theyre eating now. i appreciate the advice for sure. just plz take it easy on me kuz im new to this but it is interesting and fun to do. lol

**millepora** · 20-04-2010

Cool Layla, no worries mate we are taking it easy on you LOL
You ask how other people keep these particular filefish, and the answer is that relatively speaking very few people around the world actually keeps these fish. Obviously there are those that try but few are successful long term, the ones that are successful usually have large tanks that are heavily dominated by Acroporid type corals (SPS) and therefore are enough to sustain one of these awesome fish without impacting on the corals to badly.

Unfortunately the method that Falcon explains (which is a good method) is more likely to work on other difficult feeding fish but is unlikely to work for this particular species of file fish. Their diet is strictly Live Coral Polyps of the Acropora family.

layla13 · 20-04-2010

i see well that figures lol i get the ones rarely kept.. they are so cute though.. im in love with them. and theyre a couple i can tell theyre always together. when they were in the bag.. they were floating on the bottom like they were dead i was like omg. and the guy said dont worry theyre not dead.. give it time and i put them in the tank and they just layed on the bottom breathing and thats it for hours.. then they started to sit up some and then swim around. the only other fish are clownfish in the tank and theyre small and mellow. i mean they dont seem bored or sad.. but i dont know. they did peck on the coral i put in.. how much can just two of them eat? i will consider putting them in the sea.. i just hope when i do some other fish doesnt come up and swallow them lol id cry. i will try a bit longer and see how it goes and how much coral i have to use.

layla13 · 21-04-2010

i went and got a small coral from the sea and put it in. the pieces i put in yesterday i found this morning that they were really eating it a lot and seeming to enjoy themselves.. both of them. so i think i will keep them if they keep doing what theyre doing kuz theyre awesome. and no one is bothering them. they are a very sweet couple. lol maybe i got lucky and they are comfortable. its a very gentle tank. i dont thoink theyre gonna decrease the coral population by me having to get small small corals here and there. thanks for the input everyone.

Falcon · 21-04-2010

i would try conditioning them onto live brine shrimp apparently some people are even getting them to breed this way but remember they also feed a bit of marine mix etc as live brine is not very nutrition enriched for long term success.

corals are scarce and fast becoming endangered i suggest that we rather try to help nature in a small way then take small pieces of coral every few days...do some googling layla lotsa people are actually artificially cultivating corals especially sps so as not to put undue pressure on natural stocks.

i'm glad that you can keep them alive for now using live corals

but imagine the sense of accomplishment youd feel if you got them to eat frozen marine mix and pellets etc

layla13 · 22-04-2010

agreed.. and i noticed that even with flake food they see the clowns eating and try to peck at it a bit too theyre interested at the very least maybe theyre an agreeable pair and not as picky as most. i hope so! lol but i have another tank i just started and want to make it a reef tank so maybe i can grow some corals myself. i will be looking into the brine shrimp thing. theres so much info out there to read. lol thanks for the advice :-)

wringo · 4 Weeks Ago

Hi layla im walid from Egypt i find your fish at fish saller in cairo but that fish it very difficult to live............so you can provid it a natural sponge would be better to eat

layla13 · 4 Weeks Ago

you know a place in cairo that sells those fish?

it is an old post and the fish have been doing well. eating coral and also mostly flake food now. also i have them in a tank by themselves. i would love to have more if they are in a store already but cairo is too far to travel with them i think. unless i had a special travel tank lol. i am always interested in aquarium stores in cairo when i come there to shop when i can. thanks layla