Oxymonacanthus longirostris, 1st month
I got this fish from a friend who received it by mistake – he ordered a Oxycirrhites but got Oxymonacanthus instead… The fish was in pretty bad shape after the journey from importer but he quickly recovered.
Immediately after he was added in to the tank he swam into a “green slimer” Acropora and started to feed on the coral. Naturally I was concerned about the health of the coral but it became quickly obvious that whatever he was eating it was not coral polyps. This fish is very active feeder, taking more than 10 bites per minute and yet after many hours of “eating” the same coral there was absolutely no visible damage to the coral. And he really was eating because it was very easy to see his stomach becoming more rounded.
He ate the same “green slimer” coral exclusively for the first three or four days. At morning he would always look emaciated but during the day he would become more rounded. Slowly he started to expand his food sources, first to other Acropora species and then to two encrusting Porites corals. At this point he still ate the “green slimer” about 80% of the time but it’s share in the diet was slowly shrinking.
It took some time, but around two week mark he started to sample other corals also, including Stylopora, Capnella and Acanthastrea. Even after two weeks of intensive feeding, no coral showed any visible damage.
Around this time he started also eating small bugs from rocks and sand. Naturally I had offered dry foods all this time but he didn’t show any interest. Then, like someone had turned a switch, at day 17 he started to feed on flake food (a mixture of Omega One flakes). He quickly became one of the most active feeder and now he is constantly seeking food from the water column, in addition to rocks and sand. After starting to eat flake foods his interest in corals has decreased greatly.
To be continued…
[Update: There is now report after two months available]
[...] Harlequin Filefish (3 [...]