The contest was arranged by coralscience.org, a excellent site for science based information that is also usable for aquarists who might not enjoy reading scientific papers. The list of contributors is very impressive; if you read studies done on coral reefs you’ll immediately recognize many of them. Aquarium heavy weights too! Please visit their site and consider making a donation!

And finally, the photo I submitted:

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1. Oxymonacanthus longirostris, 1st month

Last month has really been quite uneventful, my Oxymonacanthus longirostris has been like any thriving aquarium fish, eating flake foods with gusto and being a lively and active specimen.

After observing closely this fish tens of hours in my reef aquarium I can provide these notes:

What ever they are feeding off corals, they are not eating polyps! These fishes seem to be very selective feeders, always going through coral branches and keeping a close eye on the coral surface. When it sees something to eat it will quickly take a nip and continue browsing. Growing tips of corals are very rarely nibbled at.

There are never bite marks or other visible damage. Actually, I would say that the corals on which they spend the most time seem to be the healthiest.

I’ve seen him nibbling on Acropora, Stylopora, Montipora, Cyphastrea, Acanthastrea, Micromussa and Capnella. It has not touched Echinophora, Pachyseris, Favia, Turbinaria, Catalaphyllia, Subergorgia, Isis, Rumphella, Aiptasia, corallimorphs, zoanthids nor hydroids.

He also eats small invertebrates from the rocks, although only sporadically.

After starting to eat flake foods he has not been eating from coral surfaces as much as before.

It is tempting to speculate that they are actually eating the slime corals produce and small creatures living on the coral. It might be an interesting experiment to try this species to control coral parasites.

Just like in nature, Oxymonacanthus will keep coral polyps closed during the day. I think this as a positive feature.

These fishes need to be fed several times a day. It seems like they have very short digestion system. The fish can be noticeable thinner at morning even though they spend extremely little energy when they are asleep.

They need a thick Acropora growth so that they can wedge themselves between the branches using the first two dorsal spines.

It might be important to have right Acropora species when first introduced to the tank. My individual would not touch anything else than the “green slimer” Acropora for a few first days. He would gradually expand his feeding area and start to sample other corals.

All other fishes seem to completely ignore him, even the large Acanthurus achilles I have.

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1. Oxymonacanthus longirostris, 1st month
2. My Way
3. What we all should really be measuring

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]

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