Tassle Filefish: Growth rate
Navigation:
Growth Rate and a Tank Size
Let see:
At arrival: Fragile fuzzy perfection is of the size of the postal stamp (rhomboid decorative).
Mine was initially quite large - around 1 3/4" or 4.5 cm (including the tail fin), the two others, half of his size, were sold within few hours, between Friday 6.30 PM (or 18.30) and Saturday store opening, while I checked their requirements. One hour later there will be nothing left, and I hadn't seen them after that in the stores.
Compare with Ammonia Alert, here it is after ten days in my tank:
Twenty days later (since arrival):
Tassels didn't shorten, the body had grown.
Three months later:
Four months later the growth was slowed, but had to set the bigger tank: the baby volitan lion had grown too, and when it swept the "wings", in the manner of Count Dracula, the filefish was going hysterical and tried to swim away flat on the side at the tank top, but not much space left (20g XH tank).
Five months later:
While the new 90g tank cycled, the volitan lion died during the course of lowering nitrates by dosing vodka, no overdosing. Never again!
Here is filefish in the bigger tank, plenty of space so far. The same Ammonia Alert for a comparison. The live rock was added gradually, the next portion was curing. The eggcrate divider keeps the valentini puffer from reaching Christmas tree rock, bought yesterday.
11 months later (since arrival, as always):
Compare to the tank width, 18", at the right is only Seio 620 PH.
Or to the half-year old scooter, down at the left.
Still the same pleasant self, regardless of size.
16 months since arrival:
Fish doesn't allow to measure itself with a ruler, I sat and eyeballed it for maybe 15 minutes.
It seems to me, that no more than 5 body length (including the tail fin) fits within the tank length (48" or 1.2 m), and 2/3 of the tank width (18" or 45 cm), so it should be 10"-12" long, including the tail fin.
The glass without rock on the left was left intentionally - to free as much space as possible for freedom of movement.
This is why I think, that the 90g tank is an absolute minimum for the Tasseled filefish.
5 bodies long, 1.5 bodies wide - not much space for free movement.
Kind of a cell, like for Count of Monte Cristo.
Mind, that the rock work takes some width. And this fish likes to swim, make a sudden burst along the tank, and really doing better, if it has:
- the caves to hide,
- ledges to rest its chin,
- terrace gardens as a safe place to sleep, and a garden to see something new, and hide under it from time to time,
- and vertically positioned stones in different places for hiding behind them.
More about that in the Aquascaping for Tassled filefish. No more such space in this so small 90 gal tank, alas.
Next page: Aquascaping for Tasseled Filefish.