Breeding Journal, Species: Nemateleotris helfrichi

General
Species:  Nemateleotris helfrichi or Helfrichi's firefish
Social Structure:  pair
Size of Individuals:  about 2 inches long
Age of Individuals:  Unknown
Date added to Tank:  6/5/2013

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  15 gallons
Substrate Details:  bits of PVC fittings and pipe
Filtration Details:  sponge filter
Water Changes:  10% weekly
Water Temperature:  78F
Lighting:  ambient
Lighting Cycle:  14 day, 10 night
Other Tank Inhabitants:  none

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types: 
Feeding Schedule: 

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn: 
Spawn Time of Day: 
Dates of Consecutive Spawns: 
Courtship Details: 
Egg Size: 
Egg Color: 
Egg Count: 

Hatch Details
Hatch Date: 
Hatch Time of Day: 
# Days after Spawn: 
Larvae Description: 
Consecutive Hatch Dates:      

Larval Tank Details
Temperature: 
Size of Larval Tank: 
Substrate Details: 
Other Tank Decor: 
Filtration Details: 
Lighting: 
Lighting Cycle: 
Water Changes: 

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types: 
Feeding Schedule: 

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start: 
Days after Hatch: 
Date of Settlement End: 
Description of Fry: 

Grow-Out Tank Details
Temperature: 
Size of Grow-Out Tank: 
Substrate Details: 
Other Tank Decor: 
Filtration Details: 
Lighting: 
Lighting Cycle: 
Water Changes: 
Size at Transfer: 
Age at Transfer: 

Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types: 
Feeding Schedule: 

Additional Information

(No Pictures or Videos in the Section Please)
Miscellaneous Information: 



You will be required to provide photographic or video evidence in this thread of each event submitted for the MBI Program.
If your thread does not contain these photos the MBI Committee will not be able to approve your reports. PHOTOS AND VIDEO S MUST BE PLACED IN ADDITIONAL POSTS, NEVER IN THE FIRST POST IN A JOURNAL.

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

I got the pair from Divers' Den, Drs Foster and Smith LiveAquaria.  They were purchased as a bonded pair. They are a couple days in quarantine right now, so no pictures yet.  The male is perfect, the female has some modestly frayed fins.  I am assuming male is the perfect one, as he was the first to emerge from hiding.  They are never more than a couple of inches from one another, and they share the same hiding spot. They are eating well, frozen cyclopeze, live A panamensis, frozen mush, and pellets of Otohime.

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

And now they are divorced, living separately, a product of domestic abuse.  She hides whenever he comes around, and when she comes out, its on the other side of the sponge filter from him, so he can't see her.
 
 Her top dorsal, which had been split all the way down, is starting to anneal, and I think the rest of her fins are healing.  They are both eating well. 
 
I hope this friction is a sign that they will mate soon. Judging by the results of others, I'll have to be on the lookout for eggs, because spawning females don't last long in the Nemateliotris society.

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

How are you able to sex these? 
 
I've asked about what the "bonded pair" means from DD, they said it just means they were two fish collected near each other and have tolerated each other in a tank at their facility. Just curious how you were able to sex them, Kathy.

Tagging along as well. Curious to read about sexing of these fish.

nope, I didn't sex them, I bought them. Sorry not be able to provide information here.
 
I changed their accommodations during a water change.  I did have a bunch of elbows for them, but I can't tell what's going on within the elbows, so I made some straight 3-pipe condos out of 3/4 inch pipe and zip ties.  Two of these are in their tank, at opposite ends.  Now they inhabit the same condo association, though different units.  They seem to be swimming more together as well, with less squabbling than before.
 

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

Good luck Kathy!  What I've read, these are tough to get a spawn from!

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

Thanks, the female continues to mend her fins.  She eats well whatever I give her.  Mr and Mrs Helfrichi continue to do well.  I am thinking about getting a bunch of cheaper firefish to see if I can learn something about sexing them, and possibly get someone to lay some eggs!

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

Mr and Mrs Helfrichi have been inhabiting the same pipe complex.  He stays in the lower right pipe, and she likes to dive and dwell under the structure at the juction of two pipes.  They've been getting along pretty well.  He still chases her in the daytime, and she always keeps an eye on him, and swims fast to escape should he charge her.   Mostly she is out and about, and he stays in his pipe.  Her fins have completely healed since she arrived with frayed fins, with the exception of the tip of her dorsal which still has a notch in it.
 
This evening I think I saw some courtship behavior that I've not seen described elsewhere.  It happened after the tank lights were out for the group of tanks that houses the firefish, but the lights were still on for the row of tanks against the wall of my fishroom.  I could witness this activity if I stood on the other, darker side of the basement and looked through the fish tank towards the lighted row.  In other words, it was dusk for the firefish.  And I don't think they could see me.
 
The two of them swam together, sometimes parallel, sometimes in a slanted T formation. The female was not wary of the male as she usually is.  In fact, it seemed the female wanted the male to see her.  The male (the larger one) would keep his fins flared, with dorsal twitching, but the female(smaller one) would shoot her dorsal stringently erect, flare her fins open, and with fluttering pectoral fins, vibrate her whole body. This went on for several seconds, she would relax, and the male would make a wild swim towards a pipe.  She never followed.  At one point the male dove into the space below the pipe condo where the female usually sleeps. He then frantically whipped his body around, lifting the pipe condo and moving it an inch or two.  He came back out, and danced with the twitching vibrating female a few more times, dove into the other condo, emerged to dance again and finally entered his usual pipe, seemingly for the night.  The female never went to the pipe until after the male had given up and gone home.  Then she swam into her usual place under the condo, and that was the end of the show.
 
I've never seen them do this before, in daylight, but I've never looked at the tank at this time of the evening.  I'll have to see if the behaviors continue.  I wonder if I can get a low light video...
 
 

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

Ohh, that sounds interesting!

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

Sadly, i arrived home from MBI workshop to a dead Mr Helfrichi.  He was the one that arrived perfect, and routinely tormented Mrs. Helfrichi.  She never retaliated, but his body was found lifeless on the bottom of the tank.  He was perfect in every way, with no injuries or deformities that I could see. She is still fine, eating, out and about. I hate it when a fish dies for no apparant reason...
 

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

Ugh...sorry to hear about that. 

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

Thanks.  It's a bummer.  Know anyone who wants a possibly female helfrichi?
 

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

wow... I was reading through this getting so hopeful! You just dashed my heart out Mr Helfrichi!!!! lol. Not going to try and pair up another one??? 

Well, doesn't that just suck to high heaven?

Thanks, but I bought these as a pair, sexing them is not easy, and I don't have that much money to chance buying lots of helfrichi.  Particularly, since I don't know why he died, this species is just too expensive.  If I can get a clean source of cheaper dart fish, I might try another species.

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

Kathy, maybe you could wait until after MACNA...you never know, you may chance upon a good deal there.

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]