Anyone tried squirrelfish/soldierfish? How come they're so rare in the hobby?

burningmime · Dec 23, 2020

I'm looking for a shoaling/schooling fish for my reef that wouldn't end up in the belly of a moray (which rules out the usual suspects like anthias and chromis). I came across the squirrelfish, which looks slightly bigger than an eel mouth and good in groups. But they seem to be a fairly rare fish -- yet also not super expensive. I mean look at this cutie which LA has in stock for $60:

https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/316/squirrelfish-striped?pcatid=316&c=15+42+316

The only red flags I see is the short lifespan, and potential feeding difficulty. Has anyone tried anything in this family?

hds4216 · Dec 23, 2020

They are 100% nocturnal. Very shy fish, they'll hide the entire day.

burningmime · Dec 23, 2020

hds4216 said:
They are 100% nocturnal. Very shy fish, they'll hide the entire day.

I know they're nocturnal, but I read a few comments saying they're very active and visible around dusk and under moon lights.

robbyg · Dec 23, 2020

They eat anything that can fit in their mouths and they like to eat.

Brittany Marie · Dec 23, 2020

I love these guys too! The glasseye especially. They get pretty big though

College Fishkeeper · Dec 24, 2020

burningmime said:
I know they're nocturnal, but I read a few comments saying they're very active and visible around dusk and under moon lights.

I heard this technique from an aquarist I don't know if it has any evidence to back it up, but by turning the lights off in the day and turning on the lights at night--like turning off the lights when it is still day time and keeping the lights on at night--you can switch the behavior so you can see them during the day. I heard the aquarist did this for one of their nocturnal displays. Let me know if you try this and it works

HB AL · Dec 27, 2020

I've had a squirrel fish (big eye) for almost 3 years. The 1st couple months it mostly hid in dark sections of the tank but after that after it figured out being out in the light was not a bad idea since that was when food was added to the tank. It quickly became a diurnal fish. Although it doesn't cruise the tank all day its out and about all the time and also goes in and out of its cave. So if you add one it might not come out much at 1st when the lights are on but after a month or so it will pretty much become diurnal and come out when the lights are on, on a regular basis.

burningmime · Dec 27, 2020

HB AL said:
I've had a squirrel fish (big eye) for almost 3 years. The 1st couple months it mostly hid in dark sections of the tank but after that after it figured out being out in the light was not a bad idea since that was when food was added to the tank. It quickly became a diurnal fish. Although it doesn't cruise the tank all day its out and about all the time and also goes in and out of its cave. So if you add one it might not come out much at 1st when the lights are on but after a month or so it will pretty much become diurnal and come out when the lights are on, on a regular basis.

Awesome! Seems like you did a good job of making it dirnal.

Does it have much "personality"? How doe sit get on with other fish? How big is the eye?

vetteguy53081 · Dec 27, 2020

I used to sell these guys. They are found in the shallow waters of carribean and like cardinal fish are not very active until food hits the tank. I find them both colorful and boring
They are also best in groups and main r5eason over the years that you rarely see them in tanks is the fact that they are awake at night when divers are not out collecting. Squirrelfish are nocturnal fish that remain alert when the rest of the reef is fast asleep. The pronounced eye belies their nocturnal ways. While the Squirrelfish with its large eyes and red/ silver colors seem predominating and looks defenseless, it has venomous preopercle spines near the gills.

fishybizzness · Dec 27, 2020

They are an extremely common fish in the Caribbean but as juveniles are very hard to collect as they are extremely fast and hide very well! The one in my profile pic was collected on a tide pool at low tide. I had it for over a year but I lost it along with most of my fish after a hurricane when I lost power for a few days. As said earlier, they will eat anything that can fit into its mouth so it's not suitable for most aquariums.

burningmime · Dec 27, 2020

vetteguy53081 said:
I used to sell these guys. They are found in the shallow waters of carribean and like cardinal fish are not very active until food hits the tank. I find them both colorful and boring

That's too bad :-(

Is there a schooling fish that isn't boring and isn't dwarf moray food?

vetteguy53081 · Dec 27, 2020

Yellow tangs
hi hats
pilot fish
porkfish

HB AL · Dec 27, 2020

burningmime said:
Awesome! Seems like you did a good job of making it dirnal.

Does it have much "personality"? How doe sit get on with other fish? How big is the eye?

It doesn't have much of a personality especially when compared to my triggers. It gets along fine with all the other fish and I have alot, they ignore it and it ignores them. Not sure what you mean by the size of the eyes, but the eyes are the size a 3 inch squirrel fish would have.

nereefpat · Dec 28, 2020

burningmime said:
That's too bad :-(

Is there a schooling fish that isn't boring and isn't dwarf moray food?

Dwarf Moray? As in golden dwarf? Those shouldn't give you trouble with larger anthias.

burningmime · Dec 28, 2020

nereefpat said:
Dwarf Moray? As in golden dwarf? Those shouldn't give you trouble with larger anthias.

Banana eel (G. miliaris). They say it's the second smallest moray, but can be aggressive. Originally I was going with a dragon eel, but those things get massive, so there's not much you can keep with them.

Are there any Anthias that wget over 4 inches?

nereefpat · Dec 29, 2020

I was thinking G. melatremas, on the eel.

burningmime said:
Are there any Anthias that wget over 4 inches?

Yes. Lyretail for one. Females don't get quite that big, and males get 5"+.

Square spots get much bigger than lyretail, but need a big tank. I'm sure there are others.

Jasc · Nov 23, 2023

burningmime said:
I'm looking for a shoaling/schooling fish for my reef that wouldn't end up in the belly of a moray (which rules out the usual suspects like anthias and chromis). I came across the squirrelfish, which looks slightly bigger than an eel mouth and good in groups. But they seem to be a fairly rare fish -- yet also not super expensive. I mean look at this cutie which LA has in stock for $60:

https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/316/squirrelfish-striped?pcatid=316&c=15+42+316

The only red flags I see is the short lifespan, and potential feeding difficulty. Has anyone tried anything in this family?

Eats many small fish such as baby clownfish or any small invertebrates.

Alpha_and_Gec · Nov 24, 2023

burningmime said:
I'm looking for a shoaling/schooling fish for my reef that wouldn't end up in the belly of a moray (which rules out the usual suspects like anthias and chromis). I came across the squirrelfish, which looks slightly bigger than an eel mouth and good in groups. But they seem to be a fairly rare fish -- yet also not super expensive. I mean look at this cutie which LA has in stock for $60:

https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/316/squirrelfish-striped?pcatid=316&c=15+42+316

The only red flags I see is the short lifespan, and potential feeding difficulty. Has anyone tried anything in this family?

You won't see em often, but they are active fish. My lfs has some black - barred soldierfish that would dash out of the rocks once in a while... they're nocturnal and prefer slightly deeper waters. My mom told me she won't let me get them because she thinks their big eyes are creepy.