Pinecone Fish?

[Bectan01]

Or pineapple fish. I have the opportunity to purchase one of these. Live aquaria says 50g or larger - I have a 55. I would appreciate opinions on this, if anyone has ever had one before? It says its peaceful and its mates would be a pair of percs, a purple firefish, a gold stripe cardinal, a scooter blenny, a rainsfords goby and a Bennetts puffer. It's the puffer I worry about although he is mature and peaceful he is my biggest fish. Live aquaria also lists this bad boy at $700, I can get him for $150 (although I could probably get him for $100

 

[Andy Sager]

Or pineapple fish. I have the opportunity to purchase one of these. Live aquaria says 50g or larger - I have a 55. I would appreciate opinions on this, if anyone has ever had one before? It says its peaceful and its mates would be a pair of percs, a purple firefish, a gold stripe cardinal, a scooter blenny, a rainsfords goby and a Bennetts puffer. It's the puffer I worry about although he is mature and peaceful he is my biggest fish. Live aquaria also lists this bad boy at $700, I can get him for $150 (although I could probably get him for $100

Ok, the first question you need to ask yourself is WHY are they selling a $700.00 fish for $150.00? That's a red flag in my book

Pinecones are not the easiest of fishes to keep. (I've had a few in my import stations) They are a bioluminescent fish having "light sacs" under both eyes. (While this leads one to believe that it's a deep water fish, Australian ones, and possibly other out area ones, are found at times in shallow water.) They need a lot of hiding places and will not be out most of the lighted hours and you will see more evidence of them at night when the lights are out. ( Look for green flashes )
Food will consist mostly of live shrimps or live feeder Guppies ( or any other fish small enough to fit into their mouths. ) FYI: I was not successful in getting ours to eat dead food.
It's been reported that it is not a known solitary fish but whenever I was offered the fish from my suppliers, they only had ones at a time. (for what that's worth )

It's a cool fish for sure and I wish you good luck if you get it. Keep us posted.

 

[Bectan01]

Great info, thank you! I believe it's going for $150 because I live in Australia and they are quite common, he looks healthy! I will certainly have to think about it some more - on further research I think he would eat my 3 smaller fish. I have a couple of years of saltwater under my belt now and have had great success with this tank, part of me doesn't want to upset the habitat. Thanks again!

 

[Andy Sager]

Great info, thank you! I believe it's going for $150 because I live in Australia and they are quite common, he looks healthy! I will certainly have to think about it some more - on further research I think he would eat my 3 smaller fish. I have a couple of years of saltwater under my belt now and have had great success with this tank, part of me doesn't want to upset the habitat. Thanks again!

I guess I should have looked at your profile. lol
They are a great fish but can be difficult. They did not like being in the light which made them hard to sell for us.
We used to have a display tank in the office with the Pinecone and Flashlight fish from the Phillipines in it. We kept it dark so there was a lot of flashing going on. When we fed, you'd see streaks of light as the fish would flash to attract the feeders then you could trace their attacks through the lights. lol

Anyway, keep us posted

 

[bettaowner]

These are very neat fish but the fact that they are deep water should be a warning that they need special care.

 

[Bectan01]

All great advice, thank you. Do you think they would prefer colder waters being deep sea? I am leaning towards it not being suitable for my set up and I am an advocate for an under stocked tank, this addition would be pushing it...

 

[Andy Sager]

All great advice, thank you. Do you think they would prefer colder waters being deep sea? I am leaning towards it not being suitable for my set up and I am an advocate for an under stocked tank, this addition would be pushing it...

I am of the belief that if the fish is eating, it's in the right conditions. That being said, since you know that they do come up to the shallows " Down Under", they must be capable of living in warmer(?) water. What would the average temp of a deep (ish) reef be? I'd try to keep my temps near that. You could also call your local aquatic zoos or attractions and see what kind of info they have on proper care for this fish. No sense getting it and not have the proper set up for it. Right?