Firefish Trio- One attacked by other 2

Last night, I bought 3 firefish in hopes that either 2 would pair up or they would form a harem. All 3 fish were fairly large for firefish, so I am assuming all of them have reached "adulthood".

2 have now paired up and are swimming around the tank together, while the other hides in my rock. Is it safe to say they have paired up and I should remove the other one? I just don't want the lone firefish to get bullied to death...

Any advice?

 

I will preference my post by stating that all my Fire fish were immature when I introduced them to the tank in groups. The only aggression I ever saw was posturing by the male, no overt chasing or nipping.

Fire fish always seemed like one of the easiest fish to remove because they always go for the bolt holes and then you just pull the rock.

Since you see no aggression yet I would be tempted to see if they work it out. You need to make the decision to remove the hiding one based on what your seeing, but they do hide a lot initially. Also it's not uncommon to loose a Fire fish during acclimation, they seem to be a tad more sensitive.

 

Thanks for the advice! Now they are all swimming together out in the open- apparently I have no idea what is going on. The only thing that concerns me right now is one of them has a tattered dorsal fin.

 

if the aggression has ceased the fins will regrow/heal, don't worry about it.