A few pics of my Centropyge argi pairs.

[tcmfish]

Hey there thought I'd show you some pics of my angel pairs. I have three pairs currently but one isn't two photogenic. They are very shy, so these pics are of my oldest pair and my youngest pair, which is by time they have been together. Questions comments are welcome. I plan on giving the larvae a go next semester.

This is pair #1

Male #1

Pair #3

Male #3

Female #3

Enjoy.

I will try and get some video of them. These pics are with flash so the colors are pretty bright. The video will show some more accurate color, but they are under yellowish light. The tanks aren't really meant for looks.

 

[tcmfish]

Also if you look, it seems the males have more yellow on the head. This is true in all the pairs I have, and I have heard of other people experiencing the same thing.

 

[coralite]

If you cared about your fish you would give them live rock, how cruel. There is NO WAY that reef fish would spawn in such an unnatural environment.

 

[Toddrtrex]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13775223#post13775223 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by coralite
If you cared about your fish you would give them live rock, how cruel. There is NO WAY that reef fish would spawn in such an unnatural environment.

Huh? Have you ever seen how a great deal of clownfish are bread? 10 gallon tanks and clay pots.

 

[coralite]

**insert sarcastic smiley**

 

[Bax]

tcmfish

Those are beautiful fish and I applaud your efforts at culturing and rearing fish for the hobby.

Although I have not yet attempted any saltwater culturing. I have paired two pair of orchid dottybacks. One day I hope to attempt culturing them.

In my experience in breeding freshwater fish it is always clay pots and PVC used for substrate. They are easy to clean between use , live rock would be a biohazard in any real propagation system. However, it'd be nice if they got to vacation in a tank with LR between spawnings you are attempting to collect.

 

[snorvich]

Are you currently getting mating behavior?

 

[BangkokMatt]

Very cool Tim. Beauties!

 

[Gwynhidwy]

Very cool. I hope you are successful in raising them! I have no breeding experience, but I love Centropyge and always like to see people working on captive breeding because I think it is the future of the hobby.

 

[tcmfish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13775736#post13775736 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by snorvich
Are you currently getting mating behavior?

Well, I haven't observed any because they are in a lab at school, which is closed when the lights go off, but I have collected a few eggs (only a few though) and they probably weren't fertilized. So they are probably exhibiting mating behavior. I assume it was the first pair that spawned, but I can't be positive. These pairs are still young though and have only been together maybe a month.

I am going to keep conditioning them, and next semester, probably try the larvae.

 

[snorvich]

They tend to mate in the "setting sun" so if you have some way of simulating this, it would be most effective. I really hope you will pursue this and let us know the results.

 

[BigJay]

Gorgeous angels you have there. Can you feel the envy from this far away?

 

[coralite]

What is the depth of the tank and how much vertical space do they need to perform their spawning ritual? I have seen joculators initiate their courtship at just 6-8" below the surface of a 3' deep tank but I would imagine that argi could make do with much less space.

 

[Slakker]

Awesome fish...I've always loved them. I've been thinking about trying another one, I had one die in quarantine on me over the summer. Came home one day to find him stuck to the intake of the filter...I was devastated.

 

[tcmfish]

Yeah one of mine didn't make it either. But six out of seven isn't bad IMO.

All three pairs are kept in standard 29 gallon tanks. Barebottom so from the bottom to maybe an inch or two below the top of the tank. Usually though they will spawn over a certain rock or structure in the tank.

Ideally they would have more of a rise but sometimes you just gotta work with what you got. I don't have the funds to give them each a 55 gallon drum, why do think I picked C. argi? Down here they are $15.99.

 

[tcmfish]

Here are some video's. The first one is of all three pairs. The second pair is on the far left, middle is the third pair, and far right is the first pair. The numbering is based on how long they have been together, pair number one has been together the longest.

All three:


Pair #1:


Pair #2:


Pair #3:


Enjoy.

 

[zemuron114]

i've seen fish spawned in much worse conditions

FWIW, those tanks look very mature! Im sure they have been up for a little while!

any spawning yet? Definitely cool if you can raise them. Frank at RCT said it was a 24/7 job to raise the angel fry. Feedings all day long!

best of luck, i hope it works out!

 

[argi]

How can you tell male from female? Is it simply size or is there something else (sorry if I missed that somewhere)?

 

[tcmfish]

After they have been together for a little bit one will become dominant and get larger than the other. This is the male. The smaller submissive fish is the female. They are Protogynic Hermaphrodites, meaning female first, unlike clownfish which are Protandric Hermaphrodites meaning male first.

When pairing Centropyge it is best to start with a large one and a small one, with C. argi they stay small though so most come in small. So I just tried to get fish with a little bit of size difference and let them sort it out, even if it was only a few millimeters. Aggression wasn't really that bad (there was some though) even with the pairs that started with an established fish, with another fish being introduced later.

On the aggression note too, I think it is key to have a hiding place in the top of the tank. IME they occupy the bottom and when I introduced a new fish to an established fish, the established one kept the new one in the top of the tank, chasing it if it tried to come down until they had worked it out.

 

[SDguy]

Very nice fish!! Not many fish can compete with that gorgeous blue color. I had a pair briefly, but the female liked to eat acros and gorgonians.... I have heard that they have since spawned in the person's tank that bought them from me, though