Baby imperator Angel Fish help.

[HawaiianGrown]

I have a Imperator in my 10 gallon QT tank for the past 3 days bought from petco. I don't see him eat any of the live or frozen brine shrimp as I suspect they might be to big for him to consume. So I've been feeding fry food and small wafers. I've seen him nibble on those but I'm worried that I might not be getting him enough nutrients. Are there any tips you guys can recommend so that he will be ready in a couple of months for a move into my 110H gallon tank. I want to get him in by Thanksgiving.

 

[humaguy]

mince the Mysis, ova and baby brine are small, live pods....fresh clam on the half-shell and let the emp nibble and tear at it...
good luck!

 

[HawaiianGrown]

mince the Mysis, ova and baby brine are small, live pods....fresh clam on the half-shell and let the emp nibble and tear at it...
good luck!

I'm thinking of moving one of the live rock into the QT and taking out a few of the PVC pipes. I don't keep anything in the QT so in the off chance that I have to use harsh medication I don't hurt anything live in the QT. Would the Live Rock in the QT make for good grazing?

 

[humaguy]

sure, you can try it but remove when you medicate...should def do a couple prazi rounds, if you use cupramine go very slowly and ramp up the dosage over 6 days or so...don't any Prime in the qt...leave the lights off in the tank, the fish needs to be comfy and that is tough as a 10 gallon is way, way too small unless the emp is tiny, like an inch tiny..

 

[humaguy]

post a pic if you can.....

 

[Dmorty217]

My juv emperor loves ocean nutrition and Julian sprung sea veggies. You could try some of that, again he will tear at it like huma mentioned above

 

[Dmorty217]

Also post a pic, how tiny is tiny? Mine was less than 2" when first purchased 3 months ago now he is closer to 3", but he was QTed in a 75g and now is in a 220g

 

[HawaiianGrown]

1.5 inches

 

[humaguy]

how is she doing?

 

[HawaiianGrown]

Doing good now! live rock and some algae sheets working plus cyclops from LFS

 

[humaguy]

excellent!

 

[Dog boy Dave]

The fresh clam almost always brings them around. Also all my fish especially my angels love broccoli that has been frozen and microwaved to soften it up a lil. They will eat it raw but it takes longer. They go crazy over it after it has been coked just enough to thaw it out. Good luck with your Emperator. I got mine as a juvenile nine years ago. They are wonderful fish and they will develop their full adult colors in captivity. Mine has done the full change, took over a year and he looks as good, maybe better than most wild adults.

 

[jhaimes]

Those are beautiful angels indeed. Is it possible to keep them in a reef tank at all?

 

[MrTuskfish]

Doing good now! live rock and some algae sheets working plus cyclops from LFS

Good! Cyclops-Eeze is always my choice for new, picky eaters. He'll turn into a finned garbage disposal; once he's grown a bit and is more gutsy (this won't take long). They will eat absolutely anything. FWIW: I think this group of large angels really need vitamin supplements. IMO, all fish do, but its especially important with larger Angels. I think it may help with their color transition too.

 

[HawaiianGrown]

Good! Cyclops-Eeze is always my choice for new, picky eaters. He'll turn into a finned garbage disposal; once he's grown a bit and is more gutsy (this won't take long). They will eat absolutely anything. FWIW: I think this group of large angels really need vitamin supplements. IMO, all fish do, but its especially important with larger Angels. I think it may help with their color transition too.

Are there any you recommend?

 

[greg1786]

I agree with Mr tuskfish on the vitamin supplements for the imperator. My buddy has one that is just beginning its color change phase. Hes had him since he was pretty small, not much bigger than yours. His absolutely loves nori but will eat ANYTHING it can put in its mouth!! Ill ask him tomorrow what he uses but I know for fact that he soaks his food in angel elixer and something else. He also feeds live brine and ghost shrimp which he gut loads with vitamins in a small tank with a sponge filter. Good luck with the emporer they are really cool fish!

 

[humaguy]

selcon...

 

[Dog boy Dave]

Not to argue, supplements will probably help but in my experience, one of the most important things for the angels and tangs is plenty of roughage. 90 percent of what I feed my fish is broccoli and nori sea weed (toasted sushi wrap) from the Asian food store. Most of my fish are at least 6 or seven years old and my Emperator is at least nine years old. He has grown from a 3 inch juvenile to a ten inch fully colored adult in this tank . He gets a lot of roughage , sponge from my sump rock occasionally, a taste of squid in the mornings and that's about it.
I posted a video of the guys eating broccoli on another fish thread if your interested. You would be surprised at the volume of greens these guys can eat. They need it to stay regular long term.

 

[Dog boy Dave]

Angels in an SPS tank eating bocolli

Angels in an SPS tank eating bocolli

Those are beautiful angels indeed. Is it possible to keep them in a reef tank at all?

I think so.... What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRl0j3_-puE


Lots of times when people say a fish isnt "reef" safe they really mean they eat and nip softies. Large Angels do well in large tanks full of SPS. The corals adapt to the grazing. My only losses from the fish come from frags that they pck up and move.

 

[humaguy]

agree with the green aspect but in imo/ime fresh seafood and chunky pieces of it are equally and perhaps more important for large angels...whether fresh shrimp, scallop, clam on half shell etc., some folks forget to address or reassess the size of the food being fed as their fish grow and continue to only feed Mysis or worse brine...I swear by pe mysis but diets need to be reevaluated and adjusted as fish grow...it is amazing how much a large angel can eat...I do not feed any dry food...