Cherub Angel Harem and Compatability

[lifeoffaith]

Looking for those who have experience with Cherub Angels. My tank is a 45 gallon, so I know I wouldn't be able to keep much else in the tank, but I do plan on keeping a group of Green Banded Gobies in the tank as well.

My questions are for those who have kept harems of the Cherubs. Have you noticed more aggression with other fish with them in a group as opposed to a single individual?

Then for those who have ever kept Cherubs with smaller bottom dwelling or rock dwelling fish, did you see any aggression at all towards them? I've owned one before, and the only aggression I saw was toward my clowns, but of course they are water column swimmers, so I am not sure how that will translate to fish that stick to the sand bed and along the rockwork.

 

[lifeoffaith]

Also, I know they like to duck in and out of rockwork. I have one small pile of rocks on one end of my tank, but the main rockwork is just one overhang with not much to hide in. The only fish they'll need to hide from (if at all) would be the other cherubs, and I plan on getting them very small, so by the time they get too big to fit in most of the smaller hidey holes in the overhang they should be getting along swimmingly.

 

[Mad Marine]

I have a breeding pair of cherubs. I purchased two small specimens, one grew larger than the other. They were initially in a Red Sea Reefer 350, the larger Cherub would show aggression towards the smaller one but nothing too bad. They were in that tank for 8-12 months before being moved into my upgraded custom 1000 Liter tank. They spawn regularly now, sometimes 3 times a week. Male turns gold and dances around the female, they swim together up towards the surface at dusk (blue lights) and release eggs 300+ I'd say and sperm, then my pair of clowns, Jap yellow Goby, Scarlet hawk, mel wrasse have an egg fest and gobble them before lights out. Getting to my point now - the male Cherub does give my scarlet hawk a bit of a tough time. I recently added a pair of blue chalk Gobies - the male Cherub nearly killed one of them!! Even in a tank 5 1/2 x 24" x 30" (wide) I ended up taking out the Gobies. I will be removing the male (when I can catch him) and will put him in the sump (which is very large with lots of live rock) for 3-4 months. I want to add more small fish as the tank is a fairly new set-up (Nov 2018) and can't do this until that guy is out of there. So my point is have all your Gobies etc. in first before the Cherub's go in , you'll have a few females and one belligerent male! Good luck.

 

[lifeoffaith]

I have a breeding pair of cherubs. I purchased two small specimens, one grew larger than the other. They were initially in a Red Sea Reefer 350, the larger Cherub would show aggression towards the smaller one but nothing too bad. They were in that tank for 8-12 months before being moved into my upgraded custom 1000 Liter tank. They spawn regularly now, sometimes 3 times a week. Male turns gold and dances around the female, they swim together up towards the surface at dusk (blue lights) and release eggs 300+ I'd say and sperm, then my pair of clowns, Jap yellow Goby, Scarlet hawk, mel wrasse have an egg fest and gobble them before lights out. Getting to my point now - the male Cherub does give my scarlet hawk a bit of a tough time. I recently added a pair of blue chalk Gobies - the male Cherub nearly killed one of them!! Even in a tank 5 1/2 x 24" x 30" (wide) I ended up taking out the Gobies. I will be removing the male (when I can catch him) and will put him in the sump (which is very large with lots of live rock) for 3-4 months. I want to add more small fish as the tank is a fairly new set-up (Nov 2018) and can't do this until that guy is out of there. So my point is have all your Gobies etc. in first before the Cherub's go in , you'll have a few females and one belligerent male! Good luck.

Thanks Mad Marine, I'd figured that would be the best approach anyway, though I am tempted to throw all of them in at once. Good news is I have two other tanks, so worst case I can always jettison the male. I'd probably have to keep it short term though, or one of my females would probably become the new male.