emperor angelfish hardniness

[JohnniG]

Im getting one of these, and I think its my hardest fish to keep so far. I only have clowns, anthias and chromiz, so I guess it is at least. How hard is this fish to keep?

 

[randomfishguy85]

they are very easy to keep. The only problem in my experience has been their aggressiveness. I have never had one in a reef either so i dont know how it will work out for you in that sense.

 

[Allmost]

what tank is he going in to ?

remember not to treat with medication as much as possible ... angels dont do well specially with copper.

lastly its gonna grow to be a large fish, so it eats like a large fish, feed it alot, and be sure your system can handle alot of feeding.

 

[JohnniG]

copper? In a 140 gal.

 

[JohnniG]

and how do you even get your fish to grow? I mostly feed flakefood and they grow slooooow.

 

[Allmost]

140 would be pushing it for this fish as an adult ... need at least 200, but I wont get into that.

the angels love NLS pellets, and also mysis.

dont feed it milk lol won make it taller, but give it good, varied foods and it willbe fine.

flake is no good ... it looses its nutritions.

 

[ace_92101]

I find Anthias harder than Emperors. Are you getting a juvenile or adult? As others have mentioned, a 140 is too small for a larger adult. While I wish I kept them thru their larger adult state, I have to end up giving them up after they change to full adult coloration.

 

[ilikefish34]

IME, hardiness parallels size... but for different reasons. Juveniles are the least hardy but the quickest to adapt to aquarium life and the least risky to eat corals (although I wouldn't trust them). The adults are the hardiest but have more difficulties adapting to aquarium life and tend to stress out more easily and are the first to eat corals. So I say shoot in the middle. An adolescent, about 3-5 inches will probably give you most upside with the least amount of downside.

As with many fish, those with the most personality tend to be the most aggression. These are no exception, but there's nothing wrong with them being the boss as long as they can coexist. Pick good tankmates, feed them well, good filtration and strategically aquascape your aquarium and all should be good... until it outgrows the 140... but then you get to upgrade tank size, or start over with another or start over with another large angel species. All choices are winners. Good luck.

 

[OSTguy]

I've used Coppersafe and Copperpower many times with my blueface, and emperor angels over the past 5 years, no issue. Prazipro too, and both at the same time. If the emp is eating, it should last you a long time. I got my emperor back in May '08 at 4.5", it is now about 9.5".

 

[pinnatus]

Here are mine. (Sorry about the brown algae outbreak)

I find them to be like any angels, reasonably hardy.

 

[sandwi54]

Emperor angels are relatively hardy, however your 140 is far too small. The smallest tank I would consider keeping an emperor in is an 8' 240g. Emperor angels suffer from space constraint to a greater degree than many other hardier angels. A 140g is only 5' and would be too small once the angel reaches 7-8".

 

[orangegoby]

not bad in terms of hardiness. feed easily, likes to bark when others gets in their way.
but they can grow quite big. so tank size may need to put into consideration. beautiful fish.