Emperor angelfish

[jonboy]

I have been watching a juvenile emperor angel at the LFS
It is on hold for me. It has been eating well. nori and brine shrimp

I have noticed that it swims sideways .It circles the rocks looking for food,picking at them.(seems normal) but then it also
seems to lie on the bottom trying to hide when i approach the tank. I would guess this is stress?
Is this normal behavior? or should i look for another fish

Jonboy

 

[M.Dandaneau]

It sounds like fairly normal behaviour, particularly if the tank is bare or nearly so.
Juvenile emperors, as well as many other angels will retreat to the LR until they are fully settled in and feel safe......if there's nowhere to hide, lying flat on the bottom is the only other alternative.

 

[Zoom]

Re: Emperor angelfish

I have been watching a juvenile emperor angel at the LFS
It is on hold for me. It has been eating well. nori and brine shrimp

I have noticed that it swims sideways .It circles the rocks looking for food,picking at them.(seems normal) but then it also
seems to lie on the bottom trying to hide when i approach the tank. I would guess this is stress?
Is this normal behavior? or should i look for another fish

Jonboy

it's normal my swims side ways to i have my in a reef tank let me find a pic.

 

[Zoom]

here it is swiming sideways

 

[jonboy]

Thanks for the help.
I decided to bring him home today.
He is doing good. Swimming around .
Starting to eat,pick at the rocks.

Jonboy

 

[Fish-o-holic]

Good luck with the emperor Jon. Please post some pics of this beauty if possible.

BTW, how big is your tank? Just curious.

 

[jonboy]

Fish-O,
I put the emperor in a 265. It has plenty of hiding places. I think
that the emperor is establishing himself as tank boss. I plan on adding some corals after i change the lighting. Most will be frags from the reef tank. If the emperor eats some, then i will add some more.
I need to get the camera out and start taking some pictures.
I will need to learn how to post the pictures to reefcentral.
Is there a good thread about that? I guess that i will do a search.

Jonboy

 

[jarhead]

While on the subject of Emperor... I am starting my first SW 135g tank and want a juvenile Emperor as one of my fish. Any advise what other fish may coexist peacefuly with it.

 

[Zoom]

While on the subject of Emperor... I am starting my first SW 135g tank and want a juvenile Emperor as one of my fish. Any advise what other fish may coexist peacefuly with it.

The emperor i have it hates the lownmover bleny any small damsel any small angel like flame back don't get along with my naso but no nipping it get along with a PBT a yellow tang a hippo and Maroon clown.

 

[jonboy]

jar,
I would get the tank established first before i added any angels.
I would recommend 6 months . This will give the tank time to mature. The emperor will be the boss of the tank so add him last.
An emperor might outgrow a 135.???

Before you add any fish, decide what you want .
I had 2 damsels in my tank that have grown to 5" each and they thought they owned the tank. I had to tear the 265 down to get them out.
I originally had planned on a fish only,predator tank. But as the tank grows I am thinking of adding corals that will get along with my fish.
Currently there are chromis, pink tailed trigger,powder blue tang,sailfin tank,emperor angel. The 2 damsels have been imprisoned in the sump.
Jonboy

 

[mikester98]

damsels

damsels

wow ive never seen a 5" damsel.. LFS has maybe a couple 2" ones.. what type of damsels are they and would you consider getting rid of them? the sump doesnt sound like a good home for long. i have a 50 gal that i need to cycle. i would just leave leave the damsels as the only fish if they are the right kind. just an idea let me know if youd be willing to ship/sell them.... and reef central members ever do that on here? sell/ship/trade each other fish?

 

[M.Dandaneau]

Mikester98, be careful what you wish for...you might just get it.
Many damsels (dare I say most?) grow to 4"-5", but almost all that attain larger size lose most or all of the brilliant juvenile coloration, the majority ending up black or muddy brown.
A few exceptions are the Sergeant Major and the famous Garibaldi of Califoria, but most are just big, bad and blah.

 

[jonboy]

Mike,
Where do you live?
One is a sergeant major, the other is 3 spot
jonboy

 

[mikester98]

M.Dandaneau thanks for the info.. i was not aware about adult damsels losing their coloration. i have a couple years SW FO experience but im amazed at the amount of info RC members have. so much to learn...

 

[mikester98]

jonboy, im in seattle.. how are the damsels.. the sergeant major should still have his coloring then? but is the black 3 spot all black now? where are you?

 

[jonboy]

louisville,ky

 

[M.Dandaneau]

Sergeant majors always keep their coloration......males tend to turn blue with black stripes when guarding eggs, but otherwise the black and white with a yellow back is for life (depending on origin....they occur world wide in all tropical oceans with slight color variation depending on where they come from)...we have one that is currently 5", caught wild here in Florida last year at 1/4".
In a 300 gallon, mixed pedator tank, he does well, but in a small tank he would most likely kill anything else in short order, including lionfish and scorpionfish.
One of the members has a signature that says it all........if damsels grew to the size of sharks, the sharks would flee in terror!:smokin:

 

[jarhead]

jar,
I would get the tank established first before i added any angels.
I would recommend 6 months . This will give the tank time to mature.

I am not even sure if the tank will go through a cycle. I had the LR and live sand sitting in a 50g rubbermaid stock tank waiting for the tank.

The emperor will be the boss of the tank so add him last. An emperor might outgrow a 135.

Is it true that the least aggresive fish goes in the tank first? Is emperor considered an aggresive fish? So you recommend against having an emperor in a 135g tank?

Before you add any fish, decide what you want .

Well, besides the emperor, I always wanted a clown trigger, but realize that they eat everything in sight. What is the proper way to stock the tank? I am open for suggestions.

 

[M.Dandaneau]

You brought up a good point, once again emphasizing the point that literature and advice are GUIDELINES, but that caution still has to be excercized.
Adding the more aggressive fish last is always a good idea, but if you're talking about fish that are usually considered aggressive, you also have to take the size of the fish that you're adding into account........even a species known to be aggressive can be killed in short order if it's of small size when introduced, compared to what's already in the tank.
Fish that are already established and territorial usually have "squatters rights" and will often bully and intimidate later additions unless it's large enough to be able to defend itself.
Clown triggers get truly huge, and combined with their dentition and adult personality, IMO, are best kept in large species tanks....very often the cute little guys are model citizens until they reach 15" or so and start showing adult behavior, then turning aggressive and eliminating everything else in the tank, often in just a day or two.

 

[markandkristen]

ive heard that as well