Genicanthus in a 90g?

[HiImSean]

Would any sp. of Genicanthus work in a 90g. I absolutely love this genus of fish and would love to have a single one in my 90g. It would be housed with a pair of clowns, a few wrasses, and a starry blenny. I've been eyeing Watanabei since my LFS gets them regularly. My tank is very open in terms of rock work.

 

[jlanger]

It's possible with some considerations.
In June I added a small(2in) female G. lamarck to my 4-foot 120gal reef and she adapted very well.
As she has grown and established herself, she has become the dominant fish of the tank.
She harassed one of my leopard wrasses until it wouldn't come out of the sand bed and perished; and she still harasses the other periodically.

My first choice for a swallowtail angelfish was the Watanabei, but I settled for the Lamarck.
Both have the same misty blue body color with dark accents, but the price difference between the two species was very easy to consider going with the Lamarck.
And trying to get a small G. watanabei will take some time; as most available are already 3 inches or larger.

So if you do add a Genicanthus sp. Angelfish, make sure it is one of the last added.
Or any further additions are large enough to stand up to it.

Overall, I really like having the angelfish in the tank.
Hope this helps.

 

[snorvich]

Male G. watanabei are very delicate shippers and are often not successful. Females are doable. Their activity level suggests a longer tank, however.

 

[hogfanreefer]

I have a female Watanabie in a 6 foot tank. She has been very easy so far. She was in QT for 8 weeks (copper followed by Prazipro) and never missed a lick.

I've heard they sometimes transition to male like wrasses do. Is that correct Steve?

 

[Marshall O]

I believe it is common for a male to turn female if there is no female present. So if you get one, better to go with a female as they are less expensive and ship better.

 

[jyxie]

It's possible with some considerations.
In June I added a small(2in) female G. lamarck to my 4-foot 120gal reef and she adapted very well.
As she has grown and established herself, she has become the dominant fish of the tank.
She harassed one of my leopard wrasses until it wouldn't come out of the sand bed and perished; and she still harasses the other periodically.

My first choice for a swallowtail angelfish was the Watanabei, but I settled for the Lamarck.
Both have the same misty blue body color with dark accents, but the price difference between the two species was very easy to consider going with the Lamarck.
And trying to get a small G. watanabei will take some time; as most available are already 3 inches or larger.

So if you do add a Genicanthus sp. Angelfish, make sure it is one of the last added.
Or any further additions are large enough to stand up to it.

Overall, I really like having the angelfish in the tank.
Hope this helps.

thats wierd, i thought Genicanthus were considered to be non-aggressive.
i have a 4" G. watanabei pair currecntly in my Qtank with a 1.5" H. bicolor and they are not touching the bicolor at all. however i do notice slight chasing betwen the male and female.

 

[jadette]

Have you considered Bellus angels? Even though Liveaquaria shows them as 1" larger than the watanabei angels, I have never seen a bellus angel larger than 4". I have three that are super fat and they grow slow. I bought them small (about 1.5") and they pretty much have grown only 1/2" in the past year. My swallowtail on the other hand is a monster at 6" and is still growing. Of all the Genicanthus that I see in other reefers tanks, the one that grows to epic size the fastest as the Lamarcks. I have never seen a small lamarck that stayed small for a long period.

By the way, I simply love my bellus angels. they have great personality and are mild tempered in my tank.