Healthy Angelfish

[michael_cb_125]

I would like to start a thread on healthy angelfish. I know that for many aquarium keepers, angelfish bring both great joy and great heartache. So, what is a healthy angelfish? How many of us actually have one?
I would love for everyone with an angelfish to chime in, post a few pictures and answer the following questions:
Where did you obtain your specimen?
When did you obtain your specimen/ how long have you had it?
What type of system is the fish kept in? (reef, FO, species, etc.)
What tank mates?
What do you feed?
Be sure to give any details about the fish and it's habits.

~Michael

 

[ghstrider]

My favorite angel is my Majestic

I bought him at LFS eating pellets (was my 2nd one, 1st one never ate)
Ive had him 1.5 years
Resides in a reef with other angels (multibarred, venustus, multicolor)
He eats everything from seaweed to flakes/pellets to frozen/live foods

Hes not too shy and is usually out swimming with my hippo tang. Hes about 4-5" and fat.


My other angels have only been with me about 2 months but all eat well and seem to get along good.

 

[michael_cb_125]

Apolemichthys arcuatus

 

[michael_cb_125]

The smaller of my pair came from a good friend and the other was purchased from Michael at aqua touch. I got the larger fish around a year ago, and received the smaller fish shortly thereafter. I started both fish on frozen mysis, but after about a week trained each fish to eat flake and pellet foods. Both fish have been eating NLS Thera-A, Elos Spirulina Pelllets and Ocean Nutrition Spirulina Flakes exclusively for the last four months and I have noticed drastic weight gain.

I keep this pair in a 92 gallon aquarium with sand a about 40 pounds of live rock. These are the only fish in the tank and the only other inhabitants are shrimp, urchins and snails.

Current water temp 69 f
I try to keep the temp between 68 and 72 depending on the season.
Lighting: LED

In the last few months these fish have started showing signs of spawning. This occurs several times per week and generally happens right before lights out.

~Michael

 

[Toddrtrex]

Good idea, and love your bandits.

I will break this down by tank, and pictures at the end of my post.

33 cube -- Potter's angel (( Centropyge potteri )), have had it for 1.5 years -- should note the first year it spent in my 58. Bought it from an LFS (( was about an inch big, if that )). It is currently sharing the tank with a mated pair of SI Percs.

58 --
Multicolored (( Centropyge multicolor )) -- have had it for about 10 days, got it from LA (( not the DD section )) it spent its first 7 days in an acclimation box, inside the tank.
Coral Beauty (( Centropyge bispinosus )) have it had it for about 3 months now, picked it up from an LFS
C venustus -- have had it for 6 months now, picked it up from Diver's Den.
Those 3 share the tank with an exquisite wrasse and golden sailfin blenny. The venustus and coral beauty have been getting along pretty good -- the CB is the boss. So far so good with the introduction of the multicolored, seems to have taken the middle position.

75 --
Flame (( Centropyge loriculus )), have had for about 4 years now, picked up from an LFS.
"Blue" C. Nox -- about 17 days now, picked up from Diver's Den.
They share the tank with a yellow tang and saddleback (( A. polymnus )). The flame will take a run at the Nox from time to time, but never gets close enough to do anything.

All 3 tanks have similar parameters -- 1.026, 0 for the "bad" stuff, temps b/t 76-83 degrees -- depending on the time of day and year.
The 33 has an S. Haddoni, zoas, open brain and clams.
58 -- S. Haddoni, zoas, SPS, clams.
75 -- S. Haddoni, zoas, SPS, clams.
All fish are fed the same -- LifeLine's Herbivore mix, Rod's Food (( red, green and blue labels )), Prime Reef, PE Mysis, Spectrum pellets, and Nori.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Pictures,


Potters,

Multi-colored,

Coral Beauty,

Venustus,

Flame,

Nox (( not the best pictures, but... ))

In acclimation box,

 

[Apercula]

I have a hybrid Centropyge eiblii x Centropyge vroliki.
I got it from a small pet shop, it came to them as a half black.
I have had it about 2 years.
At first I had it in a 29g species tank, but later moved it to my 75g mixed reef with a half dozen fish tank mates. It became quite aggressive to the other fish most notably my clowns and tomini tang. It is currently in a 55g tank with a pair of gold stripe maroon clowns.
I feed a homemade frozen mix as primary food, secondary feedings of PE mysis, omega enriched frozen brine, spirulina enriched frozen brine, or marine flake. Primary feeding is once per day, secondary feeding is usually one of the above every other day, rotating through the various types for variety.

In my reef.

In the pet shop prior to purchase. I watched it at the shop for almost 2 months before purchase.

 

[michael_cb_125]

Very nice fish everyone!

~Michael

 

[VegasMike]

First - I am currently tankless after the cross country move a year ago. That will change in about six weeks when my two 220 gallon tanks are delivered.

I had a 450 in Las Vegas. I had several angels that I hated parting with. My Imp was in my tank for 5 years and started as a Juvi. I handpicked him with Chris Turnier from Reefermadness along with an awesom Powder Blue Tang. Funny thing about that fish was that he ate bubble algae.

I also had an adult Blueface that I got as a Juvi from a LFS. It had been in the tank for four years.

My all-time favorite was a Conspic that Chris got for me that I had in my tank for around three years. Sadly, I lost it after it jumped out of the tank after a bit of rock scaping. That fish was awesome, ate everything, but seemed to like flake food more than anything else.

Not sure I'll go down the Angel route in the new tanks as I am not sure a 220 is really big enough.

 

[michael_cb_125]

Now I have a question about my angelfish.

Are they healthy? I know that they were put through a very extensive quarantine procedure with me, and I did not falter from the QT timeline. The aquarium that these fish are in has never had any other fish in it, and was allowed to remain fallow for twelve weeks prior to the bandits addition. I have not seen any ick or other external parasites and I am very confident that they do not have any internal parasites. During qt I ran cupramine and prazipro, and I hit them with three treatments of each about five days apart. My main worry with these fish is diet. While they will eat mysis and other fresh seafood, they prefer flake and pellet (to the point of ignoring mysis and eating only pellet).
Since eating NLS pellets both fish have put on a lot of weight and are gaining some length as well. Since they are doing so well and growing so fast, should I be concerned?

~Michael

 

[Toddrtrex]

Michael -- I have never kept Bandits, and not expert, just been in this hobby for a while. I would have to say that since they are growing, they are healthy. Don't care so much about gaining weight (( because that could just be fat )), but the fact that they are growing is a huge thing. It takes "energy" just to stay alive, more so for day to day living, and the fact that they have extra "energy" to put into growing is a great sign that they are healthy.

It is how I look at my SPS, clams and anemones -- besides the overall "Look" of them, if they are growing, I am pretty sure that they are all healthy.

 

[Angel*Fish]

Demeanor of the fish is one factor in gauging health. At least mental health in terms of whether you're providing a suitable environment. It's hard to put into words, but you want to see a calm fish that isn't doing a lot of hurried darting in and out of the rocks as he grazes. He shouldn't appear "on the run" so to speak.

 

[Yurivd]

Now I have a question about my angelfish.

Are they healthy? I know that they were put through a very extensive quarantine procedure with me, and I did not falter from the QT timeline. The aquarium that these fish are in has never had any other fish in it, and was allowed to remain fallow for twelve weeks prior to the bandits addition. I have not seen any ick or other external parasites and I am very confident that they do not have any internal parasites. During qt I ran cupramine and prazipro, and I hit them with three treatments of each about five days apart. My main worry with these fish is diet. While they will eat mysis and other fresh seafood, they prefer flake and pellet (to the point of ignoring mysis and eating only pellet).
Since eating NLS pellets both fish have put on a lot of weight and are gaining some length as well. Since they are doing so well and growing so fast, should I be concerned?

~Michael

do thy nip on the rocks
i have seen my kingi also like flakes and pellets more than meaty food
maybe it is normal for Apolemichthys
i have even put in a brain coral to have a look if the kingi will eat it but it was not even looked at

 

[jimroth]

Majestic Angel, P. Navarchus.

Where did you obtain your specimen? Diver's Den, as an adult.
When did you obtain your specimen/ how long have you had it? April 2010. Fish has added 1-1.5" in length and bulked up!
What type of system is the fish kept in? Reef, 210G approx
What tank mates? CBB, PBT, tomato clown, wrasse, gramma, foxface, juv. regal.
What do you feed? Currently PE Mysis, hikari angelfish cubes (which it doesn't eat) spirulina brine shrimp, nori, live blackworms and homegrown aiptasia snacks.
Be sure to give any details about the fish and it's habits.
It's a good tank citizen, agressive enough to hold its own at feeding time, but takes no guff from the tang, and doesn't bother any other fish. Unafraid of the clownfish, which bullies some of the others. Hides before the lights go out, usually hidden until they come on.

 

[9thwonder]

Toddrtrex, how's your c.nox doing? How is he with corals and your other angels? I was thinking of getting one, but haven't heard much about them.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Toddrtrex, how's your c.nox doing? How is he with corals and your other angels? I was thinking of getting one, but haven't heard much about them.

So far, he is doing great -- out and about more each day, and aggressively going after food now. It and the flame really don't care all that much about each other. I haven't noticed it bothering any of my corals - SPS and zoas -- and hasn't touched any of the clams I have in that tank.

 

[SDguy]

Blackspot swallowtail angelfish (Genicanthus melanospilos)

Where did you obtain your specimen?
I purchased the male and female from two different LFS.

When did you obtain your specimen/ how long have you had it?
I purchased both fish on the same day, in January 2007

What type of system is the fish kept in? (reef, FO, species, etc.)
They are in a VERY mixed reef. A 115g up until October 2009, at which point I moved, and upgraded to a 150g (48" x 24" x 30" tall). The rock structures are in the form of pillars, allowing swimming room around the rocks.

What tank mates?
The only other substantial fish in the tank are a powder blue tang (Dec 2006) and a tomini tang (Sep 2006). All the other fish are planktivores like anthias and wrasses, plus a few random fish like a pair of percs, and a pair of skunks.

What do you feed?
NLS pellets, NLS flakes, ON flakes, ON frozen formula, PE mysis, Hikari mysis, Hikari jumbo mysis, scallop, shrimp, mussel, live blackworms...the list goes on...

Be sure to give any details about the fish and it's habits.
The male was more than twice the size of the female when introduced. There was never any fighting, just an occasional chase. They are model citizens. They have never touched a coral. They are not aggressive, but are never bullied (though my tangs are passive, so there really isn't anyone to bully them). They have always eaten like pigs. My only complaint is that the female will pick food out of LPS, even in the dark so target feeding LPS is impossible. The male will often display to the female. I've only seen them spawn once (release gametes)... maybe twice, but I wasn't sure, since I wasn't directly in front of the tank at the time.

The male has not kept his original colors, but has not turned female either. I still think he's gorgeous though

When I first got them:
Male:

Female:

Two years later:

 

[SDguy]

October 2009:

No camera flash (he looks REALLY blue in person):

With camera flash:

Without camera flash:

 

[SDguy]

November 2010:

 

[michael_cb_125]

Peter, that fish looks a little rough, maybe you should send him to me for conditioning

~Michael