Just ordered a Venustus...

[HPark]

Just ordered a Venustus Angel from NYA to be delivered next Saturday. NYA said its currently feeding on fresh clams and is about 2.5".

The debate in my head -- I have an established more traditional QT tank with pvc, bare bottom. I also have a 20L established mixed reef that's been sitting fallow for 3 months. From what I've read, priority number one is feeding so I'm leaning toward placing it directly into the 20L and then dealing with removing it for treatment if it is necessary after observation. The tank is lighted by PC's about 6 hours a day. Should I cut lighting back initially? Any thoughts re: what tank you'd put the fish in?

For food...I just picked up some Larry's Reef Frenzy today. I also have Hikari mysis, Hikari's frozen angel cubes, frozen brine, pe mysis, Seaweed Extreme pellets, NLS pellets, flakes, seaweed select and some j. sprung sea veggies. I'll also be hatching bbs and plan to have live blackworms on hand. I was thinking of ordering some Nutramar Ova but is there anything else I should have? I saw a bottle of something called "Entice" today at the LFS, is it worth it?

Lastly, re: feeding clams. I saw a couple different varieties at the market today. Any particular type I should try to find? They also had mussels, are those a good option? (they're substantially cheaper, but that's not a big deal). To be honest, I've never fed fresh clams. Do most people just crack them open or only put a 1/2 in? How many hours do you leave them in the tank? For those that freeze, do you thaw before placing them in the tank? I was also thinking of mixing some different cubes together and then freezing them in some shells I had laying around as it seems they don't readily take food out of the water column - good idea or will it just foul the water?

Will post pictures when it arrives. Wish me luck!

 

[caribfan]

On the clams, most of my fish don't care for the black mussels. Little neck clams seem to be the best. I always freeze mine before feeding, which makes them much easier to open after the fact. For particularly tricky eaters, I've used a fresh, unfrozen oyster. Messy, but effective. When feeding clams, Ammonia spikes can become an issue without a sturdy biological filter, so make sure you monitor that closely.
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I'd cut the lighting for the first few days, unless feeding. Be sure your temp isn't too high as we'll, I'd shoot for mid 70s.

Of the foods you have, I'd stick with the LRS and little neck clams. Good luck with them!

 

[HPark]

Update: received the fish Saturday. Acclimated it to my 20g long reef tank. Hid for the first day but I wasn't overly worried until I checked close last night and noticed it had developed white spots so I pulled it to put it through TT. Obviously, kicking myself for not immediately running it through tank transfer with the extra stress catching it from the reef caused but I guessed my best shot was to get it in an established tank where it could graze. Guessed wrong. Besides the ich, I have not confirmed it is eating yet. I'm fairly discouraged at this point but it seems interested in a clam tonight. I've tried clam, pellets, mysis, LRF, frozen and live brine, live blackworms, some angel frozen formula and nori. Nothing yet. Hopefully, if it can survive the first/second tank transfer and get some relief from the parasites, it'll regain its appetite.

 

[sc50964]

I would not second guess myself if I were you. You gave it the best shot and it didn't work out. There is still a chance to save it. Good luck!

 

[Blue Ring Sting]

Hpark, don't freak out yet. White spot is treatable if you have patience. My Multibar has whitespot, even though it is not visible at this time it is there. As soon as I noticed I pulled him out of my tank and popped him into a bare bottom tank and dropped the salinity to 1.009. You can keep it at that for 4 weeks after the last sign of infection is seen. No other treatments when running hypo. Make sure that your QT has a lot of PVC pieces in there so that he can feel as calm and safe as possible.

Can you post a picture of the Venustus? A very clear and up close one. Does he have any other markings or damage on him?

I would try some live Mysis, it usually works very well and as time goes on you can mixing in some frozen Mysis and eventually they will accept frozen Mysis.

This is just the beginning though, don't be discouraged but at least you know now for next time.

Goodluck!

 

[Allmost]

usually angels dont eat the first day of TT ... too stressed maybe. so dont be too worried. just keep trying small amounts of food regularly and monitor ammonia.

 

[Blue Ring Sting]

Certain angels like to graze on live rock so what I would do is take a small piece of rock, take Mysis, brine, mussel and a whole bunch of different things and put it on the rock, freeze the rock and then place it in the tank with him. He may just start to pick away at the rock as it starts to defrost.

 

[footballdude2k3]

pics?

 

[HPark]

Unfortunately, it passed Wednesday morning. It just never seemed very interested in any food and was not what I would label a strong swimmer. I do not know if that's just the case with all paracentropyges as this was my first one or if the stress of multiple trips and acclimations doomed it. I definitely feel like I couldn't have done more re: feeding options, though in hindsight, I would have immediately placed it in TT vs my reef. It was a calculated risk in my head...getting it feeding in an established reef where it could graze all day vs immediately taking care of any pests in QT...I just think I over thought it. :S

I see DD has one coming up for sale today (of course they do! )....tempting...but I think I may just save and eventually attempt to acquire a pair of jocs as they're my real favorites even it means waiting until next summer. I'm away from home the next day or two for business but I'll try to upload the pics I snapped of it when I unpacked it when I get back to Chicago.

 

[jcdeng]

DD has a joc already on there from yesterday. Or are you strictly looking for a pair?

 

[HPark]

Yeah, I've definitely seen the Joc on DD....I check it about every 5 minutes I thought the two that were on there earlier looked a little better imo.

I think I might post in humaguy's thread about his joc pair. I assume it would be easier to get two smaller specimens at the same time vs introducing one later.

 

[jcdeng]

Joc is gone! did you get it Hpark?

 

[humaguy]

lol, did you get the venustus fom dd?? wow, that went fast..
I hope you got them both...lemme know..tk

 

[aquaph8]

I had the venustus in my cart, it was gone real fast. I'm trying to find a mate for the one in my QT, the search continues.

 

[jcdeng]

Yea it was on there for 2 seconds.

 

[caribfan]

You'd think with the trouble people seem to have with Venustus, DD would start to carry them more frequently. I can't remember the last time they posted one prior to today, I know it's been a while.

Sorry for the loss HPark.

 

[Ambition]

You'd think with the trouble people seem to have with Venustus, DD would start to carry them more frequently. I can't remember the last time they posted one prior to today, I know it's been a while.

Sorry for the loss HPark.

It has definitely been awhile. The price has also gone up since the last time they had one. IIRC, they used to go for $130 instead of $200.

 

[caribfan]

I was going to ask the price. $200 is a little surprising, but based on my past DD experiences, your not just paying for a fish when it comes from Kevin.

He could honestly probably sell a half dozen at the price with no problem judging by the number of people that have lost little Venustus in the past year.

 

[Rea17]

The price was steep, but I'm a little surprised nobody else has gripes about the size. I've been waiting for a DD venustus for a long time, but was hoping to see one that was a little smaller and passed on the one yesterday (not that I would have clicked fast enough anyway!) Fish like this tend to come onto DD in batches over a couple weeks, so I'm anticipating more...

HPark, sorry to hear about your loss. Hope you find that pair of jocs!

 

[HPark]

Unfortunately, I didn't grab either of them. I did email DD, so hopefully, I'll hear word about any left-over jocs. Definitely curious to see if DD will have any more Venustus as well. Especially if they're a little smaller, I don't have much of a problem with the price tag.