Keyhole Angelfish

[Sandman182]

Hello all,
Need some advice from those who currently have,or have owned in the past, this dwarf angelfish. I currently have this fish that is approximately two inches in a forty gallon cube(FOWLR) tank. I rescued this fish from very bad conditions and was in very poor health until now. It is in excellent health now and is doing very well. I dismantled my 120 gallon reef several months ago and only have the forty gallon tank that this fish now resides in. This fish is the only( and will be) inhabitant of this tank. I have kept several different dwarf angels over the many years I have been in this hobby with very good success but have no experience with this species. I am wondering if anyone here has had good success keeping this fish in a tank of forty gallons. My research says that this fish gets huge for a dwarf angel and really should be in a tank of seventy gallons or larger. I never intended to keep this species of dwarf angel but couldn't let it suffer in the conditions that it was housed in. After having it for several months now I have kinda gotten attached to it. Any thoughts? Really hoping I didn't make a mistake acquiring this fish. It's a beautiful animal. Any advice is welcomed.

 

[Haley]

Just because they can get up to 8 inches it doesn't mean they will. They normally average around 5 inches! And it does take quite awhile for them to grow out, years normally. I mean who knows? Maybe three years from now you will be thinking about getting a bigger tank anyways! The most important thing is that you helped to save a living animal and gave it a better home and a better chance at life !

Also I think on one of these reef boards there is a massive angelfish experience list that should help. Sorry but I can't seem to find it right now

 

[Sandman182]

Thanks for your response! I will just continue to monitor this fish and see how it does. So far no issues at all.

 

[scooter31707]

Yes, mines got around 6.5 inches full grown. I had to get rid of them he became a true jerk, but in your case will not have to worry about that since he is the only fish. To answer your question, 40 gallons is way too small for this fish. It may be ok until it hits the 4-5 inch mark. I think the min requirement for these are 70 or 75 gallon tank.

 

[Sandman182]

Yep Scooter I completely agree on this tank being too small for this fish and this was by no means any type of impulse buy but decided to rescue this fish due to the conditions it was housed in. I really appreciate your response. I did tons of research on this fish before taking him in and everything I read stated that it can reach a size of 7 or 8 inches and needs a tank of atleast 70 gallons and can eat corals as well as the overall behavior of pretty much the majority of dwarf angelfish blah blah blah... That's why I am doubting myself now on taking him in even though I did not intend to. I have had several dwarfs in the past( but never this species) but have also housed them in very large tanks until now. What was the predominant behavior of your fish before you were rid of him? Granted my fish is housed with no corals and is the only occupant but swims every area of this tank picking on the live rock and takes him time without a care in the world.

 

[scooter31707]

Yep Scooter I completely agree on this tank being too small for this fish and this was by no means any type of impulse buy but decided to rescue this fish due to the conditions it was housed in. I really appreciate your response. I did tons of research on this fish before taking him in and everything I read stated that it can reach a size of 7 or 8 inches and needs a tank of atleast 70 gallons and can eat corals as well as the overall behavior of pretty much the majority of dwarf angelfish blah blah blah... That's why I am doubting myself now on taking him in even though I did not intend to. I have had several dwarfs in the past( but never this species) but have also housed them in very large tanks until now. What was the predominant behavior of your fish before you were rid of him? Granted my fish is housed with no corals and is the only occupant but swims every area of this tank picking on the live rock and takes him time without a care in the world.

At the time I had him, he was in a FOWLR, so really no experience with the corals nipping, but his behavior crazy. Very aggressive to fish equal or smaller in size. Sometimes would not let my Tangs come up to eat Nori. I tried adding 3 other dwarfs on 3 different occasions; he killed them in a matter of hours. Not only did he do that with the dwarfs he did that with any other newcomer. He would not mess with anything bigger than itself. To me, seem like it grew very fast.