Multibar angelfish.

[Jeremy1988]

I would say your tank is too young. THey are constantly picking at the rocks and that is the best source of food for them. I have a trio of multi's and a single venustus. Once established they are solid but getting them to that point is difficult. Be patient and wait to establish your tank. Other than that, PIA is great...

Are they safe around lps corals and sps?

 

[Jeremy1988]

I'd say your tank is too young, too. If it has nothing but corraline ( A problem LOL I wish I had!!)algae. My Centropyge and a Yellow tang have plenty to keep them busy in my tank.
A big footnote: My tank is technically 6 months old, but the LR came out of my 36 gallon reef and was bought as productive, 2nd Hand LR to begin with. So tons of algae. Of all sorts, growl..
I am glad you decided to wait. Try something a bit hardier first, too. Like a Potter's angel before trying a Multibar..

Matthew

Are they safe around sps and lps corals?

 

[Jeremy1988]

One thing I always say is that there are no angelfish that are hard to KEEP, only those that are hard to ADAPT. Centropyge multifasciata is one such species... and while the age of the tank is often brought up, I believe perhaps much more important is the experience of the hobbyist. I believe we as hobbyists have a moral obligation to only attempt species such as this if we have years of experience in quarantining and adapting other more easily adapted species. I am very often in the situation where people ask me about my quarantining/adapting regimens as people want to start following some sort of protocol other than the "dump and hope approach" that most reefers do... this is a great step that many people make, but too often people cut their QT teeth on species that are either tough to adapt or expensive, and it often doesn't turn out well... this would be the equivalent of a novice reefer starting with a full blown sps or nps tank... and as we all know with reef tanks there is only so much you could learn from reading... it is like riding a bike... you could read books for a year on riding a bike, yet you would still take a while to figure it out when you got on. Species like this are often tricky to adapt and condition, but with skill, luck, and a combination of the two, these fish could thrive in established reef tanks...

I've had my Marshall Islands pair for a few years now... previously I kept an Indonesian specimen for nearly five years... these guys are kept to the 60 gallon right third of my 180 gallon sps display... the male of my Centropyge colini pair (an equally hard to adapt species) keeps them there, but they've found their niche. This species is spectacular... the black and white contrast is like a zebra or California kingsnake... the black could not be blacker and the white not whiter... combine that with the yellow the species displays ventrally and they are quite a site... and if adapted well before introduction these fish do not require a quiet tank as is often said... my pair is in a reef loaded with different species and they are paid no mind... except for the closely related Colin's angel pair as I said... which comes in the form of the male Colin's showing the multibars who is boss a few times a day... there are a few other species of Centropyge (and larger angelfish genera) that leave the multibars alone.

Here are a few shots of my pair...

Copps

Are these guys safe with lps and sps corals?

 

[scooter31707]

I have one in quarantine after going through TTM and 2 rounds of Prazi-Pro. I didn't have any live rock in the TTM tanks nor do I have any in the QT. Mines were eating Mysis and flake in the store. I have recently got him to eating pellets. If you can find one eating, they are very hardy.

 

[ThRoewer]

I'm wondering how these guys are with SPS, ... and a pair of subadult regal angels as tank mates.

This is a fish I always liked a lot, but only tried once in the mid 1990s - with not too much success then.

The rock structure of my 100 gallon tank should be ideal for them, with lots of large caves and branching rock structures that give plenty of coverage. My regals like it. Right now the only other tank mates would be a pair of percula who never leave their anemone at the top of the tank, a pair of mandarins and a single starcki damsel male.
The regals pretty much ignore all the other fish, who in turn also just mind their own business. It's so peaceful that it is at times borderline boring.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[scooter31707]

I think they are hit or miss with the corals. In the wild, I think they feed mostly on sponges. I honestly believe if they are well feed, they won't bother them, but who knows.

 

[inktomi]

I assume a diet with a lot of variety which includes angelfish specific sponge foods would do wonders for them. Certainly worth trying if you're interested in the fish.. how much damage could they possibly do?

Besides.. you didn't really want a mixed reef, you wanted a pure SPS reef!