My Journey with C./P. multifasciata

Been watching your journey and missing the pair of Multi-bars I lost in my crash last fall.

Came across these today. Only been a couple of hours, but have seen them picking at the rock already.

Of course the area they have decided to hang in is a corner that I haven't algae wiped in awhile. So I apologize for the dirty pics.


Multi_1.jpg





Multi_2.jpg






Multi_3.jpg
 
Ambition said:
Very interesting, I'll have to see if that holds true with the pair as they mature. I'll be making observations on the differences as they grow, but especially once they start spawning and it is clear that the pair is indeed a hetersexual pair rather than two of the same sex coexisting.
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I've had my main pair i think 6 or 7 years now. Four years back, I placed two more females in the tank as a harem and that is when I noticed the difference in coloration. They lived very peacefully for about three years before I halved the population down in that tank for easier maintenance. I'm not sure if the marked coloration difference in my case came out faster due to the fact that there were more than a pair or not, but para's do go from female to male.

Good luck!
 
wayne in norway said:
Are we reaching a concensus that these fish do better in pairs, groups or even in tanks with other small angels than they do as solitary fish?
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Yeah, I think paracentropyge do better housed in a mellow tank with other smaller fish. I have tried the multibarred in my old 300 gallon that consisted of several large angels and it was too shy and reclusive to compete for food. If I were to do another paracentropyge, it would be either Venustus or Multibarred; but would go with a pair or trio in a smaller dedicated reef system.

Good luck with your pair Kyle!
 
wayne in norway said:
Are we reaching a concensus that these fish do better in pairs, groups or even in tanks with other small angels than they do as solitary fish?
Click to expand...

Harems are best IMO, but I have pairs of Multi, Golden Pygmy and Interruptus right now. The only time I ran into a problem was when i first put the interruptus in the tank and my pair of Potters when ape on them... for weeks. It gave me an excuse to relandscape the tank and the Potters went to a new home :)
 
I'm a firm believer in keeping fish as they are seen in the wild when/if possible. Obviously there are very few tanks large enough to house shoals of tangs due to their more aggressive nature. Centropyge, however, aren't very difficult to keep in a pair, trio, or harem-though finding females can be a slight challenge for the hard to find/get species. I've found that once the other part of the pair of most fish I have bought as a pair is lost, the survivor notices. I've had clowns go lethargic after losing a mate as well as dottybacks. The multibars have also had very brief bouts of this, but not extremely noticeable since they don't bond like clowns or dottybacks.
 
This morning I removed the divider since I didn't see any signs of aggression from either. Upon removal both spent about 10 minutes exploring each other's side. No aggression as of yet. The female has become quite active with swimming nonstop, but following the male if he is moving. Interestingly enough, the male has become slightly more active. Must be the giddy feelings of the new relationship. :lol:
 
I had to leave town Monday night for orientation at the University of Minnesota yesterday and today. Upon my return home, I found the male angel has a peculiar bulge in his stomach. From the lateral line to his anus there is an hourglass figure going on, and scales sticking out giving him a fuzzy appearance between the pelvic and anal fins. Any ideas what this could be from? I'm gonna do a water change then likely start doing prazi unless anyone thinks this is a terrible idea and suggests otherwise.

Just super bummed about this since it seems the fish are fine until I have to leave for more than work. My clowns killed my pair of orchid dottybacks, so I'm bummed out from that as well. I might have to do damsels in my tank and call it good at this rate.
 
Ambition said:
I had to leave town Monday night for orientation at the University of Minnesota yesterday and today. Upon my return home, I found the male angel has a peculiar bulge in his stomach. From the lateral line to his anus there is an hourglass figure going on, and scales sticking out giving him a fuzzy appearance between the pelvic and anal fins. Any ideas what this could be from? I'm gonna do a water change then likely start doing prazi unless anyone thinks this is a terrible idea and suggests otherwise.

Just super bummed about this since it seems the fish are fine until I have to leave for more than work. My clowns killed my pair of orchid dottybacks, so I'm bummed out from that as well. I might have to do damsels in my tank and call it good at this rate.
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Hi Kyle, I would just put the fish in your big tank with live rock etc. Such a small bare tank is no place for these fish. This gives them a chance also when you are not there to feed them a couple of times a day, do waterchanges etc.

And apparently your clownfish and dotty backs are also in a very small place with little hiding places. Otherwise I can not imagine a clownfish killing an established dottyback within a day or two.

For the rest I don't know about medicine except that a well-fed, non-stessed fish in pristine water does not get sick easily.

Cheers and best of luck!
 
I'm second guessing my initial thoughts on the clowns killing the dottybacks since the male clown passed away last night.

I do have people that feed all of my fish while I am away. Oddly enough, the only fish I have not had problems with is an orange spot filefish. He is the least picky eater as well.

Big tank ran into plumbing issues, so I've had to move fish to different tanks. With my short absence and work, it won't be ready again for a few more days at least.
 
Sorry to hear about the set backs.

On a happier note though...college and the twin cities are both great! Good luck on your fish and schooling endeavors.
 
I haven't had much for changes since the last week, hence why I haven't updated.

The male, or presumed male, is an aggressive eater. He eats most anything thrown in the tank, I just can't feed pellet or flake after frozen because he won't touch it then. The presumed female will eat frozen, flake, and pellet although not as aggressively. I'm thinking it might be from sharing the small QT space with the male.

They will be moved to their 65g home by the end of next week. I'm hoping more space will give the female enough room allowing her to feed more aggressively. We shall see.
 
I picked up a single from a LFS and it was eating frozen at the store. I knew one of the obstacles of keeping this species was getting it to eat prepared foods but I didn't realize they were prone to swim bladder issues. I noticed that mine does not always swim "normal". Sometimes he/she swims nose up and nose down and even sideways. Do yours ever swim not "normal"(for lack of better terms)?
 
They are interesting fish in this way. Angels of the Paracentropyge complex will swim in odd ways at times. Oddly enough they can be found upside down under rock ledges in the wild... This is however a problem if you notice it can change its positioning/posture in the way it wants.
 
After sharing how well things have been going, the female has stopped eating...

I find it odd since she acts like she is trying to eat, but she doesn't get close enough to the food to actually eat it. It's like her depth perception is off. After trying to get a few bites she just gives up and won't try to eat until the next feeding. Any ideas what I should do or what the problem may be?
 
Ambition said:
After sharing how well things have been going, the female has stopped eating...

I find it odd since she acts like she is trying to eat, but she doesn't get close enough to the food to actually eat it. It's like her depth perception is off. After trying to get a few bites she just gives up and won't try to eat until the next feeding. Any ideas what I should do or what the problem may be?
Click to expand...

Realize this is a wild guess, OK?

If she can't see properly, perhaps there is a bacterial infection effecting vision.

Good luck.
 
Good news! She started eating after a couple of days on her own. This was after Kevin suggested a few extra water changes, but before I actually did them.

I think Friday is the day that I move them over to the display tank (65g eventual SPS reef). My plan is to drain the QT and use a plastic container to catch them since their dorsal and cheek spines get caught in netting so easily.

Tonight, DD might have a pair up for sale and I'm kinda tempted to try it but I know two males won't work. I might see if I can't find a tiny female some time down the line to make a trio, but I'll get the pair into the DT before I think about this idea any further.
 
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