o2manyfish - Juvenile Navarchus Angel - Seldom Seen

[o2manyfish]

Navarchus or Majestic Angels I think are one of the most beautiful fish in the world. They are also one of the fastest maturing angels in the Pomacanthus species. While most angels don't start changing to adult coloration till they are 5-8" in size. The Navarchus starts maturing at less than 2". As a true juvenile they look very similar to an Annularis angel. In August I purchased a young angel with just a small orange dot on the back. Now 2 months later the orange is starting to spread. I look forward to growing this beauty all the way out.

This guy is in the overflow of my 180g outdoor frag tank. I don't feed him. He feeds himself by hunting.

There is a quick shot of my other Navarchus. I have had him for over 18 months in the main frag tank. I was lucky enough to get him from a friend in Bali. He came in at 3" with mature coloration in the body but still showing some juvenile stripes. As you can see in the video he still has a couple of stripes.

Not a great quality video, but the little one is really shy.

Dave B

 

[alton]

Beautiful fish! LA has had adults on sale all week for $89. I thought about it but figured my blueface would not play nice?

 

[biecacka]

Dave, I know you probably get asked this about 489928750582761455900222 times but....do you have any issues with your angels picking on your sps?

Corey

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Beautiful fish!

 

[o2manyfish]

Beautiful fish! LA has had adults on sale all week for $89. I thought about it but figured my blueface would not play nice?

I have kept Navarchus with Korans, Passers, Clarions and centropyge in the past without issue. I've never had a Blueface. But my previous Navarchus, and the 2 I have now don't have any attitudes. - They are kind of like Victoria Secret Models -- They know they are Hot, and just have to sit there and let everyone watch them. They don't need to flaunt it


Dave B

 

[o2manyfish]

Dave, I know you probably get asked this about 489928750582761455900222 times but....do you have any issues with your angels picking on your sps?

Corey

Corey, I have a bunch of angels, but I also have a ton of corals. My experience is that Corals taste like crap and the angels would rather eat softer tastier things.

In the main tank I lose a couple of patches of my favorite zoa of the moment to the goldflakes once or twice a year.

But if you watch the angels on the webcam they may nip at one spot on a coral and then swim away. They aren't focusing on the corals. My guess is they are eating the pods.

In the frag tank, there is only corals, frag plugs and eggcrate. And yet the angels outside are fat, and beautiful and aren't fed by me. They hunt and feed themselves. With all those corals outside there isn't a single piece that looks nibbled on.


Now if a coral starts to die --- something new comes in and doesn't like aquarium life. Once the tissue starts to peel... Then the angels will definitely devour the tissue. But they only nip the areas deteriorating, they don't go after the healthy tissues.

Don't forget.... Look at my tank there is a literal ton of coral and rock in there, so the angels have plenty of places to hunt, and too many corals to focus on just one.

For the record:
Display Tank - (2) Goldflakes (started spawning 4 weeks ago!!!), (2) Yellow Belly Misbar Regals, (3) Venustus, (1) Flame, (3) Flameback (spawning), (3) Bellus (Thinking about spawning), (2-4) Goldens, and (1) Joculator.

Dave B

 

[biecacka]

Cool. Thank you for the insight


Corey