On the hunt...Golden Dwarf Angels

[Chelsey]

I've been searching for several (5) Golden dwarf angels (Centropyge aurantia) for a little while now with absolutely no luck. I've tried blue zoo, live aquaria, reef hot spot, saltwaterfish.com, etc, and nobody has had any for quite some time. Is there a particular reason these fish have become so elusive as of late? Are they seasonal like the interruptus and many other hard-to-find fish are? Am I not looking in the right places? If anyone has contacts for them or one they'd like to sell please contact me. I used to have one several years ago that I lost in a heater malfunction and finding a replacement is impossible! Thanks in advance


Chelsey

 

[Jacob D]

Eh... five of them? Good luck. They're a reclusive fish and not collected easily/frequently. I don't know if you're going to find 5 let alone a pair... but a pair would be a dream to have. I would suggest only buying from vendors who have a QT regime in place, or from an established tank.

 

[Chelsey]

According to "fish breeder math", 5 is the magic number in order to get one guaranteed pair. IMO it's going to depend more on the size of the fish. If I can get one large one and one small one I'd only need two. Regardless of whether the vendor I purchase from has a QT regime in place or not I'd be QTing the fish when they came to me. They'll eventually be going into my broodstock system and I don't take any risks when it comes to my breeding pairs

 

[Jacob D]

My comment about the QT or established was to do with having less chance of getting one that was cyanide caught, which unfortunately these guys in particular seem to be (probably because of the reclusive nature). Somewhere I read, or was told, that they are sometimes collected as pairs... but I have never seen a pair offered for sale.

Good luck with your search.

 

[roktsintst]

I think nyaquatic has them in stock rfight now!

 

[mjsfish]

nyaquatic had a bunch, but it looks like they're out now.

 

[Chelsey]

I checked, and yeah, NYAquatic had some previously.

 

[jnc914]

Just wanted to chime in regarding these beautiful fish. First and foremost they are extremely shy and reclusive and IME do not do well with other small angels. Because they are quite timid, if harassed by other fish, they simply will not eat. I added one to my old 180 gallon and it never ate due to an aggressive Coral Beauty that would chase it from time to time. I have never heard anyone keeping groups of this angel and don't know if even trying to pair them would work. On a side note, my LFS has one right now for $129 and it was around 2". It was picking at rock but was not eating any frozen yet. Good luck with your search.

 

[Chelsey]

Yep, I had one before, but when I saw him it was well worth it These guys will be going in a large, tall tank by themselves, so no worries about them being harassed