velvetelvis
Active member
One of my dream displays has long been a Florida Keys biotope designed around a pair of Centropyge argi. I bought a tiny (about 1" long) pygmy angel last month, and after reading over threads here about pairing Centropyge angels, made up my mind to gamble on trying to her off with a much larger one.
One of my favorite LFS had a fat, beautiful cherub angel who'd been at the store for at least 6 months. I went back to take a look at him last Sunday, and he was definitely about twice the size of the angel I already owned. I decided to buy him and see if things worked out (and from here on out, I'm just going to refer to them as male and female).
After acclimating the male, I placed him in an isolation container and attached it to the side of the tank near the female's favorite hiding spot. I kept him in there for a couple of hours while watching the two angels' reactions to each other. No signs of hostility--as a matter of fact, the trio of molly miller blennies that share the aquarium were much more interested in the male than the female seemed to be. I decided to cut him loose and watch their interactions carefully.
I noticed that the female's sides turned pale, almost whitish, each time the male approached her. The two fish hovered near each other in the rockwork, but just out of each other's line of vision, for some time. When they crossed paths, the male briefly darted towards the female, who displayed the paler coloring and retreated a short distance away. (I'm guessing this was a dominance-related display.) No chasing, no nipping. The male quickly claimed the cave in the center of the rockwork (although the blennies--who are bigger than he is--chased him away every time they came across him). The female continued to periodically hover in her favorite spot, close by but not in his direct line of sight. Both of them began grazing soon after the male was introduced into the system.
Fast-forward a few days, and all appears well. I still haven't witnessed any aggression between the two angelfish. All along the female has appeared almost instantly submissive to the much larger male, which I'm sure helped tremendously. Both of them have perfectly intact fins and "share" the live rock structure peacefully. The male will still make little rushes at the female once in a while, but they also frequently swim near each other with no incident; and even those brief gestures--I can't even call them chasing--are becoming less frequent.
The male is bolder and comes right up to the glass when I approach the tank (anticipating food, no doubt). The female is much shyer, but also feeds eagerly. Both of them cruise around the tank constantly pecking at diatoms and algae and are fat and beautiful. They eat cyclopeez, Reef Frenzy, and frozen herbivore mix just as greedily as the blennies. So far, I haven't observed them nipping the gorgonians or sponges, although I accept that this is a possibility.
I couldn't be more pleased. As vivid and eye-catching as one cherub angelfish is, two are even more gorgeous and fascinating to watch. At this point, I think I can declare the pairing a success. :dance:
One of my favorite LFS had a fat, beautiful cherub angel who'd been at the store for at least 6 months. I went back to take a look at him last Sunday, and he was definitely about twice the size of the angel I already owned. I decided to buy him and see if things worked out (and from here on out, I'm just going to refer to them as male and female).
After acclimating the male, I placed him in an isolation container and attached it to the side of the tank near the female's favorite hiding spot. I kept him in there for a couple of hours while watching the two angels' reactions to each other. No signs of hostility--as a matter of fact, the trio of molly miller blennies that share the aquarium were much more interested in the male than the female seemed to be. I decided to cut him loose and watch their interactions carefully.
I noticed that the female's sides turned pale, almost whitish, each time the male approached her. The two fish hovered near each other in the rockwork, but just out of each other's line of vision, for some time. When they crossed paths, the male briefly darted towards the female, who displayed the paler coloring and retreated a short distance away. (I'm guessing this was a dominance-related display.) No chasing, no nipping. The male quickly claimed the cave in the center of the rockwork (although the blennies--who are bigger than he is--chased him away every time they came across him). The female continued to periodically hover in her favorite spot, close by but not in his direct line of sight. Both of them began grazing soon after the male was introduced into the system.
Fast-forward a few days, and all appears well. I still haven't witnessed any aggression between the two angelfish. All along the female has appeared almost instantly submissive to the much larger male, which I'm sure helped tremendously. Both of them have perfectly intact fins and "share" the live rock structure peacefully. The male will still make little rushes at the female once in a while, but they also frequently swim near each other with no incident; and even those brief gestures--I can't even call them chasing--are becoming less frequent.
The male is bolder and comes right up to the glass when I approach the tank (anticipating food, no doubt). The female is much shyer, but also feeds eagerly. Both of them cruise around the tank constantly pecking at diatoms and algae and are fat and beautiful. They eat cyclopeez, Reef Frenzy, and frozen herbivore mix just as greedily as the blennies. So far, I haven't observed them nipping the gorgonians or sponges, although I accept that this is a possibility.
I couldn't be more pleased. As vivid and eye-catching as one cherub angelfish is, two are even more gorgeous and fascinating to watch. At this point, I think I can declare the pairing a success. :dance:
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