Potters angel in QT question

[TravelinLight]

I have had a Potters Angel in QT for 5 days now. He was extremely shy at first but will now come out and swim around. I got him from my LFS that orders fish for me and let's me get at cost due to the relationship and help I do for them. He was picked up just upon arrival from shipping and looked extremely fat and happy. I did a fresh water bath and acclimated. This my first attempt at an Angel and really my first time seeing one in person.

I had not seen him pick on anything until last night he started nipping on the PVC covered in some algae and finally saw him eat a piece of what I believe was an oyster that was on the bottom of tank. I am feeding flakes, nori, and my own blend of frozen foods. It is definitely a balance of feeding enough without overfeeding the system. I understand they are grazers but will he eventually start eating food suspended in the water column or? Hopefully in the next week I can start treatment but want to hold off until he is eating well.

I should say he is in a 20 long with hang on back filter, hydor 500 powerhead, enough PVC to hide, and a thin layer of crushed coral. I will eventually dose cupramine for ich.

Any advice on feeding or extra care is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[ca1ore]

For your first attempt, you picked one of the more difficult ones to keep. I have one in my tank, and while it does occasionally eat prepared foods, most of the time it is grazing on the slime algae on the back glass.

Frankly, with a potters I'd be inclined to put a few live rocks into the QT, preferably ones that have some algae on them, and hold off on any treatments until you get it eating. Personally I don't treat angels unless I see something to concern me.

 

[Mrs. Music]

To my understanding, potters angels are very sensitive to copper treatments, and it is very risky treating them. Tough call to make. Good luck, they are a beautiful fish. In my experience they won't eat if ammonia is present. Does the QT have a mature biofilter?

 

[TravelinLight]

QT Tank has been up and running for about 8 months, never heard that they are sensitive so I will look that up. Good news is he is eating like a pig. I got home and feed him and he scarfed down everything in sight.

 

[ca1ore]

QT Tank has been up and running for about 8 months, never heard that they are sensitive so I will look that up. Good news is he is eating like a pig. I got home and feed him and he scarfed down everything in sight.

Dwarf angels, and flames particularly, can be quite sensitive to copper. Frankly, I'd not do copper unless you see symptoms, but if you must, ramp up the level slowly and stay at around 0.3.

 

[ken6217]

I have a potters angel in my reef for about 6 years now. I would say the first 2-3 months I never saw him eat anything I ever out in the tank. He would just pick at the rocks and algae on the powerheads.

It's funny that once he started eating food I put in (with power heads turned off) he would alternately eat the food and then rush to pick at the algae on the powerheads while they were't pushing water. It is an interesting thing to watch.

Btw, he has never picked at any corals in my tank.
Ken

 

[rromans88]

I am a firm believer in not treating for ich unless the fish has ich. In my experience ich treatments are hard on the fish. You dont want to add any more stress to a fish that is hard to get to eat than you have to. BTW potters angels are awesome fish!!

 

[davidfrances]

I have a potters in one of my 250's. He rarely eats from the water column, but I have robust algae growth and a good pod population that he picks at constantly.

I would advise against copper, if you feel you must treat, use hypo instead

 

[maikoa02]

The two potters that I have had in the past did very well. They're supposed to be tough to keep but I haven't had any problems with them. I eventually sold both, one because I started collecting bigger angels, and the other because it started nipping on my sps.