sharkluver3
New member
I know this fish is marked as a difficult fish and my question is why is it difficult to keep?
Rock beauty angelfish
- Thread starter sharkluver3
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this is me
Active member
most of the fish that are difficult to keep is because of their dietary requirement or just finicky eater.
Once the fish learned to accept prep food and you have tank and acceptable parameters, it would not be difficult anymore.
Once the fish learned to accept prep food and you have tank and acceptable parameters, it would not be difficult anymore.
ClownsRCoo
New member
That fish mainly eats if not exclusively on sponges and since almost any reefer can barely manage to keep sponges alive long term much less cultivate enough to keep this fish fed, it ends up starving
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ClownsRCoo
New member
Live aquaria alludes to it in their description but their goal is to ultimately make money and sell you the fish so it is not as forward about the fact that this fish almost never will accept any other type of food other than sponges.
"The Rock Beauty Angelfish is difficult to sustain in a home aquarium because of its dietary requirement of sponges"
They go on to say that it's diet should contain other items which give you hope hat you can eventually get the fish to accept those other foods but a quick search in the forums shows otherwise
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"The Rock Beauty Angelfish is difficult to sustain in a home aquarium because of its dietary requirement of sponges"
They go on to say that it's diet should contain other items which give you hope hat you can eventually get the fish to accept those other foods but a quick search in the forums shows otherwise
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I have one. It eats everything. Except sponge, which I do not have. I also have a Moorish Idol, for >7 years, which also eats everything except sponge which I do not have. (I only say that because everyone insists that MIs require sponge). It does appear to do just fine on New Life Spectrum Pellets, which I feed two sizes twice a day. I also feed frozen Reef Frenzy once a day.
The key to success with these fishes is to get a good one in the first place. Buy a healthy fish that is eating in the store, put it in a mature tank, make sure no one is picking on it, give it places to hide, take good care of it and you will do fine. (I suspect the problem with Rock Beauties as well as Moorish Idols is they don't respond well to the capture/shipping process). My Rock Beauty came directly from a collector in the Florida Keys, in fact he delivered it to me as he was passing through town, so it was in great shape when I got it.
It does seem to grow exceedingly slowly in my experience, though.
The key to success with these fishes is to get a good one in the first place. Buy a healthy fish that is eating in the store, put it in a mature tank, make sure no one is picking on it, give it places to hide, take good care of it and you will do fine. (I suspect the problem with Rock Beauties as well as Moorish Idols is they don't respond well to the capture/shipping process). My Rock Beauty came directly from a collector in the Florida Keys, in fact he delivered it to me as he was passing through town, so it was in great shape when I got it.
It does seem to grow exceedingly slowly in my experience, though.
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I have one as well. I'm guessing but I think I've had him for about 5 years now. Got it off of Divers Den. As Pinnatus said it eats everything except sponge. Frozen, pellets, flakes, algae sheets. One of my favorite fish and ok with corals as well. As said get one that is caught appropriately and eating already in captivity and you should be good to go assuming tank parameters are good. Mine is the boss of the tank. Oh and he's been through a couple of tank transfers as well with out issue.
Good luck if you try one.
Rob
Good luck if you try one.
Rob
Pufferfish3
In Memoriam
Okay thanks
Per Scott W Michael form his book " Marine Fishes" ; I consider him to be a very reliable source:
Re: Holacanthus tricolor:
"...A sponge feeder that often has difficulty switching to aquarium foods . Try feeding vegetable matter , meaty fare , and occasionally, special angelfish rations containing marine sponges. Feed thre times per day. ..."
This looks like a decent choice for a food containing sponges:
http://www.petsolutions.com/C/Frozen-Fish-Food/I/Hikari-Bio-Pure-Frozen-Mega-Marine-Angel.aspx
There are probably others.
Personally I don't keep one because of it's tendency to nip at corals and clams but might if I run a fish only tank.
Re: Holacanthus tricolor:
"...A sponge feeder that often has difficulty switching to aquarium foods . Try feeding vegetable matter , meaty fare , and occasionally, special angelfish rations containing marine sponges. Feed thre times per day. ..."
This looks like a decent choice for a food containing sponges:
http://www.petsolutions.com/C/Frozen-Fish-Food/I/Hikari-Bio-Pure-Frozen-Mega-Marine-Angel.aspx
There are probably others.
Personally I don't keep one because of it's tendency to nip at corals and clams but might if I run a fish only tank.
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scooter31707
New member
I had one before for about 3 years. We lived in Key West where I caught all of my fish. I didn't have any problems with it eating store bought food. I would also make some food my self. Never had a sponge for it to eat. Had to give it away after that since we were moving up north and didn't want the hassle of transferring the tank. I would love to get another one, but since I now have corals I don't want to risk it.
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