sponge for angelfish

twelvejewelz

twelvejewelz

New member
can anyone tell me what sponge is the best or that Dwarf angels would love. I know there are many kinds but im trying to pinpoint a certain kind that i can buy live and keep in my tank for my deepwater dwarf angels to pick on. Please post links to the actual sponges that i can order or info on the ones they eat as i know there are some live sponges that the angels wont even touch. Is there any company that make a Frozen food that is 100% sponge? I have the Sanfransisco bay brand angel and butterfly fish frozen food that contains sponge but i want a food with "more" sponge as well as live sponges.Thanks!!!
 
In my opinion there is no reason to buy live sponge and place it in the tank for the angels to eat. The angels will be sure to rid the rock of any wild sponge, but I have never seen any of my angels eat the larger (decorative) sponges. IME the sponges that most angels love to eat are the smaller more cryptic sponges, rather than the large species. I think that it mau have something to do with the fact that the encrusting or cryptic sponges are softer and more palatable than some of the large, ball, branch, vase or tube sponges.

I keep several angelfish that are said to have a diet in the wild of almost 100% sponge. I feed my own seafood blend, and supplement with spectrum pellets and sponge enhanced frozen angelfish formulas.

My Pair of Badit angles extremely fat and are growing like crazy.



~Michael
 
Very interesting, I've also wondered the same thing. I figured there may be a difference between the more "ornamental sponges" and the ones you see growing on your LR.

Good to know this shouldn't be a strategy to keep some of the more difficult angels and butterflies eating!
 
michael_cb_125 said:
The angels will be sure to rid the rock of any wild sponge, but I have never seen any of my angels eat the larger (decorative) sponges.

~Michael
Click to expand...

+ 1 The white sponge that grew in between my fiji branch rock was their fav. I put in some red ball sponge in there and my idol/ angels never touched it
 
See i would like to think that adding live sponge isnt necessary but im not sure that is the case. There is a reason that the multibar angel (my favorite saltwater fish hands down) and the purple mask angel do not usually fare well in our home aquariums. I think having a readily available sponge source would greatly improve the life of our dwarf angels. Your right it isnt 100% necessary but i like to mimic their natural environment as best as possible, as we all should do. Your also right about the fact that in the wild some of these angels rely entirely on live sponge as a food source to survive so IMO its BEST to give them that. Im just wondering though what sponges would be most likely used as a food source by these angels. Alot of the reason that these angels dont do well is because of poor collecting practices but there is more to the story. People can have a perfectly healthy specimen one day and for no rhyme or reason they wake up to a dead fish. There has to be more to it and i would like to get to the bottom of it. I personally have a multibar that is doing great but its not even at the 3 month mark yet(which is how long they usually live in our homes) so id like to try and find out what is going on.​
Some fish that are completely herbivorous can eat meaty foods but if some eat to much protein it can begin to cause problems for the fish and they can die.The multibar is a deep water fish but it isnt deep enough for the temperature of our reefs to cause a problem so thats one point. Im wondering if the "pressure" of the debth they live at may be needed for there organs to function properly? thats another thing to look at. Now considering the fish was decompressed right and is feeding in your aquarium why would it die out of nowhere after about the 3 month mark? I think it may have to do with its diet. We do not know what the multbar eats in the wild but we can speculate. Now if it eats sponge 100% then mabe its an issue of not being fed right which in turn leads to a slow death..I would be Alot more comfortable selecting the correct sponges to add to my reef so the fish can always have something to pick at. I dont mind alittle algae growing as well for this fish to pick at when he's hungry. Im just trying to find out what is going on with these fish and there has to be more to it.​

EDIT: i do feed my fish the Angelfish and butterfly frozen food from sanfransisco bay company ,along with nori each day and i feed about 30 different kinds of food.Is there a "sponge only" food available anywhere?


michael_cb_125 said:
In my opinion there is no reason to buy live sponge and place it in the tank for the angels to eat. The angels will be sure to rid the rock of any wild sponge, but I have never seen any of my angels eat the larger (decorative) sponges. IME the sponges that most angels love to eat are the smaller more cryptic sponges, rather than the large species. I think that it mau have something to do with the fact that the encrusting or cryptic sponges are softer and more palatable than some of the large, ball, branch, vase or tube sponges.

I keep several angelfish that are said to have a diet in the wild of almost 100% sponge. I feed my own seafood blend, and supplement with spectrum pellets and sponge enhanced frozen angelfish formulas.

My Pair of Badit angles extremely fat and are growing like crazy.



~Michael
Click to expand...
 
I have seen pictures of angel in the wild feeding on encrusting sponges. Mabey you could find some encrusting sponges on LR at your LFS and try to aquaculture them in your sump. Then you could cut off small pieces and feed it to the angels letting the sponges regenerate before cutting again? Only problem is getting it grow fast enough might prove impossible.
 
Granted I have only had it for 2 months, but my venustus angel has been eating from the first minutes it was released in my tank. Of course it loves to pick at the rocks, and while I am sure there are some sponges within the rocks, not a any that I have really noticed. There is one food that mine hasn't eaten -- Angel Formula (( my other angels eat it, but nothing special )) -- it really seems to like LifeLine's Herbivore mix, along with Prime Reef, and Rod's Food (( red, green and blue labels )). Right now it has issues with Spectrum Pellets -- the ones I have are too big.
 
If you have any lfs's around you there is usually tons of sponges in their frag tanks you could scrape off and seed your tank with. And there are alot of people that have had multi barred angels/ other deep water angels live without supplementing sponges though it is probably needed for a well rounded diet. And i dont think organs just function at certain depths lol more as to when your taking fish from that much pressure to such little pressure its hard on a fish. Some of the really good collectors with time on their hands put fish in containers and raise them to the surface over a couple days. Alot of these dwarf angels are collected in the pacfic islands where people dont have time to raise them over days but rather pin them quick and go get more. These people need to catch as many fish as they can so they can feed their family rather then a hobbyist doing it for fun imo and cyanide is always bad for the fish though i dont think they use it as much anymore
 
I have Tons of sponge in my tank and i do see the angels pick at it but im wondering if there is an actual sponge that they would prefer or that they are known to eat in the wild you know? I cant explain what i mean about the "pressure" at the depth and the organs i can picture it but i really cant explain what i mean by it. I know that "i dont think organs just function at certain depths " lol . Todd its good that your purple mask is doing well i actually saw your thread on it and its an amazing fish and you better believe ill be getting one as well :) . My multibar loves my cherub angel as well. I just find it odd that people say that this fish will die out of nowhere literally eating great and then next minute its dead. there has to be more to it and i would really like to know what it is. Think about it years ago we would have never thought about keeping corals, then look at all the amazing sps tanks . Also people would have never thought to be able to breed marine fish and now we have captive bred dragonettes and even dwarf angels have been successfully bred. Once we figure out whats with these fish dieing out of nowhere im sure they will become just as easy to keep as any other dwarf angel but we just need to find out what it is. Alot of advancements have come along and were getting there :)
 
IMO initially many die from starvation and being placed straight into tanks with boisterous tankmates, instead of being given time to adjust to captivity and learning to eat. Deaths around the 3 month mark could have many causes, most of which wouldn't be nutrition related IMO. Not in the sense you're thinking anyway.

But I understand your desire to offer your fish the best diet possible. Since you already have a lot of sponge in your tank, that base is covered. But are multibars really a sponge specialist, even though they may include it in their diet? They probably also include small tunicates, various worms, pods & other LR nibblies.

As an aside, I don't think these are deepwater angels per se. If they were, proper decompresion and cooler water would be the short & long term issues.

good luck!
 
On wild diet for these guys, they've been found containing algae, coral polyps, and sponges (ascidians to be precise). It's noted that they feed mainly on algae. All of this info is on Fishbase.
 
Thanks bu im not just talking any dwarf angel im talking about the multibar specifically and there is no record of the gut contents of a multibar angel anywhere so that statement is really just speculation. I have witnessed my multibar actually pick at a bristle worm and he actually ate a piece off of the worm ive also seen him eat sponge and he does eat all the prepared foods that i put in the tank. With reguards to it being a deep water angel it is.What do you mean you dont think it is? Its found at debths to make it a deep water fish i dont understand what your saying?The temperature dosnt drop at the debths of the multibar angel as you can see in this chart that someone kindly posted to me.


http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Water/temp.html
 
Did you even look?

Fishbase page for the multibar: http://www.fishbase.us/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=5666

Food items for the multibar: http://www.fishbase.us/TrophicEco/F...e=5959&genus=Centropyge&species=multifasciata

For algae, Commonness: 65 dominant ( > 50%). Reference: Masuda, H. and G.R. Allen, 1993

For polyps: Commonness: 19 common (6-20%). Reference: Masuda, H. and G.R. Allen, 1993

For sponges: Commonness: 19 common (6-20%) Reference: Masuda, H. and G.R. Allen, 1993


Ecology for the multibar: http://www.fishbase.us/Ecology/Fish...enusName=Centropyge&SpeciesName=multifasciata

Feeding
Feeding type mainly plants/detritus (troph. 2-2.19)
Feeding type ref Masuda, H. and G.R. Allen, 1993
Feeding habit grazing on aquatic plants
Feeding habit ref Masuda, H. and G.R. Allen, 1993
 
And of course, Lifeline's herbivore mix (green) seems to work well for most angels. Thanks Todd!
 
Hmm, I wondered where all the little white ball sponges that were growing all over the shadier parts of my LR went.. LOL
I guess the Bicolor really eats well.

Matthew
 
LukFox said:
Did you even look?

Fishbase page for the multibar: http://www.fishbase.us/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=5666

Food items for the multibar: http://www.fishbase.us/TrophicEco/F...e=5959&genus=Centropyge&species=multifasciata

For algae, Commonness: 65 dominant ( > 50%). Reference: Masuda, H. and G.R. Allen, 1993

For polyps: Commonness: 19 common (6-20%). Reference: Masuda, H. and G.R. Allen, 1993

For sponges: Commonness: 19 common (6-20%) Reference: Masuda, H. and G.R. Allen, 1993


Ecology for the multibar: http://www.fishbase.us/Ecology/Fish...enusName=Centropyge&SpeciesName=multifasciata

Feeding
Feeding type mainly plants/detritus (troph. 2-2.19)
Feeding type ref Masuda, H. and G.R. Allen, 1993
Feeding habit grazing on aquatic plants
Feeding habit ref Masuda, H. and G.R. Allen, 1993
Click to expand...


thanks ive seen these pages a million times. I do not believe that that is a fact. In other words i dont believe that anyone has checked the gut contents and recorded it in a Paracentropyge Multifasciatus and i believe that information to be speculation. Not much is known about the multibar angel or the purple mask angel in regards to their feeding habits in the wild. I would like to make it as comfortable as possible for the fish obviously and im thinking of actually setting up a dimly lit tank that would mimic its natural environment but its hard to find FACTS about its true habitat.
 
Sheol said:
Hmm, I wondered where all the little white ball sponges that were growing all over the shadier parts of my LR went.. LOL
I guess the Bicolor really eats well.

Matthew
Click to expand...

those are probably pineaple sponges and im sure your angel loves them :)
 
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