The makings of a pair? My attempt with two Christmas Island Pomacanthus imperator

[copps]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13322780#post13322780 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by myerst2
Amazing John. i will have to get some updated pics of my Juvi Emp from X-mas. Simply stunning. Anything else in with angels? If not bid boy or girl emp. is not going to like someone interupting their romance, j/k. But really that angel will any decent sized fish a run for its money. Whats the footprint of a 292? You must have the most understanding wife ever!!!! Again stunning. That adults skin clarity and smoothness (you know what I mean), rarely if ever is seen in captivity. Tim

Thanks bud... I too had a small (< 2 inches) juvie Christmas emperor, but I sent it to a friend after realizing I wouldn't have an eventual tank for it and that Pomacanthus do not form trios or harems! I have many fish in with the emps that I will share... I moved my clarion into there, not because it was picking on my reef but more because I have too many happy spawning fish in my large reef and I did not want to disturb that down the road.

The 292 is 90"x30"x25", a size that I had custom built with Starphire glass that fit right into one of the sides of my kitchen to have built in. My wife is tolerant... a bit different from understanding... I understand her though... I'm a nut with an innate passion that eats me away...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13323315#post13323315 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnc914
John- No build thread with the 292? BTW the fish look gorgeous.
Congrats on the fish, and more importantly congrats on the new addition to your family. Enjoy your time with your daughter, they grow way too fast.

A build thread? I have well over a thousand gallons now with a demanding job and two young children... I prefer to share my fish when I have time... I'll post some photos of the setup when I get around to it...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13324146#post13324146 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mcliffy2
Copps - Nice to meet you at MACNA (I was the guy with Eric (glassbox-design) wearing the Blue Harbor shirt). The fish look gorgeous. The Apolemichthys kingi is a species that is unfamiliar to me and is gorgeous for sure, I've got a hunch where that specimen ended up....(hint: somewhere in Japan)

It was the Blue Harbor shirt that led me to talk with you guys... any fan of Koji is a friend of mine... actually that kingi ended up staying in South Africa... while there are plenty issues with collection, the biggest issue is exporting legally out of South Africa... A. kingi is an amazing fish...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13324382#post13324382 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ccampbell57
Copps - great thread! Your stories get better and better! Now after seeing the pics I am upset that I was never able to make it out to Leesburg to see your collection while I was in Reston.

I hope your fish are doing awesome!

I am interested in how your emperors do. If they are ok, I may try the same thing with my Emperor once my 560g goes up.

My bandits are getting along really well and are swimming together. My potters are also hanging out together soley. THey dont go anywhere without each other.

Good luck... the potter's should be spawning in less than a year... my tiny jocs I got took less than a year to grow out and spawn... quite amazing...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13324603#post13324603 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mark
Hey John, It was nice talking to you at MACNA as well. I'll be in Durban in November, and do have some dives planned(weather permitting). I hope to bring pack some decent kingi pics from Aliwal Shoals. If you know anyone in the Durban area I can email regarding dive info, let me know!

Beautiful Emperor. Glad to see that they are going in a large tank. I learned the hard way that even a 180 is too small for them.

Mark, it was great meeting you at MACNA... always nice to put a face to a name... even when I was... ah... inebriated! I am very jealous of your SA trip... in the future I hope to organize rare angel dive trips to exotic locations... like Aliwal Shoals, Midway, Easter Island, Ascension Island, and the like... I'm tired of diving in exotic locations when even the dive masters who've been diving the same places for 20 years know so little about the fauna... it would be nice to high five some angelfish buddies over a beer talking about a day's dives seeing these wonderful specimens... I'll be in touch with you regarding Durban... and I'm in agreement about the 180... I own one too and this seems a bit small to attempt Pomacanthus pairing...

Copps

 

[jmaneyapanda]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13322522#post13322522 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by copps

Have you gone mad Jeremy? The kingi is NOT mine... although of course it's on my wish list... Perhaps in the future... I'm always working on something... I've been in touch with both collectors and the owner of the kingi in Kiyoshi Endoh's book... I of course love the Hawaiian bandits and know alot about them in the wild, and as I'm communicating with these South Africans more the kingi not only appear similar, but have similar habits and collection issues in the wild...

well, yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?!

Well, in this case then, when you find one, find two and give me a call!

 

[ocd_mariner]

Hrm. I can subscribe to this thread, but how can I subscribe to whatever copps posts?

 

[copps]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13328222#post13328222 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ocd_mariner
Hrm. I can subscribe to this thread, but how can I subscribe to whatever copps posts?

Fund my next angelfish and I'll send you a personal e-mail every time I do!

 

[ocd_mariner]

Cherub is on the way to the copps household!

 

[zemuron114]

about time you posted pics of the emps! Glad the large one still has the orange tail. Full tank shot?

oh, and congrats on the baby girl

 

[SaraB]

Very cool John ... and you are as verbose in writing as you are in speaking!

Nice seeing you at MACNA ... I'm still healing ;-)

 

[AquaKnight]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13324146#post13324146 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mcliffy2
[B The Apolemichthys kingi is a species that is unfamiliar to me and is gorgeous for sure, I've got a hunch where that specimen ended up....(hint: somewhere in Japan) [/B]

Yea, copps, can you expand on the kingi at all? What happened to that one? Any idea how many a year are collected, etc? Are they any known to be doing well in captivity? In the US?

 

[myerst2]

Hey John, Are you interested in a nice small male Hawaiian Dragon Moray? It would look amazing in that 292. It refuses to eat live food.

I am sure if any Kingi would almost definately be in Japan. One because it is extremely rare. Second that they command a crazy amount of money. Third most fish keepers would see a kingii and could care less. Fourth, It is far easier to ship from South Africa to Asia than to the US. If it were shipped to the US it would most likely go to L.A., which would cost more money. Our dollar sucks, and it would cost more money to ship here, and no one wold would want to pay the premium price that most would call a dull looking fish. Tim

 

[copps]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13330437#post13330437 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zemuron114
about time you posted pics of the emps! Glad the large one still has the orange tail. Full tank shot?

oh, and congrats on the baby girl

About time? Spoken like a guy with no kids! Thanks though... I'm excited... our son just turned three and will be my dive buddy eventually... I'll get some FTS when the tank is built in and stocked a bit more...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13334681#post13334681 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sara B
Very cool John ... and you are as verbose in writing as you are in speaking!

Ah... thanks? MACNA is of course always a blast. I should be speaking next year on an angel related topic...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13334993#post13334993 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AquaKnight407
Yea, copps, can you expand on the kingi at all? What happened to that one? Any idea how many a year are collected, etc? Are they any known to be doing well in captivity? In the US?

I have not confirmed any in the US... only Japan and Europe. That one stayed in South Africa... as it's difficult to export from there... After much research and speaking with the collectors, divers, and keepers of the fish it is pretty much identical to Apolemichthys arcuatus in every aspect... smaller specimens are near impossible to find and I suspect the majority are very deep like A. arcuatus, and large individuals suffer decompression issues and need to be handled and needled properly, but even then suffer from a lack of adapting a captive diet... "medium" individuals like the one in the photo that's about four inches are ideal, but tough to come by... for the most part every captive image you see if of a large specimen... but what a gorgeous fish! In the right hands this fish could absolutely adapt if collected and adapted correctly, similar to the recent success we are seeing with the Hawaiian bandits. As the collectors described the issues they were having I nodded along as they are the same issues collectors have had with bandits...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13335654#post13335654 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by myerst2
Hey John, Are you interested in a nice small male Hawaiian Dragon Moray? It would look amazing in that 292. It refuses to eat live food.

I am sure if any Kingi would almost definately be in Japan. One because it is extremely rare. Second that they command a crazy amount of money. Third most fish keepers would see a kingii and could care less. Fourth, It is far easier to ship from South Africa to Asia than to the US. If it were shipped to the US it would most likely go to L.A., which would cost more money. Our dollar sucks, and it would cost more money to ship here, and no one wold would want to pay the premium price that most would call a dull looking fish. Tim

Thanks Tim, but no dragon in this tank... too many unique fishies for it to snag and on top of that there is enough to feed when I go away... If I would have gotten one it would have been this one... so small he's swimming through a car key!



In regards to shipping from South Africa, the easiest place to get it to in the US is my home airport of Washington Dulles, as there are direct flights from Johannesburg here... going to LA they'd go through here probably anyway... that is one advantage our side of the states have... just like the africanus and other things coming from Ghana...

We'll see... hopefully I'll eventually have firsthand experience with this species...

Copps

 

[ccampbell57]

Ahh yes...good old Dullas! We could take the Kingi for a ride on the "moving lounges" to it's eventual home in your 290!

BTW...that makes Tim's 13" DME look like an absolute giant!!!

 

[Vili_Shark]

Hi John,

Congratulations for the baby.

Pls keep us updated about the xmas island emps , I wonder if they'll keep the orange tail for long period of time.

Cheers.

 

[zemuron114]

so how many pictures do you have on file john? that dragon pic was a while ago. To bad you didn't see it in person... man was it tiny tiny only about 4-5" or so! definitely something you would want... haha

 

[SaraB]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13335977#post13335977 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by copps


Ah... thanks? MACNA is of course always a blast. I should be speaking next year on an angel related topic...

I was just messing with you is all! It's great to see someone so passionate about the hobby and the Angelfish! Keep up the great work!

I caught your presentation at IMAC and enjoyed it, so I'll be looking forward to your topic at next years MACNA!

 

[copps]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13336743#post13336743 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ccampbell57
Ahh yes...good old Dullas! We could take the Kingi for a ride on the "moving lounges" to it's eventual home in your 290!

BTW...that makes Tim's 13" DME look like an absolute giant!!!

Yeah... after getting that pic from Bill I stole the idea and use a car key in some specimen photos now... I actually roomed with Bill this year at MACNA... his first time in years outside of HI... anyway, as many of you know I always take photos of my fish in specimen containers before adding them... some fish you cannot get a gauge of size on, and the car key is the perfect thing to add scale, as most of us always have one in our pocket, and can take it out to get an idea... for instance... this is what I believe to be the first live Indian Ocean lemonpeel to come to the states (from joculator land in the Cocos Keeling Islands)... Lemonpeels there lack the blue around the eye like Pacific forms... I asked the collectors for a small one... and they delivered! Take a look at this photo and the fish looks normal size...



But zoom out... and BAM... this thing is tiny!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13338150#post13338150 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Vili_Shark
Hi John,

Congratulations for the baby.

Pls keep us updated about the xmas island emps , I wonder if they'll keep the orange tail for long period of time.

Cheers.

Thanks... and I will keep you updated Vili...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13338369#post13338369 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zemuron114
so how many pictures do you have on file john?

I have all of them in my head... the issue is me finding the soft copy for me to link!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13338636#post13338636 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sara B
I was just messing with you is all! It's great to see someone so passionate about the hobby and the Angelfish! Keep up the great work!

I caught your presentation at IMAC and enjoyed it, so I'll be looking forward to your topic at next years MACNA!

Thanks Sara... hopefully next year we'll have more "for the hobbyist, by the hobbyist" talks... those are the ones I enjoy the most...

Copps

 

[JonTarutis]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13335977#post13335977 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by copps
Ah... thanks? MACNA is of course always a blast. I should be speaking next year on an angel related topic...
Copps [/B]

MACNA isn't MACNA without some angelfish talk!!! What are thinking for a topic John?

Jon

 

[copps]

Jon... what's up buddy!? Always nice catching up with you... and you've got a PM coming to get higher res photos of that hybrid Geni...

Anyway, it's over a year out, but I'll probably debut a talk on "Angelfish in Reef Aquaria" or something along those lines, dispelling some of the myths and including everything I do through QT with new fish, and procedures I use for adding multiple specimens to form pairs and harems... I always say it's not WHAT you combine but HOW you combine... I spoke with Phyllis, President of the Jersey club, and she is on the ball... next year's MACNA I'm predicting will be great... and as you know Jersey is my home state!

Anyway, always good to put an RC name to a face, although you made it easy with your username... Again... PM coming... keep doing a good job up there at the store... Rob's a great guy, and you've got to be pretty happy to be one of those guys who can call MACNA a business trip... anyway, nice to talk with you sober... a rare occurrence it seems!

Copps

 

[JonTarutis]

Sounds good John!!! I'll blow up your mailbox with photos this week!!
You make it seem like being sober is a rare thing for me!!! We just seem to meet up at MACNA at the tail of the night!!! We work all day at MACNA then play time at night!!!
Keep the angel photos coming!!!
Jon

 

[copps]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13344559#post13344559 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JonTarutis

You make it seem like being sober is a rare thing for me!!!

Hah... I was referring to both of us! I'm with you... work hard play hard... I look forward to the pics... thanks bud...

 

[copps]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13338150#post13338150 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Vili_Shark


Pls keep us updated about the xmas island emps , I wonder if they'll keep the orange tail for long period of time.

Cheers.

Update on the emps... still getting along, and the larger one's tail is still orange... the gauge I use is it nearly matching my clarions color... and I ask my wife... she said it's orange... without any prodding from me! In real life their color is nearly identical...



Copps