Tiny Emperor angel

[Allmost]

hello all,
so I have a 1" Empror.

want to put him in my 225 G tank.
current stock is a moorish Idol, purple, anchilles and blue tangs, 2 clowns, 3 yellow wrasse, 2 pipefish.


I have QTed him and he grew about 0.5" !!!! in 2 weeks.

there is a 35G seahorse tank connected to the 225.

now, right now I have him in a breeder box, inside the 225 tank, none of the fish care for it ... so far....

do you think its safe to release him ? he is eating well.

or should I put him with my seahorses for another month till he grows more ?

any Ideas is appreciated, and I got a smallest one I could find, so I could train it, and hopefully it wont eat too much corals .... moorish Idol might be a bad example for him thjoug .

 

[snorvich]

Did you treat with Prazipro?

 

[Allmost]

Did you treat with Prazipro?

actually, I didnt treat him[her ? ] with anything ...

he was soooooo active, eating well and getting fat and growing in last 2.5 weeks, that I really didnt see the need to treat him with anything.

the LFS I got it from [a close friend], told me he did give them all [6 of them came in] a bath before I got him though ...

 

[snorvich]

Well, if you add to your display tank, it will be very shy and somewhat reclusive for a while.

 

[jarrod13]

I think it would be difficult to feed such a small fish in that big of a tank without overfeeding

 

[AfricaOffroad]

Put him in the sea horse tank for at least the next 4-6 weeks.
Less competition for food

 

[AfricaOffroad]

Also, lets see a pic of this little guy

 

[AfricaOffroad]

I got a smallest one I could find, so I could train it, and hopefully it wont eat too much corals

I dont think this theory works.
My Imperator was probably1/2 inch when I caught him.
Now he is probably2.5 inches and a coral muncher of note:wildone:

 

[Allmost]

thank you guys.

I feed my tank ALOT, 2-4 times a day manual[frozen], 2 times a day nori gets replaced, and auto feeder dropping pellets in 8 times a day.

this way, my moorish Idol only picks on my LPS and wont actually eat the whole eye ....

so feeding isnt a problem,
the anchilles is prety chill too, but the purple as most can guess, is not cool with new fish.

knowing the emperors like to be the boss, I thought he may get stressed form being the underdog ... but I guess as Steve said, he would hopefully just be a bit shy till he grows a bit more. and seeing how he is growing, I think within a month he will be the boss.

Im gonna put him with my seahorses tonight, as there are ALOT of sponges in that tank. let him eat those, gain even more strength and then introduce him to the reef in a week, after all ... these fish all live together in the wild : [NOT ! lol]


here is a crapy pic of him ... thank you all for your help and pointers, its always great to have prospective of others, as sometimes we focus alot on a specific Issue or task and forget about other factors ...

 

[pinnatus]

I have one in my 240, with a Moorish Idol, a Purple Tang, a Flame Angel, a Blue Devil. Put him in, he'll do fine. No one will mess with him for long, and they aren't that shy. He'll be out all the time in a day or two. Do it!

 

[sandwi54]

i had two emperor angels in the past, and they can be real mean bosses! when they grow up a little they will most likely develop a taste for your corals, so be prepared for that. no pomacanthus or holacanthus are reef-safe if you are not already aware.

if nobody is bothering him in the breeder box, i think it's fine to release it into the 200g DT. if it ate well in the QT, it should be able to fight for food well against other inhabitants.

 

[jjk_reef00]

I say put him in. I've introduced several 2-3" angels in the past to my 300 and have never had any problems. Watching small angels in large tanks is one of my favorite things about keeping fish. They cruise the rockwork all day just picking at everything. If you have lps, zoas you may want to reconsider adding him altogether.

 

[Curious George]

I'd put him in. That small, he will probably pick at the rock for the most part and jump in the mix with time. Unless you were prepared to put some real size on him in the 35 over the course of 6 months to a year, I don't think it will make much difference. Beautiful fish by the way. Love the Emps!

 

[AfricaOffroad]

Your guy is a giant in comparison to my guy when first caught.
Had him in my frag tank for a few months.
If he is eating well, he probably will be okay in the big tank, still I dont see the harm in growing him out a bit in your smaller set up.

 

[Sheol]

I think I remember that little guy!
How is doing now? Bossing everything in your tank?

Matthew

 

[Allmost]

wow that is little ! lol I think they grew by the time they get to Canada though lol

so talk about false worrying ... I released him into the reef last night, and to my surprise, althuogh he is the size of the fin of my anchilles, they are ALL scared of him !!! lol I am guessing the color patterns tells them to stay away ? but all fish got their fins up, and tried to avoid him !


anyways thanks guys I'll try to remember to post an updated pic as he grows up

 

[AfricaOffroad]

I think I remember that little guy!
How is doing now? Bossing everything in your tank?

Matthew

Still growing well.
took him out the reef tank last week, he was hammering the LPS a bit too much for my liking. He is in a holding system at the moment with a bunch of my gobies. Want to move him to the FOWLR tank but there is a striatus I need to get out of there first. Will post some pics and update my post in the next few days.