Venustus angel

[flameangel88]

I bought one back in middle of September and for 6 weeks in QT it wouldn't eat other than nip on rocks and couple of flakes or pellet a week. I came home one day and found it stuck on the powerhead.

I got a male back in middle of October and took him about 2 weeks to start nipping on dried food and on the third week in QT he started eating frozen. After 4 weeks of QT appears to be fine and acclimated to my presence so I decided to introduce him to the DT.

here's the first one that didn't make it through QT

last night

the welcoming party

Hopefully this one is a keeper.

 

[Kieth71]

Love the fish flameangel.I have been thinking about getting one as i think they are great fish.Do they require cooler water?

 

[Luiz Rocha]

Very nice fish! Congrats on the new purchase.

In the wild it occurs in high latitudes (northern Philippines to Japan) at depths of 10-40m so I think it would be more comfortable in cooler waters, say around 74 degrees.

 

[flameangel88]

Thanks. Yes, lower temp as well as lower light. Since I've a Bandit and other deepwater fish I keep temp around 69-71 in the winter.

 

[ccampbell57]

Very nice Kevin!

I have a 3.5" in QT right now that has been there for almost 3 month. Eats mysis, brine, clam, and pellets.

 

[flameangel88]

Very nice Kevin!

I have a 3.5" in QT right now that has been there for almost 3 month. Eats mysis, brine, clam, and pellets.

Thanks Chris. I think a big part of the battle is won when they (Colin's, Multibarred and Venustus) eat. The other is getting a healthy specimen and attending to their need such as temp, lighting and large amount of liverocks.

He's about 3.25" and eating pellets, flakes, and frozen mysis. I've 5 more months to go before I feel safe. Personally I feel all fishes are in that 'swimming dead' zone till they can survive 6 months with me. Only if I can get a healthy Regal then I'll be all set. This is one fish I don't have any luck with.

 

[Recty]

Looks good man Looks like the other fish are certainly checking the little guy out.

 

[flameangel88]

Hey Recty,
Thanks. How are things going? Are you all setup for the baby yet? Did you move and get a tank up and running?
Kevin

 

[Recty]

I still havent moved. The house we were looking at fell through, it needed a lot more work than we thought, but the inspector clued us in.

So right now I'm tankless... just waiting for some time to pass until I get back into it

As far as being set up for the baby, not yet. We find out in 3 weeks if it's a boy or a girl, at that point we will start buying stuff

 

[tanglovers]

I have a 3.5" one in QT as well, been there for 2-3 months now, eats everything from frozen to flake to pellet and has since day 2-3. I am considering looking for a smaller one to work on pairing with this one but time will tell if I can located a 2" one or so.

Good luck with the addition. I will be curious to hear how it does with the larger tank mates. I am thinking about keeping it in a seperate tank due to my main tank having lots of large angels and tangs and 400w halides (is an SPS reef). I know they like dimmer lighting setups.

 

[flameangel88]

Seems like everyone having in the 3"+ range and I'm wondering where are the smaller ones? Nonetheless, good to hear many folks having them already 2-3 months which is a very good sign.

Let me know if see smaller ones being available.

 

[tanglovers]

I have one of my local LFS looking for smaller ones but do not expect them to find them. All I have seen are the 3-4" range, would too be interested in knowing if someone finds small ones!

 

[flameangel88]

Update

Update

After being released into the DT he looks pretty comfortable swimming around.

Here are some pictures

 

[JamesJR]

Maybe it is just your lighting but he looks pretty dark as if he is stressed a little.

 

[tanglovers]

Looking good.

I know you have lots of angels in your tank, any tangs? Any aggression issues?

What is your lighting like?

I have a very healthy venustus all done with QT and condition but hesitant to put it my main tank (220 SPS reef, many tangs and angels but bigger thing is 3x400w halides).

 

[flameangel88]

Maybe it is just your lighting but he looks pretty dark as if he is stressed a little.

Good observation as I didn't even notice it. It does appear the yellow part to be darker than when he was in QT (pic in the first post). It could be me taking pictures causing the stress. His color is much more closer to the last picture where the yellow is not as dark. I don't see any fish after him and he's able to swim the entire tank without anyone chasing. He'd two nips on his fins since the first two days and has pretty much recovered. I really can't see the stress is from other fish at this point and all my other fishes are acting normal. I'll keep a close eye on him as I usually do the first 6 months of any new additions.

 

[flameangel88]

Looking good.

I know you have lots of angels in your tank, any tangs? Any aggression issues?

What is your lighting like?

I have a very healthy venustus all done with QT and condition but hesitant to put it my main tank (220 SPS reef, many tangs and angels but bigger thing is 3x400w halides).

Thanks. I've 2 36" T5 (4 bulbs each) and a 48" T5 (4 bulbs) in the back that I seldom turn on. I've the actinic on 6 hours and daylight for 2 hours and during the day the tank gets indirect sunlight. I think MH could be a problem if you don't have enough overhangs for shelter. If there's too much light I'm sure they will look for cover and will come out more when its dimmer.

I'd to remove PBT which is one of my favorite due to aggression. This was my mistake from the beginning because tangs should be the last addition but unfortunately it was the first fish in when I upgraded my tank. I also had to remove a changing Emperor and Blueface so I can go all out on the smaller angels. So far all the other fishes seem to ignore him and he's able to swim the entire tank without getting chased. He eats with the other fishes so he doesn't seem to be a threat by others.

If you decide to introduce your Venustus into the DT I highly recommend you to put it into a container/acclimator so you can observe the aggression (if any) and allow the other fishes to get used to the new addition before releasing. I think this step is very important especially a sensitive fish like a Venustus.

Good look with your Venustus!

 

[bryanong]

Hi FlameAngel, I saw you have a male Watanebei angel. How long have you kept it? I had a beautiful male and the lines on the body started to fade off after sometime. Do you have any secrets as to maintain the lines on the body such as foods used? Thanks.

 

[flameangel88]

Hi FlameAngel, I saw you have a male Watanebei angel. How long have you kept it? I had a beautiful male and the lines on the body started to fade off after sometime. Do you have any secrets as to maintain the lines on the body such as foods used? Thanks.

Hi bryanong,

I bought 2 females back on Nov 2007 and the transformation started on week 51. Just prior to the change it ate a lot and grew fast. Do you have a female in the tank? Was your specimen a male when you got it? Although it's not a guarantee having 2 females one will change and the same is true on having a pair and the male will not convert back to female but I believe you have a better chance of keeping the male when there's a female in the tank.

I definitely don't a secret on food menu as I buy the commercial packages. On the dry side I feef
freeze dried: mysis,plankton
pellets: NLS, ON and OSI Marine
flakes: OmegaOne and ON Prime Reef
frozen: Angel & Butterfly Diet, PE Mysis, Mysis, Emerald Entree, Marine Cuisine, Hikari Algae, homemade seafood.
live clam: twice a week

HTH.