Venustus Angelfish

[flameangel88]

I passed on the two that were offered this week, even after I had them in my cart and was ready to pay. I just can't get myself to pull the trigger on this fish due to their reputation. :crazy1:

I took the plunge and got this one from last Thursday's posting. Hoping it will pair with the one I got from last October. I couldn't get a good look but saw it chasing frozen food that was floating by inside. Only time will tell if this was the right move or not.

 

[roktsintst]

Dang Kev! your adding a ton of fish!

I had one in QT for nearly 3 weeks. It had gone through a round of prazi too. It swam just fine but never ate aggressivly. I pulled it out to see if it was becoming emaciated and its stomach looked full so i assumed it was eating some pellets and bits of mysis (not bulging in the stomach) Then I walked into the fish room the other day and it was floating! This is a tough fish. The onlyone i have that has lived was a very small around 2" vs the 2.5-3" ones that have never made it for me! Very tough!

 

[flameangel88]

Doesn't look like I'm going to get the tank upgrade this year so I'm taking a different approach...adding tanks. In a way this gives me a chance to do so many different things than in the past. I'm just about finished stocking the 120g reef.

The new addition started to chase pellets that was floating by today so this one will not have much problem in terms of eating prepared food.

Likes to hang upside down

Going to be paired with this one

 

[Gogandantess]

Saw one at the LFS a week ago for only $49.99! Best price I've ever seen for one. I had the LFS employee feed the tank but it didn't eat so I wasn't going to take a chance on him after already taking a chance that didn't work with a regal angel.:sad2:

 

[SDguy]

My LFS had a TINY one with a nice marble for a belly. Looked in excellent health... I was so tempted!

 

[flameangel88]

After releasing the new one 2 nights ago there was some chasing but nothing major. Spending 6 days isolated she appeared to have acclimated very well.

 

[roktsintst]

Wow! Strong work kev!

 

[flameangel88]

Thanks Ryan. Any plan to try another one? I see RHS have them on sale right now and you can check with Max on getting them to eat first before shipping.

 

[roktsintst]

I got one from there a few weeks ago. She lated 3 weeks in qt. Made it through A week of prazi too! I was pretty bummed when she died. If I try another, it'll be a dd venustus...

 

[flameangel88]

I think the new one is being accepted by the first one and no more chasing around when they cross path.

Here's a vid
http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i287/reeftankpix/?action=view&current=100_0038.mp4

 

[roktsintst]

Great Video Bro!

 

[Sheol]

I'd be worry about the Lemonpeel and the Flame outcompeting them at food time, if they were mine. How are they getting along together?

Matthew

 

[flameangel88]

Surprisingly everyone plays pretty nice during feeding time except for the large Blueline (6"+) where he will get the other fishes out of the way especially with nori and live clam. Other then that they all get their share of prepared food or from the rocks. If anything I worry about the baby female Watanabe not getting enough.

As for interaction--The Flame angels been in there since Oct '07, the Lemonpeel Dec '08, recent addition of the Orangepeel, first Venustus been in since Nov '09 and the deep water Coral Beauty Sep '09 is more of a pita then anyone else but good thing the male Flame puts him back in place. Overall they get along pretty well.

The good thing is every fish eats various pellets (including the Orangetail filefish ) with the exception of the Semilarvatus that will only eat OSI Spirulina pellets. Life is a lot easier when they all eat dry food.

here's a vid of pellet feeding time and this is pretty much how they normally are
http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i287/reeftankpix/?action=view&current=100_0040.mp4

 

[flameangel88]

Great Video Bro!

Thanks.

 

[DaisyDog]

I am looking to try one of these, my difficulty level in doing so is that I'm about 2 hours from any LFSs. So my question is do these guys ship good? And whom has the best stock? Thanks!

 

[flameangel88]

I've numerous specimens on differnet occassions from different vendors and shipping stress is not an issue but getting a healthy one is. I've gone through ones that didn't eat for 5-7 weeks, ones with redness on stomach area (most likely been pinned for decompression).

From my personal experiences I feel it's important to acclimate them alone till they're eating well before introducting them to the DT because they don't fare well under stress and usually first ones to go when ich hits. By that time copper is too late. The other critical factor is a well established DT with lots of live rocks for it to graze during the day and as shelter. Many say low lighting but I never had any problem with them swimming out in the open with normal T5 lighting.

This is one of those fish I'm more than happy to pay a premium for a healthy specimen otherwise playing around with two will cost you more than the premium one plus the headache you've to deal with getting it to eat. So I would recommend waiting for one on LA Diver's Den but the problem is they sell so fast before you can hit the 'check out' button.

Hope you can find a healthy specimen!

 

[Angel*Fish]

I hope people will make more of a concerted effort to "find healthy specimens". It's awful to "go through quite a few of these" with no regard for the source. As expert as some of you are maybe a little research in this department wouldn't hurt. Why encourage improper collection and handling?

 

[Toddrtrex]

I would for sure hold out for a quality/healthy one -- no point in trying a bunch of average ones and hope that they work out.

I got mine from the Diver's Den section of LA, and if I wanted another one, I would wait until they had another one available. The one I received was one of the healthiest dwarf (( or any fish for that matter )) that I have ever received -- it was eating withing seconds of being released into the tank. (( it did spend its first 5 hours in an acclimation box, while I was at work )).

And for the heck of it, some newish pictures of mine,

 

[pacislandaqua]

Venustas from Osaka are very good. Generally, they eat almost instantly and stay quite healthy. Unfortunately, they all stay in Japan. I can sometimes get them, but they also cost quite a bit more than the Philippine counterparts. (700$... lol)

Wait for a healthy one. they are beauties!

 

[DaisyDog]

Todd
Nice pics. Hows does the coral beauty and the Venustus get along?