Would a pair of Coral Beauty's mate??

[Mr James]

I saved them from an LFS going out of business. They have a 40g reef (softies only) all to themselves. They get along "like two peas in a pod". They don't fight and they are always together. Am I to guess they are going to mate or have mated??

I wanted to put other fish in that tank, but don't want any issues. What can I put with them, especially if they mate or are a couple already??

 

[Nick McClurg]

Yes they might copulate in the evenings when the lights go off. Got to go, I think my dogs are about to spawn!

 

[acroporas]

Centropygie Angels usually spawn every night just after the lights go out.

See http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=411

 

[GBE378]

My coral beauty doesn't accept anything that I have tried to put in with it. The moment the fish is out of the back it immediatly starts to push it into a corner and bite it. It is very frustrating.

 

[tcmfish]

You may want to relocate them to a deeper tank, you will probably get some better spawns.

 

[Phoenix19]

In the link posted the man is breeding his argi in a 24 gallon cube. He points out that depth may bot be as important as people once thought...

 

[Mr James]

I am open to a deeper tank, but for now, I only have this one. I may sell/trade them for less agressive fish.

 

[acroporas]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11955045#post11955045 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mr James
I am open to a deeper tank, but for now, I only have this one. I may sell/trade them for less agressive fish.

Centropyge angels are sequential hermaphrodites. If you want to establish a pair. You will be best of by starting off with the biggest one you can find (or one you already had for a long time) and add the smallest one you can find (ideally the smaller one will be about half the size of the larger). This may be difficult, as small coral beauty's are not particularly common. But you need to stick it out and wait for a small one, there is no point in tossing two big ones in together and hoping for the best as you will almost certainly have two males.

It is also best if the small one is a fresh as possible. I have read that females can turn into a male in as little as a week or two when separated from a male. So you should bring the small fish home and put it in with your male the same day your LFS gets it in. A fish that has been sitting around at the LFS (or been in quarantine) for a few weeks is almost certainly turned male.

 

[Mr James]

I already have the pair of fish. They were living together in a 20g tank at an LFS that went out of business. I was just wondering, since they get along so well, it they would mate. To be honest, I wouldn't know what to do if they did mate. I am not interested at this time in breeding. I thought it was strange that they got along so well. Thought maybe when I got them I would have to keep em in different tanks. They loved each other in the QT tank, so I kept em together.

Thanks for all the info though.

 

[tcmfish]

FWIW, they may spawn in a 24 gallon cube and I am familiar with the man breeding them and have followed his progress on and off. BUT most literature out there states that although they may spawn with a small spawning rise the eggs will may not get fertilized and there are significantly less eggs.

Even if you have no intention of attempting to raise the fry (it will be almost impossible without wild plankton) I think it would be very cool to just have them spawning. I'm sure something would love to eat the larvae.