majestic angel

[eleyan]

I just got this guy a couple of days ago, and he is really stunning. I've read mixed info about him. Some say he is moderately heardy and some say tough to keep. Any one has any experience with them.
I've been having a hard time feeding him. As soon as I get close to the tank, he jets into the rock work, and the other fish get all the food. Is is safe to assume that when he gets hungery enough he will venture out, or do I have to do something else to feed him? The guy at the LFS said he was eating frozen food there.

[alexwolf]

I bought several fish that the guy at the lfs said were eating, and they starved. They were mainly pgmy's though, so dont let me scare you :D Maybe just take some time to adjust?

[dow]

Nice fish, eleyan! Just out of curiosity, what is that yellow blue and red fish at the right edge of your tank, close to the clown?

[BA]

red Coris

[dow]

Ah. Thanks, BA. Cool looking fish.

[wkopplin]

Try putting some live brine in there and see what he does. As far as a LFS telling me a fish is eating, the only one I really trust on that one is CB Pets. All the others, I do not necessarily disbelieve, but I take it with a grain of salt. I have had a fish or two starve on me.

[NaCl_H2O]

Beautiful fish!!!!

[Instar]

Normally angels like algaes and sponges. You might try some angel/butterfly formula from SF Bay as there's some of that in there. Also, I've never, ever seen any fish turn down live split black mussels from HEB and they are excellent sources of Vitamin A. My fish all go crazy once they find them when I put them in the tank. The Narvachus (sp) angels are supposed to rank in as one of the most difficult. Water needs to be perfect and they probably won't tolerate much deviation from kalk additions, high calcium and alk that we try to run on our reefs. Many years ago we could get them net caught, not drugged to death. Then they were fairly easy to keep. I believe they last about a month now because of poor treatment collecting and shipping. I hope you fare better than this.

[eleyan]

Larry, "live split black mussels from HEB " do you put them whole in the tank? I tried some nuri on a clip. I'm not sure who ate it though. He looks pretty healthy and holds his own with the other fish. I have him in a FO tank, so I'm not too aggressive on the kalk in that tank. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[wkopplin]

Break them open and drop them in. The fish go nuts. Do not get too many of them tho, they stink up the place pretty fast.

Larry,

If you dump the mussels in a side tank, will they live?

[Instar]

I tried that once and they all died. I think these may be farmed in brackish or fresh water and once they are purged there is no bringing them back. I tried to buy some once from a marine vendor and they wanted $22.00 for a few of them live. Each turkey bi-valve from reeftopia cost me about $5 each, so I have resigned myself to waiting till I can collect my own somewhere. The cool thing about salt water black mussels is they will reproduce in the tank as well as filter the water. Since the reeftopia turkeys cost so much, I decided to let them live in my reef and not split them. I've had them about 2 years now.

I use a pocket knife to split them open, cutting the abductor mussel to keep them open. Then I rinse any remaining poop out in the kitchen sink, shake the water off and drop or sit them into the tank. If they close up when I drop them, I have a couple wooden skewers I poke in there to open them back up. I used to ask for 6 and the guys always look at me like I'm crazy as if the bag isn't worth the 33 cent sale or something. I finally started asking for 12. If you take them off the ice and keep them dry in the frig, bag closed loosely to keep moisture in, they can last a week maybe. When they start to die (shells are no longer closed) and stink, then I feeze the ones that are still live. Frozen works too, just thaw (only takes a few minutes), split, rinse and use. Be sure NOT to use any open ones or ones that stink. Those are dead and they rot fast.

[Andrew]

Very nice looking fish. It never hurts to ask the employee(s) at the store if they will feed the fish you're interested in. (Just ask that they not gorge it - so it won't foul up the bag on the way home).

HTH

Andrew

[StephenA]

I always insist that the store tries to feed them. When it's a risky fish I ask them to hold him for a couple of days, then I have them feed them again to just to check.

[GaryP]

Eleyan,

Remember that alkalinity controls pH to a large degree. In addition, low calcium can turn off fish's feeding. Low pH can stress fish and keep them from feeding. Even a FO tank needs some attention to its chemistry. pH and alkalinity will drop as a result of biological activity and coraline algae growth. Calcium will be depleted by coraline algae growth.

Its certainly not as critical as a reef tank, but it is an issue that should be addressed.

Gary

[eleyan]

I GET IT :) I should have asked him to feed him at the store. yesterday, I dropred in some frozen krill in the tank, and as soon as the smell got in the tank, he came out, but when he noticed me he went back in. I'll try keep trying.

GaryP, I'm still dosing kalk but not as often as my reef since the calcuim level does not drop as fast as reef tank since no corals are using it up. I'm monitoring ph and alk and both look fine.

[GaryP]

OK, good. I was just trying to make the point, more to other newbies than to you, that water quality in a FO tank can be as important as in a reef tank. At least to some degree. Some factors like Nitrate aren't nearly as important and I would never say that you have to have pristine water quality in a predator tank. It really depends on the fish you are keeping and the your system.

Gary

[MikeP]

Aquatek has been really good about holding a fish I am interested in - I usually offer a small deposit and check it out over the next week to make sure it's eating. After arrival at the store they are the most stressed , buying them right after they have acclimated to the store tank and then must adjust to conditions in your tank not to mention going into a place where other fish have territories is definitely enough to stress a fish to the point of death.

The only angel I have is a pygmy I got from Samiam before he moved. They are a bit less finicky than the larger angels - a varied diet is a must. Also is this fish going to reside in the 46 bowfront? That and the coris will both get over 1 foot in captivity and you will be looking at a larger tank for them on the order of 125 gallons within a year or so.

[eleyan]

Mike,
I got it from aquadome. I first noticed him on sunday when I dropped on the 135G to get drilled. he looked healthy and interacting with the other fish in the tank. When I picked up the tank on tusday he was still there and looking good, so I got him. All three fish (angel, coris and puffer are going in the 135G after its fully cycled. I got 100+lbs of live sand form robertpower and 60+lbs of southdown from reefguy when they were tearing down their tanks. I also got 80+ lbs of live rock, and a couple of 20lbs bags of live sand all of wich is sitting in rubbermaid tubs with power heads awaiting the new tank. Hopfully with that much substrate and rock, I should be able to get it cycled in a week or so.

[eleyan]

Well, he is finally eating. I tryied mysis shrimp with some spirunella anf garlic and he went for it.

[eleyan]

It looks like the mysis did the trick, today he ate pellets as well.

[Instar]

Kewl - keep him well fed. There's nothing worse than a fish thats dented in over the eyes from malnutrition. And remember, the live mussels. They are indispensable for Vitamin A and that fish came from the ocean. Pellets may fill the guy, but, he is going to take many many months to convert to processed foods and remain healthy. Angel/Butterfly formulas have sponges in them, or at least its supposed to and nori or algae of some kind will help a lot on this fish's health too.

[adaminaustin]

I am glad it is eating for you. Beautiful fish....