I decided to give my flame angel a... PARTNER!!!

[Tanu]

Hello,

I've kept my flame angel for about 4 years, as I decided to add another one, in order to get a pair.. I know these fish can change their gender, and I also know that the 'dominant' one is the male. Because mine is already 4 years the only angel in my tank, I assume 'he' is a male..

So, last thursday, I bought a beautiful Micronesia-flame angel, a little smaller then the one I already have. By doing so, I thought I would avoid fighting due to size: the new one would become female, I expect.

To let the two accustom to each other, I added the new one in a complete furnitured (some rocks, corals and algae) little floating container in the tank. It already eats hair algae, frozen brine and flake food.

Now my question: how long would u advise me to wait before I would release the new one? I don't want to find the new one killed by the old one because I didn't wait long enough..

Thanx in advance!

Tanu www.tanu.nl

 

[chris_h]

How large is your tank.

 

[Tanu]

About 50 G, I've read that breeding (not aiming for breeding yet..) is possible in a 50 G tank, succes with many species, including the flame angel C. loricula..

Tanu www.tanu.nl

 

[martynhulyer]

I have no idea of how best to introduce the partner.
I have a flame angel (for three years now) in a 150 US gallon Aquarium and have thought about pairing it up but not willing too take the risks.
I would be interested to know how things turn out in the long run for your pairing up of flame angels.
I hope someone that has paired up flame angels or even had breeding atempts with them can chime in here.

Martyn

[ October 20, 2001: Message edited by: martynhulyer ]

 

[Angel 1]

Be ready to remove the new fish. One problem with using size to tell gender is that just because the one is smaller doesn't mean its female. Since the fish is wild it could be male and just smaller do to a lack of food. Once they change sex they can't go back so if you get two males they will fight. I've read you should get two or more of the smallest fish you can find and add them at the same time, once a pair form remove the others(you could leave them if they are all female). One thing that seems to pop into my mind is that in the wild males protect the group so if I diver corners the group in a cave the male would try to fight the diver off and get netted. Thats just my opinion. I do know that I had two cherub angels and the first didn't like me in the tank at all. When the first went carpet surfing I replaced it with a much smaller cherub and it always hide when I cleaned the tank the first(larger one) would dash and bite my hand.

 

[Anonymous]

Smaller in the wild? I don't about you, but any tropical fish I've witnessed in the wild are immensely larger than the same species I've seen in LFS's. When I was scuba diving in Hawaii, I found it very difficult to find a native fish that I would consider small enough to put in an aquarium, except for the occasional boxfish. Tangs of any type were usually enormous, between 10 and 16 inches. Of course I didn't witness any dwarf angels, but I would bet that lack of food in the ocean isn't a problem for fish.

 

[Tanu]

UPDATE: I've released the new flame this sunday (bought him thursday) in the tank. The old one didn't look very interested. Now and then they're ignoring each other, other times they're swimming together. Almost no agression between them!

Very cool!!!

Tanu www.tanu.nl