Flame angel mortality rates

[happyreefer]

I just bought a flame angel caught from Hawaii. I've had him/her for about a week now without any problems.

My understanding is that there has been a high mortality rate among flame angels in the trade recently despite the fact these fishes are pretty hardy and well suited for a reef aquarium. I'm pretty sure the angels caught from Hawaii are free from cyanide capture but how about the imports from the Marshall or Christmas islands?

Has anyone any theories on why flame angels are dying in the trade?

And what's the nature lifespan of flame angels in the wild? Five years? Ten years? Any guesses?

 

[Anonymous]

take a look at this thread:
http://www.reefs.org/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=024954&p=

 

[happyreefer]

Dan,

Thanks for the links. The discussion was very informative and constructive.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for my little flame angel. I've weaned him off live brine shrimp and he's accepting a wide variety of flake foods and frozen shrimp. He's pretty active and spends most of the day picking off the live rocks.

 

[JennM]

The tank I maintain has had one almost a year now..will be one year in about 3 weeks. He's fat, sassy and the king of the tank.

I have seen some die, but not in great numbers, no more than other species I worked with when I worked at the LFS. We did note that lately, many angels and some tangs, regardless of supplier, were coming in infested with trematodes or flukes, but responded well to treatment.

I do know someone recently got one on "sale"...it wiped out all but one of his fish. IMO that was as much a bad judgement call as anything though, the fish was sick when he got it.

Just my experience...

Jenn