Imperator Angelfish

[SMS76]

Imperor Angelfish

I am considering juvenile Imperator for my low light reef or FOWLR tank.
-> Who has it?
-> Is it in your FO or FOWLR or in your reef?
-> If reef setup, what type of corals do you have?
-> What type of corals he already munch on and which ones he is not going after?

I am mostly going to keep mushrooms, zoas, leathers which are considered some what noxius (spe..) corals.
What do you think? Any pics of your Imperator .. In your opinion how hardy/delicate this fish is?
Thanks
Shoeib

 

[wrassefan]

I wouldn't Shoeib. I had one that started to mow down zoas. Jim (calciumbuf) has it in his tank...sps. There have been many threads on keeping emperor angels with sps only...some success and some failures. I think it would tear your softees apart IMO.
Andy

 

[SMS76]

I wouldn't Shoeib. I had one that started to mow down zoas. Jim (calciumbuf) has it in his tank...sps. There have been many threads on keeping emperor angels with sps only...some success and some failures. I think it would tear your softees apart IMO.
Andy

Andy, thanks for your reply. Right now i have no corals in my tank. Just few frags that left when i break down my reef setup. Ok so may be i won't stock it with corals, may be few digi's and caps.
HOw big was your tank? Do you still have this fish or you get rid of it?

 

[wrassefan]

it was in my current 90....it went to Jim(calciumbuf)

 

[SMS76]

How about Bubble tip Anemones? Will they go after anemone or leave them alone?

 

[Ray]

I think BTAs will be fine but dont hold me to that. There was someone I knew that had a few angels in a 125 and the only things they didnt eat was the BTAs and the shrooms

 

[Mike A]

Shoeib, I had raised a juv. Imperator to it's adult coloration in my tank - but just lost the fish recently to a bout with ich.

The fish was in a 120 reef with clams, sps, a blue haddoni carpet anemone and some yuma mushroom corals. The imperator wasn't a model citizen, as it would munch on an occasional acro tip - but it never stressed out any of the corals in my tank to the point where it killed anything. Definitely stunted some coral growth. Aside from the occasional nip when it was hungry, it was a nice fish - beautiful coloration.

That's not an endorsement, as keeping any of the larger angels with coral is a roll of the dice. Maybe I was lucky.

One type of coral you should not keep with this fish is an open brain coral. Pomacanthus love these corals and will eat the flesh.

 

[SMS76]

I think BTAs will be fine but dont hold me to that. There was someone I knew that had a few angels in a 125 and the only things they didnt eat was the BTAs and the shrooms

That sounds good. I can keep few BTA's if he leave them alone. I can also try shrooms. If they eat them, oh well..

 

[SMS76]

Shoeib, I had raised a juv. Imperator to it's adult coloration in my tank - but just lost the fish recently to a bout with ich.

The fish was in a 120 reef with clams, sps, a blue haddoni carpet anemone and some yuma mushroom corals. The imperator wasn't a model citizen, as it would munch on an occasional acro tip - but it never stressed out any of the corals in my tank to the point where it killed anything. Definitely stunted some coral growth. Aside from the occasional nip when it was hungry, it was a nice fish - beautiful coloration.

That's not an endorsement, as keeping any of the larger angels with coral is a roll of the dice. Maybe I was lucky.

One type of coral you should not keep with this fish is an open brain coral. Pomacanthus love these corals and will eat the flesh.

Thanks Mike for your input, i think i will stay away with fleshy LPS and softies. He might munch on zoas but i think shrooms might be safe. i will stock my tank with cheap softies so even if he starts to munch on them, it's not biggy..
Sorry to hear about your Imperor. R they very sensitive to ICH? Do you had cleaner shrimp? How did you got ICH? Did you add any new fish? Any pics of your imperor?

 

[Mike A]

Shoeib,

I don't think they're susceptible to ich. I created a bit on instability in my tank while treating for various parasites. I think the stress is what ended up killing the angel. I'm not sure if I have any pics, I'll check.

 

[SMS76]

Ok thanks Mike