Does anyone have a Maze Angelfish?

[dnledman]

Just like the title says, do you have a maze angelfish?

If so, reef or Fowlr? If a reef, what kind of corals do you have?

Thanks!

 

[Damage12]

I don’t have a maze angel, but I do have a blue line angel, chaetodontoplus septentrionalis. I’ve currently have him in a temporary tank with softies like mushrooms, leathers and toadstools. Previously I kept him in an SPS tank, but LPS could be where a problem lies but I don’t have experience with that. He’s a model citizen.

 

[Joj]

have a blueline and gray poma but in a FOWLR only

 

[Zionas]

@Damage12 That’s a beautiful fish and one of my favourites among Angels and all fish in general. I believe you’ve had it for a good while? How big is it and how big did it start as?

And it’s interesting because I come from where they’re found in the wild.

I would love to see Poma Labs breed more of them and I believe that’s in their plans.

 

[fish_collector]

Wow I've never seen one of those before. I'd have to say it would not be reef safe though.

 

[Zionas]

There’s been a bit of debate as to the exact genetic input of the Maze Angel, which is a hybrid, but currently the strongest evidence points towards crosses between the Blue-Line (Chaetodontoplus septentrionalis) and an unmarked fish often found in Japan that’s similar to the Grey Poma (C. “cf” melanosoma) but has differences on the tail and maybe a few other spots.

What’s interesting is given the variation within the “Maze” Angels, not all and maybe most hybrids aren’t 50/50 crosses where one parent is fully one and the other is fully another species. The varying phenotypes, some of which lean mostly on the “cf Melanosoma” side with blue scribbles here and there on the body and face, ranging to basically hyped up Blue Lines that sell for lots of $$ in Asia, show a lot of back-crossing from the hybrids into either gene pool.

Bali Aquarich I believe uses Taiwanese broodstock (Mazes are not rare in southern Taiwan) where both parents are C. “cephalareticulatus”, and that’s how we got our captive-bred Mazes.

It’s a similar situation with the very closely related Flavissima complex where Lemonpeel, Half-Black and Eibli mingle and spawn with each other in both their pure and hybrid forms and the hybrids, not being sterile, can breed back into one of their parent populations.

 

[dnledman]

Yea my local store has one, and it is wildly expensive but I like it way more than the blue line. I can’t decide if I should pull the trigger on it or not.

I have a 180g mixed reef, mainly SPS but a few torches and some nems.

 

[Damage12]

@Damage12 That’s a beautiful fish and one of my favourites among Angels and all fish in general. I believe you’ve had it for a good while? How big is it and how big did it start as?

And it’s interesting because I come from where they’re found in the wild.

I would love to see Poma Labs breed more of them and I believe that’s in their plans.

Thank you. Yes, I’ve had him 8-9 years at least. He was around 2 1/2” - 3” when I got him and now 4 1/2 - 5” now.

 

[dnledman]

Thank you. Yes, I’ve had him 8-9 years at least. He was around 2 1/2” - 3” when I got him and now 4 1/2 - 5” now.

What corals do you have in the tank with him?

 

[Damage12]

What corals do you have in the tank with him?

Right now he’s in a tank with softies, mushrooms, toadstool and leather. I previously had him in an all SPS tank. Don’t think I had many LPS, if any in that tank too. He never touched my SPS or softies.

 

[dnledman]

Right now he’s in a tank with softies, mushrooms, toadstool and leather. I previously had him in an all SPS tank. Don’t think I had many LPS, if any in that tank too. He never touched my SPS or softies.

Thank you!