First fish is here

[DmitryB]

So my 40 gallon just got its first swimming inhabitant: a Biota Coral Beauty Angel. (He'll go into a 170 tank eventually.) I knew these cultured fish would come tiny, but I was not prepared for just how tiny!! And now with a fish in the tank, crap's getting real!

First of all, considering how tiny he is, do I adjust water flow in any way? I got an MP10 and a Nero 3 on opposite sides. At night I have a calmer flow and he seemed ok after I dropped him into the tank, but we shall see tomorrow what happens once bigger flow starts. How does one balance flow for a tiny guy like this and corals (LPSs?)

And now the feeding! What should his first meal be? I got a wide variety of stuff: from frozen (Mysis, brine, veggies) to dried (krill) to pellets to Nori.

 

[20gallonreefer000]

Best to start him out on frozen mysis but if he doesn't go for that try brine. Nori and pellets will work as well but the shrimp is the safest bet for a new fish. If you are doing lps only I wouldn't be concerned about too much flow for the fish. Just make sure he isn't getting bashed. He'll grow fast with good feeding. I think if you base the flow around the fish, the lps will be happy as most of the time they aren't too demanding.

 

[kevgib67]

You could message Biota and ask what they were feeding and match it for best results.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

@Biota_Marine

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Show us a pic of the little guy!

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Show us a pic of the little guy!

I agree! I would love to see a MINI coral beauty!

 

[mfinn]

I've always like Coral Beauty's.
Had one for about 11 years.

 

[salty joe]

i've raised angels and other fish from little bitty to adult. whats worked really well for me is dropping in whole shellfish and let them graze all day. pull it out before lights go out and toss a fresh one in the next morning. sometimes it takes two or three days for the fish to eat but once they start eating they do so with gusto!

 

[DmitryB]

You could message Biota and ask what they were feeding and match it for best results.

They have stuff listed on their site with the fish in general and it's always the products they sell themselves!

 

[DmitryB]

Show us a pic of the little guy!

I'm gonna try. He was out and about before I started poking around (saw him picking at rocks) and now he's swimming between rocks in the back. I fed some frozen mysis (soaked in a bit of spirulina so the corals can have something to eat) and he poked about and then dashed back into rocks. So he needs to get used to the surroundings. I did just put up a nori sheet that he will hopefully graze on. But I definitely will try to get a video. He is as cute as a button!

 

[Sophie"s mom]

I've always like Coral Beauty's.
Had one for about 11 years.

I have had mine for almost 3 years now! I just love her. beautiful and friendly fish.

 

[DmitryB]

I have had mine for almost 3 years now! I just love her. beautiful and friendly fish.

Yeah I love Coral Beauties too. I was not going to put one first in my tank, but I have a Royal Gramma, Exquisite Firefish and a Starry Blenny in quarantine at Marine Collectors, so figured a baby Coral Beauty maybe should go in first.

Tried to get a video today, but he's swimming between rocks in the back so not visible long enough. Needs time to settle in. I left a sheet of nori out that he'll hopefully be tempted by.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Yeah I love Coral Beauties too. I was not going to put one first in my tank, but I have a Royal Gramma, Exquisite Firefish and a Starry Blenny in quarantine at Marine Collectors, so figured a baby Coral Beauty maybe should go in first.

Tried to get a video today, but he's swimming between rocks in the back so not visible long enough. Needs time to settle in. I left a sheet of nori out that he'll hopefully be tempted by.

Yeah mine loves nori!! She eats everything, but really like it when I put nori in there every morning. She lets the naso and foxface go after it first, then it's her turn.

 

[Biota_Marine]

They have stuff listed on their site with the fish in general and it's always the products they sell themselves!

Hey guys, thanks for the tag and thank you for supporting aquaculture!

For all of our fish they typically go after pellets first in new environments. We do list DKI pellets (which as you mentioned we sell) but also list Reef Nutrition's TDO since they're more commonly found locally or online and they're also fed this. We also feed a good amount of Hikari feeds at our facility like their mysis and spirulina enriched brine shrimp. Our coral beauties generally aren't very picky.

We also turn the flow off while we feed and learned that elicits a feeding response in home aquariums too.

 

[DmitryB]

Hey guys, thanks for the tag and thank you for supporting aquaculture!

For all of our fish they typically go after pellets first in new environments. We do list DKI pellets (which as you mentioned we sell) but also list Reef Nutrition's TDO since they're more commonly found locally or online and they're also fed this. We also feed a good amount of Hikari feeds at our facility like their mysis and spirulina enriched brine shrimp. Our coral beauties generally aren't very picky.

We also turn the flow off while we feed and learned that elicits a feeding response in home aquariums too.

I was just making a joke! :)

So far he's keeping in the rocks. This morning I sat there for about 30 mins hoping to see signs of life and finally saw him dashing. I dropped BSR pellets yesterday and today BSR "golden pearls" and he didn't go for them. In an hour or so I'll try frozen brine shrimp and hope he comes out to eat. Yesterday I left a sheet of Nori out when I left for work; unclear if he ate it because while some was missing there was also a snail sitting on it! I'll leave out Nori again today.

I can hatch some live brine shrimp if you think that may help get him out to eat!