Keeping two dwarf angels together

[RobertK]

How about a Paracentropyge like a Biota multibar? IME they are different enough that it is not a problem. My coral beauty has never been aggressive toward the multibar.

 

[Baldyreef]

How about a Paracentropyge like a Biota multibar? IME they are different enough that it is not a problem. My coral beauty has never been aggressive toward the multibar.

that might be worth a try the shyer nature of the multibar should help too, if i end up trying it i think ill go the multibar route and use an acclimation box for the coral beauty, thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Firefish89]

I think the problem partially involves harems and females changing into males. According to Scott Michael, all males start life as females and the social situation dictates the change (see his enchanting book Angelfishes and Butterflyfishes, pg 221). You can find this idea via ai or, but Michael's book is still better ;). So if you get a single male and some females, then there is no male on male competition. Bigger fish are more likely to be males (and some species you can tell the difference, but it is hard for others). I kept 3 dwarf angels in a 120 for a while (CB, flame, pygmy). When the flame passed, the CB became more colorful. Perhaps changed into a male? Lots of hiding places helps and ensuring that everyone can find food helps as well. Currently, I have 4 dwarf angels in my 180 (CB, flame, pygmy, and flameback), but I got them all small, added them together, and prefer lots of fish hiding places to optimizing for flow. My CB is certainly the largest. I've had the flame for a year or two and it is still fairly small. Matches the idea that the flame is a female that is being kept from transitioning by the CB male. Also, I have read that if dwarf angels are by themselves for a while, they change to male and can't go back. And species matter too, with some more species being aggressive than others. And of course, in tight enough quarters females may compete, but perhaps to a lesser degree than males. Perhaps a similar problem to anthias groups. Just my two cents.

 

[tripdad]

I added a mated pair of flames to a 3 year old established coral beauty. There were some rough first days but I feel the pair being added helped to spread the aggression out. I also made sure to have a few places where the smaller flames could go that the coral beauty could not so as to give them a refuge. It was definitely worth the work every time I look at the tank.

 

[joseph scott]

I recently went from a 150 gallon tank that had a harem of 3 flame angels, and a75 gallon tank with a single large male lemon peel. My new tank is 206 gallons, all rocks, corals and fish went into the 206 and the 150 and 75 were put to the curb. There was little to no aggression. I believe this was because all fish went into the new tank at night and the rockwork had changed for all of them. It worked so well a week later i added a tiny female lemon peel to the mix. She started out in an isolation box for an entire day, and released to the tank at night. Again she experienced little to no aggression from the other fish. It actually appeared that she wanted the large male lemon peel to chase her because at first he wouldn’t give her the time of day. I don’t know how he could ignore her (she’s so cute). Eventually he gave her a little chase here and there. I was actually worried he would never go after her, allowing her to become a male and then there would be problems.

 

[chema]

I keep the following dwarf angels in a 120 g:
- 2 C. bispinossa
- 1 C. ferrugatus
- 1 C. aurantia
- 1 P. multifasciata

All in good harmony. The last addition was the multibar, four years ago. I also keep some more big angels

 

[Baldyreef]

Thanks for the reply’s and info on your own experiences! I’m thinking im gonna get a biota multibar and introduce it to the 80 first and have the cb in acclimation box so they can see and get used to they sight of each other, the female male thing should work by keeping the multibar female as the cb is most likely the bigger fish, to anyone who’s had biota or captive bred multibar how big do they come in? I’m assuming still juvenile and decently small

 

[RobertK]

Thanks for the reply’s and info on your own experiences! I’m thinking im gonna get a biota multibar and introduce it to the 80 first and have the cb in acclimation box so they can see and get used to they sight of each other, the female male thing should work by keeping the multibar female as the cb is most likely the bigger fish, to anyone who’s had biota or captive bred multibar how big do they come in? I’m assuming still juvenile and decently small

Mine was about 1-1.5”, small but not tiny. If you order direct from Biota you can ask them to send the biggest, healthiest looking one available if you want to.

 

[Baldyreef]

Thanks for the reply’s and info on your own experiences! I’m thinking im gonna get a biota multibar and introduce it to the 80 first and have the cb in acclimation box so they can see and get used to they sight of each other, the female male thing should work by keeping the multibar female as the cb is most likely the bigger fish, to anyone who’s had biota or captive bred multibar how big do they come in? I’m assuming still juvenile and decently small

Mine was about 1-1.5”, small but not tiny. If you order direct from Biota you can ask them to send the biggest, healthiest looking one available if you want to.

Thanks for the tip, I probably won’t ask for their biggest just to help to try and prevent aggression that may be associated with similar sized fish