I like. whenever possible to keep my fish in pairs (apart from those that like to be kept in shoals or my tank is too small for) I have a number of fish I keep as pairs well some I can't be sure if they are a genuine pair or not but others I am sure of. In the past, I have kept dwarf angels in pairs and when I bought a Multibar angel I thought about getting another. However, Multibars are known to be one of the more difficult of the angels to keep and are classed as "expert only" Hmm well not sure about the expert bit but I did want to be sure my Multibar was well settled, feeding well and there were no issues with my other fish, in particular, my Regal angel.
10 months on and its thriving in my tank with no real aggression just the occasional nod from the Regal to say " I am still the boss here". Time to consider another maybe? Well, about 4 weeks ago Burscough Aquatic's got another 2 in but there was a problem. Of the two one was that bit bigger than the other and certainly bigger than the one I already have, however, it had a little swimbladder issue. Swimbladder problems usually occur when the collecting driver bring the fish to the surface too fast causing gas to build up in the swimbladder. The experts always say if you want a pair you must introduce them to the aquarium at the same time. However, I often don't do things by the book and would have to be ready to rescue one that took a battering so a difficult chancy decision to buy another.
The problem wasn't bad but given Multibars can be a difficult fish I decided to leave it for now. The other fish had a slight mark on one side and was a bit smaller as said. I really wanted the larger of the two as it IMO gives me the best chance of getting on with my existing Multibar. I went go to Burscough regular but the fish still showed signs of the swimbladder issue that is until Friday when I visited again and the fish had shrugged off the issue and was swimming normally. The problem although slight was evident if you know the signs, I could have reserved the fish of course on first seeing it but I took the chance of waiting even though I doubt they would have sold it to a customer until it was cured.
I purchased the new larger Multibar, acclimatised it (nope I never quarantine my fish) set it free from its bag and held my breath. I expected it to dive into my reefscape and either not to be seen for some time or for it to be chased around the tank by my existing Multibar, Regal or even my damsels but no none of it. The fish stayed out in the open others inc the regal came to check out the newcomer but no real aggression was shown. All to my surprise and much to my delight my existing smaller Multibar went straight to it and I thought here we go world war 3 but no they seem to hit it off immediately. 3 days later and its as if the new fish has been in the tank for months rather than days with the 2 of them often seen together.
Phew! What a relief, still early days but the signs couldn't be more encouraging. I must add this was a calculated risk and not one I took lightly.
I did manage to take a short video of the two of them together later on the Friday evening with the Regal giving a body shimmer just to remind it who is the boss fish in the tank. Link to it below.
10 months on and its thriving in my tank with no real aggression just the occasional nod from the Regal to say " I am still the boss here". Time to consider another maybe? Well, about 4 weeks ago Burscough Aquatic's got another 2 in but there was a problem. Of the two one was that bit bigger than the other and certainly bigger than the one I already have, however, it had a little swimbladder issue. Swimbladder problems usually occur when the collecting driver bring the fish to the surface too fast causing gas to build up in the swimbladder. The experts always say if you want a pair you must introduce them to the aquarium at the same time. However, I often don't do things by the book and would have to be ready to rescue one that took a battering so a difficult chancy decision to buy another.
The problem wasn't bad but given Multibars can be a difficult fish I decided to leave it for now. The other fish had a slight mark on one side and was a bit smaller as said. I really wanted the larger of the two as it IMO gives me the best chance of getting on with my existing Multibar. I went go to Burscough regular but the fish still showed signs of the swimbladder issue that is until Friday when I visited again and the fish had shrugged off the issue and was swimming normally. The problem although slight was evident if you know the signs, I could have reserved the fish of course on first seeing it but I took the chance of waiting even though I doubt they would have sold it to a customer until it was cured.
I purchased the new larger Multibar, acclimatised it (nope I never quarantine my fish) set it free from its bag and held my breath. I expected it to dive into my reefscape and either not to be seen for some time or for it to be chased around the tank by my existing Multibar, Regal or even my damsels but no none of it. The fish stayed out in the open others inc the regal came to check out the newcomer but no real aggression was shown. All to my surprise and much to my delight my existing smaller Multibar went straight to it and I thought here we go world war 3 but no they seem to hit it off immediately. 3 days later and its as if the new fish has been in the tank for months rather than days with the 2 of them often seen together.
Phew! What a relief, still early days but the signs couldn't be more encouraging. I must add this was a calculated risk and not one I took lightly.
I did manage to take a short video of the two of them together later on the Friday evening with the Regal giving a body shimmer just to remind it who is the boss fish in the tank. Link to it below.
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