Pairing up a multibar

[Reefing Jay]

Hi guys,

Newly registered to the forum, but not new to the forum or the hobby.

I've been eyeing a multibar angel for quite a while now. For months I've been watching our importers stocklist for a Paracentropyge Multifasciatus. I specifically wanted a tank-bred specimen, because they should be more easy to adjust to feeding. Thursday I finally got one and added it to an isolation box in my DT. This morning (2 days later) I saw it eating (some of) the pellets I gave it. Yesterday the pellets also disappeared, but I guessed they could've escaped through the openings of the box.

Would it pay off to now add a non tank-bred Multifasciatus, and hope it learns from my tank bred one that eating pellets is actually nice and healthy? Or is that maybe more dream than reality? I would like a pair of them, and since the first one does not have a territory yet, I think this might be the right time to try and pair them up. The wild caught one would be bigger than the tank bred one (which is rather small).

I have a 180 gallon tank btw, and they would live together with a Bispinosa pair, which will be re-added to the tank when these fish are adjusted.

So my questions are:
- Would adding a wild caught dwarf angel to a tank bred help the wild one learn eating prepared food?
- Can I add a bigger specimen to a smaller one, while the first has not established it's territorium yet, to pair them up?

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Following as id like to pair my multibar up also.

@pcon May have some good insight

 

[Pbh-reef]

Didn’t @atoll have a pair?

 

[atoll]

Didn’t @atoll have a pair?

I most certainly did. I sold them along with the rest of my fish and inverts when I moved house.
Here is my YouTube video of them. Stunning fish.

 

[Reefing Jay]

I most certainly did. I sold them along with the rest of my fish and inverts when I moved house.
Here is my YouTube video of them. Stunning fish.

Wow those are awesome!

I’ve decided to not buy a wild caught fish to pair up, because I’ve read that, except for some places, they are caught in a way that can cause irreparable damage, and that would obviously not be fixed by seeing another fish eat. I do hear good things about multibars from Vanuatu, but our importer doesn’t have them in stock either.

I will try to pair up the bispinosa in my sump with a smaller one from my LFS later this week, if anyone wants the progress on that, let me know!

 

[atoll]

Wow those are awesome!

I’ve decided to not buy a wild caught fish to pair up, because I’ve read that, except for some places, they are caught in a way that can cause irreparable damage, and that would obviously not be fixed by seeing another fish eat. I do hear good things about multibars from Vanuatu, but our importer doesn’t have them in stock either.

I will try to pair up the bispinosa in my sump with a smaller one from my LFS later this week, if anyone wants the progress on that, let me know!

Of course, keep us posted. BTW my pair were both wild caught, no problems with either although I did have one a while ago that wouldn't eat.

 

[Reefing Jay]

It’s been a while so it’s time to give you an update: both Bispinosa are happily living together and the Multibar seems happy as well. I haven’t been able to find a suitable multibar to pair up, but perhaps that I will try that in the future.