Paracentropyge Multifasciata success

[Euphyllia97]

Hey folks!

I am currently stocking my 120 gallon FOWLR and the first 4 fish have almost gone through a full quarantine (30 days copper, 2x prazi and 3 weeks of observation).

I am considering of getting a multi-barred angelfish but have seen a lot of comments on the difficulty of these fish. I am not new to the hobby and have already succesfully kept more difficult fish like mandarin dragonets, leopard wrasse and a regal angelfish.

I am looking for tips to increase my odds to succesfully acclimate and keep this fish long term.

My considerations:
- I will put him in an observation tank all by himself to make sure he eats. After steady eating for 2-3 weeks and observation I will run a 30 days copper treatment followed by praziquantel. Will observe him for some more weeks to make sure he is eating and strong to transfer to DT.

Questions:

What are your personal experiences with this fish?
Any other treatments that are recommended with these fish? (Intestinal parasites?)

Would you consider to keep him together in a 4ft, 125 gallon with a flame angel? (If yes, would it be a good idea to put them together through QT?… I have 2 QT in case I need to separate them due to agression).

What food should I try to get him used to?

Any other important considerations with this fish?

Thank you!

 

[i cant think]

Hey folks!

I am currently stocking my 120 gallon FOWLR and the first 4 fish have almost gone through a full quarantine (30 days copper, 2x prazi and 3 weeks of observation).

I am considering of getting a multi-barred angelfish but have seen a lot of comments on the difficulty of these fish. I am not new to the hobby and have already succesfully kept more difficult fish like mandarin dragonets, leopard wrasse and a regal angelfish.

I am looking for tips to increase my odds to succesfully acclimate and keep this fish long term.

My considerations:
- I will put him in an observation tank all by himself to make sure he eats. After steady eating for 2-3 weeks and observation I will run a 30 days copper treatment followed by praziquantel. Will observe him for some more weeks to make sure he is eating and strong to transfer to DT.

Questions:

What are your personal experiences with this fish?
Any other treatments that are recommended with these fish? (Intestinal parasites?)

Would you consider to keep him together in a 4ft, 125 gallon with a flame angel? (If yes, would it be a good idea to put them together through QT?… I have 2 QT in case I need to separate them due to agression).

What food should I try to get him used to?

Any other important considerations with this fish?

Thank you!

So, the current information is incredibly useful to help us answer this, however I have 1 more question. What is your current stock and future stock plans?

 

[Boreas_SA]

Just on the multibar, best would be to try and source a captive bred one, Bali Aquarich breeds them, so can get them from either a Bali shipment or even TMC in the UK wholesales from there. As long as they are not super tiny (like 1cm), they are pretty hardy as captive breed. This is my BAQ one:

 

[Boreas_SA]

Just on the quarantine, I’m not a big fan of copper if there aren’t a specific disease you are trying to eradicate, especially with angels that can be sensitive to it, but some people have had success with it. What I can tell you is that my one arrived super healthy looking and only had it in observation qt for a few weeks before going into display.

 

[MONTANTK]

Just on the multibar, best would be to try and source a captive bred one, Bali Aquarich breeds them, so can get them from either a Bali shipment or even TMC in the UK wholesales from there. As long as they are not super tiny (like 1cm), they are pretty hardy as captive breed. This is my BAQ one:

I second this. Captive bred is the way to go.

Additionally, I would probably wait until the tank is more well established and you get some natural sponge growth, which paracentropyge will graze on.

 

[Euphyllia97]

So, the current information is incredibly useful to help us answer this, however I have 1 more question. What is your current stock and future stock plans?

2 clowns, a yellow coris wrasse and royal gramma are in QT. Will adapt my stock around this angelfish, but not planning on adding anything other than maybe a flame angelfish.

 

[Euphyllia97]

Just on the quarantine, I’m not a big fan of copper if there aren’t a specific disease you are trying to eradicate, especially with angels that can be sensitive to it, but some people have had success with it. What I can tell you is that my one arrived super healthy looking and only had it in observation qt for a few weeks before going into display.

I could indeed skip the copper. As I am planning on having it isolated for at least 2,5 months I should by then be able to tell if it has any symptoms of velvet or ich. Thanks

 

[P500]

Totally agree to go for captive bred. Have a juvenile in my tank and it eats everything, from pellets (vitalis) to frozen and alive mysis. Had a Chalice frag from someone which he completely ate also, so maybe something to remember. The fish are very small most times so would be careful with quarantine. This is after six months.

 

[Euphyllia97]

Totally agree to go for captive bred. Have a juvenile in my tank and it eats everything, from pellets (vitalis) to frozen and alive mysis. Had a Chalice frag from someone which he completely ate also, so maybe something to remember. The fish are very small most times so would be careful with quarantine. This is after six months.

Stunning! I’m not going to keep any corals in the tank so that is not a problem for me :) Did you train it to eat all these types or it just did?

 

[P500]

Totally agree to go for captive bred. Have a juvenile in my tank and it eats everything, from pellets (vitalis) to frozen and alive mysis. Had a Chalice frag from someone which he completely ate also, so maybe something to remember. The fish are very small most times so would be careful with quarantine. This is after six months.

Stunning! I’m not going to keep any corals in the tank so that is not a problem for me :) Did you train it to eat all these types or it just did?

Thanks! The captive bred I have are from Indonesia and I know from the importer they also feed them with pellets so no training at all.

 

[Euphyllia97]

Thanks! The captive bred I have are from Indonesia and I know from the importer they also feed them with pellets so no training at all.

I am located in Belgium, Europe. I have found a well-known and respected store in the Netherlands who are selling tank bred multibar angels. So I will definitely spend some additional bucks on that :) Have you put yours through a QT using any medications?

 

[P500]

I am located in Belgium, Europe. I have found a well-known and respected store in the Netherlands who are selling tank bred multibar angels. So I will definitely spend some additional bucks on that :) Have you put yours through a QT using any medications?

Ah, mine comes from DJM also :-), we are neighbors. Fish went straight from the store into the display tank. They are somewhere between one and two € coin in size when you get them. You can ask your store when they get the fish and pick it up straight away to minimize the stress of moving it.

 

[Euphyllia97]

Ah, mine comes from DJM also :-), we are neighbors. Fish went straight from the store into the display tank. They are somewhere between one and two € coin in size when you get them. You can ask your store when they get the fish and pick it up straight away to minimize the stress of moving it.

Oh lovely! Good to hear at least that I have a verified good source to get a tank bred one then! I’ll go and give it a try

Bedankt voor de informatie!

 

[RobertK]

Here is my captive bred multibar. Absolutely love this fish. I got him from Biota in USA. I put him in a quarantine tank just for observation for a few days to recover from shipping, then put him in an acclimation box for a day or two in the display tank so the other fishes could get used to him. He is a delightful fish, have had no problems with him at all. Had him a year or so. He gets along well with 2 clowns, 2 royal gramma, 2 other dwarf angels (bicolor and coral beauty), a small damsel and a yellow tang (all captive bred) in a 4-foot 60 gallon tank.

 

[Euphyllia97]

Here is my captive bred multibar. Absolutely love this fish. I got him from Biota in USA. I put him in a quarantine tank just for observation for a few days to recover from shipping, then put him in an acclimation box for a day or two in the display tank so the other fishes could get used to him. He is a delightful fish, have had no problems with him at all. Had him a year or so. He gets along well with 2 clowns, 2 royal gramma, 2 other dwarf angels (bicolor and coral beauty), a small damsel and a yellow tang (all captive bred) in a 4-foot 60 gallon tank.

I don’t know if your other dwarf angels were also captive bred and if you had previous experience with wild-caught. But considering their behaviour, do you think it is easier for the tank-bred species to get along? Your stocking sounds like a dream for a 60 gallon :O

 

[P500]

Oh lovely! Good to hear at least that I have a verified good source to get a tank bred one then! I’ll go and give it a try

Bedankt voor de informatie!

Graag gedaan! Succes alvast met deze mooie vis.

 

[Zionas]

I agree, try your best to get a captive bred one from a store that imports from De Jong. As long as they aren’t super tiny, if you can, get one that’s at least an inch (2.5-3cm), 1.5 inches and up (4cm and up) is ideal. I’m glad you’re building around the Multibar, these fish do best with nothing that’ll out-compete them, or harass them. They’re a deeper water Angel that stick more to caves and overhangs than a Flame or Coral Beauty. What’s your total stocking list for the FOWLR? Keeping it light?

 

[Euphyllia97]

I agree, try your best to get a captive bred one from a store that imports from De Jong. As long as they aren’t super tiny, if you can, get one that’s at least an inch (2.5-3cm), 1.5 inches and up (4cm and up) is ideal. I’m glad you’re building around the Multibar, these fish do best with nothing that’ll out-compete them, or harass them. They’re a deeper water Angel that stick more to caves and overhangs than a Flame or Coral Beauty. What’s your total stocking list for the FOWLR? Keeping it light?

Thanks for the advice! Currently 2 ocellatis clownfish, 1 yellow coris wrasse and a royal gramma in QT. I don’t really have any other fish that I really want to be in the tank. I was considering to get another dwarf angel, but looking at a lot of different posts and forums, I have decided not to do that and stick to the multibar only. I’m happy to hear some suggestions as to which smaller colourful fish would still be a possibility. I guess rock dwelling species are out of the question as both the royal gramma and multibar like to explore the caves.

I added a picture of the tank he will be in. I created a lot of overhangs and caves. 4ft wide, 120 gallon system. Has been running for 6 months with inverts and frequent feeding

 

[RobertK]

I don’t know if your other dwarf angels were also captive bred and if you had previous experience with wild-caught. But considering their behaviour, do you think it is easier for the tank-bred species to get along? Your stocking sounds like a dream for a 60 gallon :O

All of my fish are captive bred. I do think that helps. There might have been a small amount of aggression for a day or two after a new addition but nothing after that. Also the 3 angels were all added as juveniles within a few months of each other, so they kind of grew up together in the same tank. I have kept wild caught Centropyge angels in the past but never more than one at a time due to their reputation.

 

[atoll]

I could advise you how to introduce and successfully keep them but it goes against the "expert" advice on here. I will say they are beautiful fish and quite hardy once established. However, delicate the first few weeks.

My pair that had to go when I broke my reef down when I moved house.