Pygmy (Cherub) Angel Curiosity Traits

clockman

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Hello all, this is my first new post to the group. I've had my 32g Biocube for about 3 years now and have learned a few things over time regarding battling dinos, algae, cyano, heater malfunctions, and pH/alkalinity issues. I still have my original ocellaris clown pair (one black, one orange). Other inhabitants are a pistol shrimp/YWG, but tragically, the YWG died. It appeared that it had a chuck of flesh taken out of the side of its body. It definitely wasn't from trauma due to the rockery. I'm not sure, but I think the pistol actually went rogue and maybe attacked it. Who knows. I'm sure the shrimp ate it as it disappeared. My heater malfunction took out most of my corals and prized blood red fireshrimp. Wish the pistol perished instead of my fireshrimp!

Anyway, a bit of a long winded preamble. I have had 3 cherub angels successively but they all went MIA. Actually my original one was found dead on the sandbed next to a small bubble tip anemone, but it wasn't being eaten by it. I speculate that it was stung by the BTA and didn't survive the sting. The second pygmy lasted several months, grew nicely, but then went MIA as well with no sign of its carcass. I doubt that the pistol killed it. I am wondering if my maxi-mini anemone ate it. Since cherubs seem to have a very curious nature, I wonder if it wandered into it's sticky tentacles. Seems that it might be too big for it to swallow. After being without the second pygmy for several months, I decided to get another one. This one is considerably smaller, about 1.5", had the same curious nature darting in and out of the cave and brushing by the maxi-mini, but have only seen it dart under the nem by its foot. My black clown was a bit aggressive towards it initially, but started to leave it alone after a few days. Barely a week went by, and it was MIA yet again! Boo hoo! $40 down the drain. Again, I suspect it may have wandered too close to the nem's sticky tentacles. Does anybody here have similar experiences with disappearing pygmies due to nems? I am devastated as it was a cute little fella. I will refrain from getting another replacement as I can't risk another expensive loss. Maybe if my nem dies, I would. My BTA is no longer arouund as it perished early on, likely due to an immature tank. It did survive for the first several months though.
 

laverda

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Your yellow watchman gobie could have died from anything and the other animals in your tank started eating it. I do not believe your angles were harmed by your anemone. I have a pair in my 300 gallon with 30 some anemones and they have done fine. One is about 5 years old and the other I have had for about 9 months I would guess. It sounds like you may have something going on in your tank that you are losing so many fish and anemones. Losing a fish after a week sounds more like a acclamation/QT issue. Fish come with all sorts of illnesses and parasites from the LFS, that is why a QT can be very beneficial, even if you don’t actually treat them. It gives them a chance to recover from shipping and poor conditions at most LFS tanks without the stress of other fish bulling them. If nothing else are you checking the salinity of the water they are coming in and drip acclimating them?
 

SDK

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My guess would be stress related deaths due to your tank being too small. I'm almost certain that it's not the anemone, and if your resident fish have been fine for years, your water parameters are probably OK.

Pygmy Angels are a big fish in a small package. They are aggressive and active for their size and you are adding them to a tank with a 21" footprint and an established pair of clownfish. Live Aquaria recommends a 48" footprint as a minimum size, and I personally would not try one in less than a 40B if a pair of Clowns were in the mix.
 
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laverda

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My guess would be stress related deaths due to your tank being too small. I'm almost certain that it's not the anemone, and if your resident fish have been fine for years, your water parameters are probably OK.

Pygmy Angels are a big fish in a small package. They are aggressive and active for their, size and you are adding them to a tank with a 21" footprint and an established pair of clownfish. Live Aquaria recommends a 48" footprint as a minimum size, and I personally would not try one in less than a 40B if a pair of Clowns were in the mix.
I would agree. My pair are very active and all over my 300 gallon constantly.
 

Mkus

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Mines been in my 24 for 4-5 years with plenty of anemones in there never once had an issue and I have a super aggressive clown but they get along great!

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