What is your opinion of Geniacanthus angels?

[Zionas]

Lamarck’s, Spotbreast, Japanese Swallowtail, Watanabei etc.

1. What tank size do you need to comfortable house one for the duration of its lifespan?

2. How hardy and disease resistant are they compared to other angelfish genuses and marine fish in general?

3. Is it easy to find a healthy specimen?

4. How long do they live?

5. Are they finicky feeders? Any special care requirements?

6. Reef safe? Peaceful?


Thanks.

 

[Sosuke]

1. 125 gallons or larger
2. They're ok they can get diseases but can fight it off if fed well and cared for properly
3. I've only tried them once so can't help much but mine were healthy
4. Don't know
5. Not too finicky mine eat anything besides nori
6. Definitely Reef Safe mine have been a bit aggressive but not the worst

 

[Zionas]

Wow, ‘fight it off’, ‘disease’ and ‘angelfish’ aren’t frequently used in the same sentence lol.

Lamarck’s are bigger, if I get a Lamarck’s I’d probably still get up to a Tang but keep the Lamarck’s as my only angelfish. If I get a pair of Spotbreasts or something like that, no Tang or maybe a Tomini at most.

Also forgot to mention the Bellus but they’re so expensive.

@Haydn made me consider one of these.

 

[Sosuke]

Yea this is my experience only though (these are spot breast angels) and they had ich in quarantine but after only a couple of days in quarantine the ich has been gone for weeks now. I wouldn't recommend nets with them as they get stuck to them. Mine fought off disease well but maybe I just got lucky with them.

 

[Zionas]

I’ve read some reviews from Asian (Chinese and Taiwanese) hobbyists (I am Chinese) and they say Lamarck’s and Spotbreast are quite easy.

Think I will avoid Watanabei’s and Bellus due to high price and also because they are deep water species, die from decompression issues.

Here I will translate some reviews of Lamarck’s from Chinese hobbyists:

1. “Pretty easy to keep, does not get sick easily, it grew too quickly for my tank so I sold it to someone else.”

2. “Pretty easy to keep, beautiful and easy to feed.”

3. “One of the few that don’t eat corals.”

4. “Is an active fish, not afraid of people. The best of all: Does not get white spots easily, a fairly tough fish.”

5. “Easy to feed and eats a varied diet, just remember to vary its diet. Does not do well in quarantine, active fish.”



Now comparing the reviews to a deepwater species like Watanabei or Bellus (I will use Watanabei, I would assume Bellus are the same):

1. “Just a female is already putting a dent in my wallet.”

2. “Easy to keep, I only keep one.”

3. “Pretty easy to keep, definitely a showpiece fish.”

4. “I have kept two, both died from lots of bubbles.” (Decompression sickness) *this makes me worried

5. “Just got a pair, pretty beautiful fish, but I am seriously concerned about their survivability.”

6. “Easy to keep.”

7. “I’ve tried seven and only one has lived, the one I have now.” *Pretty rich guy, but it’s reviews like these that put me off.


Surprisingly, many of the Centropyge angels get poor reviews from Chinese and Taiwanese hobbyists. The reviews usually go “mine died for no reason” or “mine was eating well, one day it suddenly decided it had enough of life.”