Captive Bred Scribbled Angelfish. Yay or nay?

[Zionas]

Hey guys, so I found out that an online seller in my city (maybe my LFS has them too) imports captive bred Scribbled Angelfish from Indonesia. Not sure if it’s Bali Aquarich but they are always sold as juveniles in the 5-7cm or 6-8cm range. Every time they import fish I see it on their list.

I am not sure what they mean is really “captive bred” or wild larvae raised in captivity (does it make that much of a difference?), but I am wondering if a captive bred angel could be a better choice over the Genicanthus angels that I have come to love.

A few concerns are that 1. Scribbled Angels are not as hardy of a species as the Genicanthus (or is that true?) 2. They’re not completely reef safe 3. The size they sell them at might be too small, they might perish easily. They do try to get these captive bred angels on pellet food before selling.


So I am wondering what you guys feel would be the best option for me to have an angelfish or two in my tank. Their intended tankmates are a pair of Ocellaris, Marine Betta, Blue Throat Trigger (male), a trio of PJ Cardinals, a Flame Hawk, a One-Spot / Foxface Lo, a Pacific Peppermint Hogfish (added last) and a Yellow Tang as my confirmed fish.

Would you say yay or nay to the captive bred Scribbled Angelfish, or should I just stick to the Genicanthus spp.? Maybe do both? (Cross out one of the large fish on my current list to accommodate the Scribbled?)

What I also find strange is that wholesaler sells wild caught Scribbled Angels, both male and female, at higher prices than the captive bred ones. Why could that be the case as usually it’s the other way around.

Would love your experiences with this species of angel. Hardiness, disease resistance, temperament, feeding etc.


Tank is 6 foot by 2.3 foot by 1.8 foot (183 gallons).

 

[mort]

If you see a fully grown scribbled it might change your mind about keeping it in a 6 foot. It's another borderline sized fish for me. I'll let others add their opinion but I would suggest taking the hog fish off the list as they are mean as hell once they mature.

 

[Zionas]

I see. How big does the Scribbled Angelfish get?

The Hogfish, yeah. Hmm if that’s the case, beautiful fish, but I don’t want my fish to become stressed and / or ill. Guess I’ll have to cross it off my list.

 

[mort]

I've seen them approaching ten inches or so but it's not so much the length as the length and depth combined, as they are very deep bodied fish. It's a similar reason why sailfin tangs get so big or freshwater angelfish.

 

[IKD]

Hi there, here is my experience. I owned a Scribbled Angel from Bali Aquarich for ~5yrs in a 7' x 2' aquarium before I had to break down my tank for family reasons.

Growth: When he came in, he was small, maybe 2" in size (probably what you'll see). By the 5th year, he was about 5" in size. So in my experience he's not a fast grower. He was 'full bodied' though. If you have a 6' tank, I wouldn't recommend him with other large angels. They do like a lot of swimming room.

Behavior: One the least aggressive fish in the tank, but no one messed with him either. I had him with a Fowleri Tang, Powder Blue Tang, Yellow Tangs, Anthias, Flame Angel, some wrasses, so it was a pretty docile tank anyway.

Appetite: He ate everything after the first day or so of getting acclimated. Any meaty foods and Angel-specific foods that have sponge content. He would graze algae sheets, but not with the same gusto of the tangs in the tank.

Reef Safe: It was a mixed bag. He didn't touch any corals if they didn't have really fleshy parts (acros, torches, montis, zoas, plates, lepto's, chalice, etc. were all fine). He would go after acans, clams, scolys, trachy's, etc. And when I say 'go after', he would mow them down. Not the occasional nip here and there in passing. He didn't bother any inverts.

Swimming Area: He went all levels of the tank, but seemed to like swimming near the upper portion of the rock structures scanning for food as a he cruised around in the flow.

Personality: Awesome fish. He would eat from my hand and follow you around the room. Was the hardest fish to lose when I broke down the tank.

Hope that helps!
Ian

 

[Zionas]

That’s great to know! Where is yours now? I hope it’s still doing well! Do you find them a hard fish to keep? Did it ever get sick?

Captive bred is a huge bonus for me and in my part of the world Captive bred fish other than Clowns are hard to come by.

 

[IKD]

I broke my tank down to a local fish store. They found a home for him and a 800 gallon tank I believe so I know he’s happy.

I did not find them hard to keep as long as they had enough room and a good mix of Meaty and sponge-based food with algae available to graze on

I know they are susceptible to the standard diseases like Ick, so a quarantine upfront would be a good idea

It looks like live aquaria has captive bred scribbled angels in stock now too, so must be the season!

 

[Zionas]

Mmmm I see. That’s some good info. Might a 6’ tank be too small for one for its entire lifespan? I have scrapped the idea of keeping one with another large angel. If I get one it’ll be the only angel in the tank.

Or maybe another large angel / another kind of fish is more suitable altogether?

 

[IKD]

Full lifespan is somewhere between 10 and 15 years. I think you may be OK if it was the only angel in your tank. It certainly won’t grow to the same size as it would in the wild. You could also reach out to Bali aquatic and ask them how large their captive bred fish get to in size.

 

[Zionas]

I see. 10-15 years? I thought angels of this size would easily do over 20 years like a Tang would.

I’ll have to sacrifice one of my larger fish then if I were to accommodate it. It would be the Trigger. Heart breaking, but.... the Triggers here go for very cheap prices, which leads me to suspect cyanide collection. I’m quite sure the Blue Throats for sale here in China are not the Hawaiian ones.

 

[IKD]

Let us know what you decide! Speaking from personal experience, if you're going to be sad to give up one fish for another, maybe don't "pull that trigger" (haha, bad pun).

Would love to see a picture of your tank too. Hope things are China are settling down for you with the virus situation.

 

[Zionas]

Thanks for the well wishes everyone! Will keep you guys posted once my tank is up and running.

So I have decided I’ll be pulling the trigger on this one. xD It’s such a beautiful fish and captive bred, that is a double winner for me!

Here they go for the equivalent of a bit over 110 USD (well, I live in a developing Asian country), and sometimes they also get Captive Bred Goldflake Angels but they go for about twice the cost, plus I like the look of the Scribbled more.

Wish me good luck! Hope to be having mine for a long time to come.

It’ll be sharing the tank with 4 other large fish and 11 smaller fish 3-5” with most 3-4”.

x4 Pajama Cardinals (3.5”)

x2 Captive Bred Ocellaris Clownfish (pair) (3”)

x1 Royal Gramma (3”)

x1 Yellow Watchman Goby (4”)

x1 Flame Hawkfish (4”)

x1 One Spot / Foxface Lo (8-9”)

x1 Flame Angelfish (4”)

x1 Yellow Tang (8”)

x1 Yellow Eye Kole Tang (7”)

x1 Marine Betta (8”)

x1 Captive Bred Scribbled Angelfish (10”)

 

[mandarin417]

How did it go for you with the scribbled? I find them the most social with people of any angel. From my experience, I would never add a small angel to a tank with a larger tang like a kole tang. They seem to bully small angels.

My scribbled was captive bred from live aquaria, bought her in January at around 1.5 inches and is probably 4.5" now. Looking for a new home for the trio since I will be moving next year and they will need a much larger tank:

 

[Zionas]

Beautiful fish. Unfortunately no because I’ve decided to downsize the tank I’m going to get to just shy of 100 gallons. Because of my living quarters it’s not convenient for me to go anything above that. In the future I will have the Scribbled and other larger fish planned for what is hopefully a 180 gallon + tank.