Emperor angelfish
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sawdonkey
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I had one for 4-5 years until my neighbor’s house fire ruined my condo and ruined my tank. I bought him a juvenile and he turned adult pretty quickly.
Mine was pretty mean, but basically lurked in a cave and opportunistically jumped out and chased at her fish briefly, always with a lound grunt. He never persistently chased.
With coral, he nipped at SPS from time to time, but it seemed to be out of curiosity and not hunger. He was fine with euphillia, but would suck the skin of LPS and now down zoas. I also saw him mow down a large patch of GSP in minutes.
Mine was pretty mean, but basically lurked in a cave and opportunistically jumped out and chased at her fish briefly, always with a lound grunt. He never persistently chased.
With coral, he nipped at SPS from time to time, but it seemed to be out of curiosity and not hunger. He was fine with euphillia, but would suck the skin of LPS and now down zoas. I also saw him mow down a large patch of GSP in minutes.
JCTReefer
Valuable Member
OP
OP
What size tank? Beautiful colors.I had one for 4-5 years until my neighbor’s house fire ruined my condo and ruined my tank. I bought him a juvenile and he turned adult pretty quickly.
Mine was pretty mean, but basically lurked in a cave and opportunistically jumped out and chased at her fish briefly, always with a lound grunt. He never persistently chased.
With coral, he nipped at SPS from time to time, but it seemed to be out of curiosity and not hunger. He was fine with euphillia, but would suck the skin of LPS and now down zoas. I also saw him mow down a large patch of GSP in minutes.
I’ma tempermental coral
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His name was Horse. Short for horses... well you get the point lol.
I’ma tempermental coral
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Don’t get me wrong!!!! I have seen my fair share of very well behaved Emperors!!! It was why we worked so hard to get the nutrients to coral keeping levels in the first place. We just weren’t so lucky with ours hahaha
I’ma tempermental coral
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Ours had a small bump there for a while. Maybe when he hit about 10 inches is when he got is little streamer. But I have definitely seen smaller Emperors with the streamer.
sawdonkey
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Same here. My tank is in my basement and I could hear mine from upstairs.
JCTReefer
Valuable Member
I’m just curious. Is this grunting a day time thing when the lights are on? Or is this happening in the middle of the night also?
I have an emperor in my 350 fish only tank. 4 years from 1.5 inch juvenile to a beautiful 7 inch young adult. Definitely the boss of the tank, including large Naso, and 6 inch broom tail wrasse and 4 inch Clown Trigger. Lots of grunting that is pretty amusing. He is in control, but has never actually tried to kill any other fish. He did scare 1 wrasse to jump out while my top was removed 1 day. Still, truly unbelievable fish.
JCTReefer
Valuable Member
I figured that Clown Trigger would be the Boss.
Haha!! If that Trigger only new what it was capable of. Lol.
sawdonkey
Valuable Member
He pretty much “slept” at night, like fish do. Also, at night, the other fish were “in bed” too, so he had nobody to bark at. He seriously sounded like there was a dog barking outside.
He had his cave and he didn’t venture out a ton.
JCTReefer
Valuable Member
That is just crazy! I’ve heard people say they bark or grunt. But never thought it would be that loud.
I kinda figured it was more of a daytime dominance thing. I was sitting here imagining me passing out on the couch and waking up to this barking fish in the middle of the night. Lol.
lagatbezan
Well-Known Member
This my big boy. He is about 15” and has been with me for over 7 years. He is the boss of the tank and almost everyone stay out of his way except the powder blue who is the actual boss lol.
he is grumpy at times and has a grunt that can be heard all the way across the house when he chases the other fish out of his way but it never gets physical and usually lasts a few seconds. Keeping them well feed is key to having them calmer and not as aggressive in my opinion. I feed heavily about 3-4 daily.
he is grumpy at times and has a grunt that can be heard all the way across the house when he chases the other fish out of his way but it never gets physical and usually lasts a few seconds. Keeping them well feed is key to having them calmer and not as aggressive in my opinion. I feed heavily about 3-4 daily.
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