Experiences with Purple Masked Angelfish?

[spicyshrimp]

Hi all,


The other day I took a trip to my LFS, and my eyes were immediately drawn to a rather large specimen of Paracentropyge venusta (about 4-5"). I really adore the colors on this fish, and having never heard of it before, I took it upon myself to try and find out as much as I could about them before thinking about buying one at a smaller size. However, they seem pretty uncommon in the trade, and from what I've heard elsewhere, they tend to be pretty finicky eaters. Thus, I want to ask all of you if you've had any experience with this fish, and whether you think it would be a decent choice for a 65g tank? Given that it seems similar to some of the other dwarf angelfish species in size and behavior, I would be inclined to say yes, although I want to hear what some more knowledgeable members here might have to say, especially since they are on the higher end of pricing and I don't want to be throwing money at the wind or foolishly harming one of these beautiful little guys.

Additionally, I have had a 2.5" coral beauty for about 6 months now, with whom I have never had any issues, coral nipping or otherwise. Even after adding some other fish later on, aggression has been virtually nonexistent from him, but I am somewhat worried by the potential lack of real estate for two angels.

Let me know what you all think!

 

[Dcal]

gorgeous fish that I never paid attention to until your post!

 

[spicyshrimp]

For sure! I'm surprised that they're really not a part of the conversation when it comes to angels, although I'm sure there's a reason I'm just not aware of yet.

 

[Reefing102]

Beautiful Angel. This may help if you didn’t already see this - https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/venustus-angelfish-paracentropyge-venusta-fish-spotlight.498/

 

[spicyshrimp]

Beautiful Angel. This may help if you didn’t already see this - https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/venustus-angelfish-paracentropyge-venusta-fish-spotlight.498/

Thank you for this! Looks like if I decide to go down this path, I should ask my LFS to hold it for a few days to see if it eats before I take the plunge, as I don't want to doom myself from the start. I still do wonder if my tank is too small, as most of the info I have seen on this fish being kept involves 100g+ tanks, although certain sources online list the minimum as being around 70g. Mostly I worry about there being not enough rockwork for the fish to graze on and hide in, being limited by a 3 foot tank.

 

[i cant think]

Thank you for this! Looks like if I decide to go down this path, I should ask my LFS to hold it for a few days to see if it eats before I take the plunge, as I don't want to doom myself from the start. I still do wonder if my tank is too small, as most of the info I have seen on this fish being kept involves 100g+ tanks, although certain sources online list the minimum as being around 70g. Mostly I worry about there being not enough rockwork for the fish to graze on and hide in, being limited by a 3 foot tank.

It definitely is perfect for a 65, this is an Angel that only really gets to 4” and not much bigger. It’s also a species that doesn’t swim much at all.

 

[Andreas' Reef]

They are beautiful fish but extremley hard to care for due to feeding issues

 

[14 foot reef]

I've had mine for 5+ years, eats anything

 

[LaloJ]

Hi all,


The other day I took a trip to my LFS, and my eyes were immediately drawn to a rather large specimen of Paracentropyge venusta (about 4-5"). I really adore the colors on this fish, and having never heard of it before, I took it upon myself to try and find out as much as I could about them before thinking about buying one at a smaller size. However, they seem pretty uncommon in the trade, and from what I've heard elsewhere, they tend to be pretty finicky eaters. Thus, I want to ask all of you if you've had any experience with this fish, and whether you think it would be a decent choice for a 65g tank? Given that it seems similar to some of the other dwarf angelfish species in size and behavior, I would be inclined to say yes, although I want to hear what some more knowledgeable members here might have to say, especially since they are on the higher end of pricing and I don't want to be throwing money at the wind or foolishly harming one of these beautiful little guys.

Additionally, I have had a 2.5" coral beauty for about 6 months now, with whom I have never had any issues, coral nipping or otherwise. Even after adding some other fish later on, aggression has been virtually nonexistent from him, but I am somewhat worried by the potential lack of real estate for two angels.

Let me know what you all think!

65 gallons seems to be a good tank size for Venustus angelfish, however you already have a beauty angel coral, which doesn't welcome other dwarf angels within the same tank most of the time, so plan carefully the new adittion. Keep a close eye on the water temperature, Venustus angel is a fish that handles cooler temperatures better, perhaps a couple of degrees cooler than your Coral Beauty, and be prepared with a variety of foods to offer as it's also a picky eater. Plentiful water circulation is important for maintaining Paracentropyge.

 

[spicyshrimp]

65 gallons seems to be a good tank size for Venustus angelfish, however you already have a beauty angel coral, which doesn't welcome other dwarf angels within the same tank most of the time, so plan carefully the new adittion. Keep a close eye on the water temperature, Venustus angel is a fish that handles cooler temperatures better, perhaps a couple of degrees cooler than your Coral Beauty, and be prepared with a variety of foods to offer as it's also a picky eater. Plentiful water circulation is important for maintaining Paracentropyge.

Thank you everyone for your responses thus far! I am willing to take the risk on this fish, and I have built a good relationship with the owner of my LFS so returning the fish if something goes wrong shouldn’t be a problem either.
l am also going to use an acclimation box to watch if the coral beauty shows any aggressive tendencies before fully releasing the Venustus into the DT.

 

[LaloJ]

Thank you everyone for your responses thus far! I am willing to take the risk on this fish, and I have built a good relationship with the owner of my LFS so returning the fish if something goes wrong shouldn’t be a problem either.
l am also going to use an acclimation box to watch if the coral beauty shows any aggressive tendencies before fully releasing the Venustus into the DT.

It has the constant attacks of the beauty angel coral, if you have the opportunity play a little with the aquascape to disorient the beauty coral a bit territorially, just before entering the Venustus, keep us posted.

 

[spicyshrimp]

Update for you all:

I brought the fish home earlier today, and put it in an acclimation box with the expectation of letting it out within the next few days. So far there has been no signs of aggression between my CB and the Venustus, which is reassuring. My LFS has held the fish for around two weeks before I picked it up, and according to the staff there it had been eating very well on mysis and brine. Attached here are some action shots of the little guy pigging out on some LRS food about 3 hours after I put him in

 

[LaloJ]

Update for you all:

I brought the fish home earlier today, and put it in an acclimation box with the expectation of letting it out within the next few days. So far there has been no signs of aggression between my CB and the Venustus, which is reassuring. My LFS has held the fish for around two weeks before I picked it up, and according to the staff there it had been eating very well on mysis and brine. Attached here are some action shots of the little guy pigging out on some LRS food about 3 hours after I put him in

A fish that is eating from the start is always encouraging, good luck and good work LFS.

 

[Tori]

Sounds like a pretty good find if the fish is eating already.

 

[spicyshrimp]

Update:

So about a week later, and the Venustus is settling in very nicely. He is eating well and getting along with most of my other fish. However, my coral beauty was showing a lot of aggression towards it when I added it into the main system, so I took it out and am planning to introduce it back in the DT later once the Venustus establishes its territory.

 

[BigRick]

I've had my Venustus for about 2 years. Got him about 2" he eats pellet, nori as well as mysis and LRS reef frenzy. He stays in my dominate SPS tank with high end torches and some ultra maxima clams. He'll nip at SPS polyps but doesn't seem to bother the corals much. If I don't feed him I lm sure he'll nip on corals even more. He does eat pods like crazy too and whatever pests he can find. I swims and grazes like a tang all day. He will hide if scared but comes out pretty quick. One of my fans. Your asking for death with 2 dwarfs in a 65. Just a matter of time. And usually el cheapo wins. He's on the very start of the video.

 

[LaloJ]

Update:

So about a week later, and the Venustus is settling in very nicely. He is eating well and getting along with most of my other fish. However, my coral beauty was showing a lot of aggression towards it when I added it into the main system, so I took it out and am planning to introduce it back in the DT later once the Venustus establishes its territory.

It was to be expected that the coral beauty was not so happy with the new addition, where are you hosting it? It looks like Venustus is off to a good start.