My Centropyge acanthops harem, African Flameback Dwarf Angel

[atoll]

My flameback was the only angels in a tank and stayed female like you said! Now I’m pairing her but she’s a little big haha

Get another female and your existing flameback will change to male.

 

[jaganshi066]

Get another female and your existing flameback will change to male.

I will, just setting up my new tank so I can put them in at the same time

 

[OrionN]

@OrionN about what size in inches should the pygmy and flameback species be but together before they start to change sex permanently? But not too small that they go down the grates in the overflow?

Sorry I did not see this until now. I don't have that much experiences with small Flameback. The smallest I keep was about 1 inch, both Flameback and Flame angels. I ordered 5 small Flame Angels from Live Aquaria many years ago. Three arrived DOA. It was a bad experiences at that time. They were on sale and I waited too long to ordered. I was able to get the two emaciated angels to live. After about 6-8 months I ended up with a pair that spawned in my tank.

I dont think you will be able to get too small angels, unless you get captive bred angels.

 

[OrionN]

I was under the impression that once a female turns to male it can't revert back to female no matter what.

Reverse sex change have been clearly documented, well establish by observation by reefers but also well documented in scientific papers.

 

[atoll]

Reverse sex change have been clearly documented, well establish by observation by reefers but also well documented in scientific papers.

That's very good to hear, so with any luck putting 2 fish together should result in a pair then even if they are introduced as 2 males.

 

[Dolphins18]

OrionN, very cool angels, and love the nem!
I have been considering a trio of dwarf angels but am unsure which to go with. I have experience with multiple flames, but would like to try something new.
Where there any other trios you considered prior to the flameback?

 

[atoll]

My pair of multifaciatus angels the multibar angel I had 3 years ago. You wint see pairs of these igether every day. I moved house 2 years ago I broke the tank down a sold all of it apart from some of my equipment.

 

[OrionN]

That's very good to hear, so with any luck putting 2 fish together should result in a pair then even if they are introduced as 2 males.

It is possible but MORTALITY is high. I would not attempt it since it is easy to sex Flameback angel. Don’t put together two male or a male that is smaller than female.
it article I read in a 55 gal tank with plenty of rock, mortality of the loose is around 75% if my memory does not play trick on me. Look it up

 

[atoll]

It is possible but MORTALITY is high. I would not attempt it since it is easy to sex Flameback angel. Don’t put together two male or a male that is smaller than female.
it article I read in a 55 gal tank with plenty of rock, mortality of the loose is around 75% if my memory does not play trick on me. Look it up

That's OK, I had no intention of putting 2 makes together. I now have a male and w females, I am pretty sure.
On another note and given how I have sexed pygmy Angel's in the past via body shape, I have never failed to sex them this way in about 10 attempts with both agri and Acanthrops When visiting an LFS with say 4 or 5 pygmy Angel's there has always been more makes than females usually 3 or 4 males to a single female.

 

[Zionas]

Oh really! You’re trying to pair your Flameback? Good luck!

 

[Zionas]

I think Pygmy angel pairs go very well with damsel pairs. Basically the same size as many smaller damsels but different body shapes. That’s something I’m going to do for my setup.

 

[jaganshi066]

It is possible but MORTALITY is high. I would not attempt it since it is easy to sex Flameback angel. Don’t put together two male or a male that is smaller than female.
it article I read in a 55 gal tank with plenty of rock, mortality of the loose is around 75% if my memory does not play trick on me. Look it up

I need to look for a good sized male then cause my female one is a pretty decent size

 

[Zionas]

I’m going OrionN’s route and putting in 2 in the 1.2”-1.6” (3-4cm) size range haha hopefully both will still be females.

 

[atoll]

I think Pygmy angel pairs go very well with damsel pairs. Basically the same size as many smaller damsels but different body shapes. That’s something I’m going to do for my setup.

I mainly keep small fish along with my flameback I 5 sapphire damsels which are very peaceful.

 

[Zionas]

Nice. How do the Sapphire Damsels behave with each other? Have any of them paired up?

 

[atoll]

Nice. How do the Sapphire Damsels behave with each other? Have any of them paired up?

They hangout together and are still very young and small. No aggression between any of them so far.

 

[OrionN]

I need to look for a good sized male then cause my female one is a pretty decent size

In this case I put in a smaller female, rather than a large male. Small female is much easier to find, and cheaper than large male.
Also, I prefer to find smallest fish of the species to put in my tank rather than "show size" specimen.

 

[Zionas]

I agree completely. Big show size fish often don’t adapt as well either.

 

[Zionas]

Good to know. Hope you have them for a long time.

 

[jaganshi066]

I agree completely. Big show size fish often don’t adapt as well either.

I don’t really like the bigger fish

In this case I put in a smaller female, rather than a large male. Small female is much easier to find, and cheaper than large male.
Also, I prefer to find smallest fish of the species to put in my tank rather than "show size" specimen.

same but I see that the really small ones which aren’t captive bred have a hard time surviving for some reason. I like the small ones just not tiny tiny