Singapore Angel Experiences?

[Reefing102]

So I made an impulse purchase (with some basic online research beforehand) and bought a Singapore Angel. It’s about 2 inches and nice and fat (couldn’t get a pic as he’s hiding in the rock in my observation tank). Anyway I know they’re a 50/50 shot with coral, but anything I should be on the lookout for?

 

[LaloJ]

You must be attentive to the feeding of this fish since it's quite picky and does not accept food immediately, in fact I have never seen one of these fish eat with my own eyes, in internet videos it is something else. It's one of the prettiest angelfishes IMO and I also plan to house one with other tricky feeders like Multibarred angel, and some butterflies. You should offer frozen foods, clams, mussels and some seafood porridge, that should be enough since it has an ideal size to get used to food in captivity, keep an eye on the water quality.

 

[UMALUM]

I wouldn't worry to much about the coral if you have a really mature tank with lots of life. I would feed large tisbe while in observation and possibly for the first 2 - 4 weeks once transferred. The biggest hurdle I faced was finding one that was cleanly collected. So in other words if the fish dies in a month or so don't blame yourself. GL

 

[Reefing102]

Thanks for the replies! So far it appears to be picking at algae in the observation tank and explored the frozen mysis shrimp I fed (though was very skittish).

I did read a bit (after the fact of course) of the possibility of being collected with cyanide. I do have a local source for pods so that shouldn’t be too big of an issue. I’m looking at getting black worms or white worms just in case as well.

 

[Mark Goode]

Mine eats anything and everything. She's just finished a colony of green clove polyps. She solved my pulsing zenia problem too. I've seen her pecking at a duncan and a torch, but I didn't see any damage - so not a bite so much as a nasty suck.

As for 'proper' food: she gets nori, Ocean Nutrition angel fish food, Ocean Nutrition flake, Marine A pellet, Seaweed Extreme pellet, frozen mysis, frozen clam/cockle etc. But not all at once.

She's been in the tank since July last year, and she's a lovely fish.

 

[Boreas_SA]

My experience had been that they are very hardy, and will eat anything if you get a healthy one. Cyanide caught ones are doomed from the start unfortunately. A healthy one picks quite a bit a corals though. This is mine from 2015, had to rehome it as it nipped my clam if I remember correctly:

 

[Reefing102]

Thanks! My observation tank has a ton of GSP in it and so far no noticeable impact. That may change when it gets in my display with torches, hammers and sps. Though if it took out my Xenia or Kenya tree I wouldn’t be sad…

 

[Mark Goode]

Oh, I almost forgot: she ate a small red blastomussa too. Sadly, she won't touch kenya trees, and she only occasionally nibbles on GSP.

I find that if she's fed three or four times per day - starting soon after the lights come on - she's not too bad. She also likes to have a sheet of nori to peck at (even if she's not hungry and spits it out), in which case she'll leave the corals alone.

Quite a shy fish.

 

[Reefing102]

So just an update,

It’s doing well. Still shy as can be but will eventually come out if you stand still. Mine has taken a liking to my bowerbanki frag and appears to nip at my sinularia but so far has appeared to leave everything else alone and no significantly noticeable impact to either coral

 

[LaloJ]

That is good news, I hope your angel continue to be a model citizen, he is eating frozen or prepared foods?

 

[Reefing102]

That is good news, I hope your angel continue to be a model citizen, he is eating frozen or prepared foods?

He appears to mostly pick at the rocks. I’ve seen him eat frozen mysis no issue and also pick at pellets (grab them, spit them out, repeat). The biggest issue is he’s so shy and hides when I approach the tank, so the other fish quickly out compete him for food unless the mysis is pre-thawed out and flows back behind the rocks to his cave in the corner.

 

[Reefing102]

I guess I spoke to soon. Singapore was dead attached to a powerhead this morning. Honestly not sure why but yea.

 

[Mark Goode]

I guess I spoke to soon. Singapore was dead attached to a powerhead this morning. Honestly not sure why but yea.

I'm sorry to hear that, I know you did your best. I honestly don't know why I've been succesful with mine - I very much doubt it's because of my reefkeeping skills. The fish was feeding well in the tank at the shop, and continued to do so when transferred to mine.

Mine was quite small when I bought her, and I read somewhere (can't recall where) that smaller ones have a better chance of survival. If they're that difficult to keep though, perhaps they are a fish to be avoided. I just got lucky.

 

[Reefing102]

I'm sorry to hear that, I know you did your best. I honestly don't know why I've been succesful with mine - I very much doubt it's because of my reefkeeping skills. The fish was feeding well in the tank at the shop, and continued to do so when transferred to mine.

Mine was quite small when I bought her, and I read somewhere (can't recall where) that smaller ones have a better chance of survival. If they're that difficult to keep though, perhaps they are a fish to be avoided. I just got lucky.

No worries! It’s just a learned experience. My LFS has a couple more currently but I’m staying away from them.

 

[LaloJ]

I'm sorry to hear that, he probably just had an oversight while swimming, I have never had success with this fish and a lot of it is due to poor harvesting or poor storage during the journey to any personal tank.