Thinking of purchasing an emperor angel

[Schmoople]

I'm looking at adding an Emperor Angel to my tank but had some thoughts and
questions to run by some more experienced with them than myself. My main
question has to do with the growth rate on them, I'm wondering how quickly they
grow on average.

The second question I have is about tank size, I have a
240 and a 40 breeder. I want to get a very small emperor to hopefully watch the
full color change over the years. I'm reluctant to add such a small angel to my
240 as I already have an established regal angel (5-6 inches) and a flame angel.
I was wondering if it would even be possible to house the emperor in my 40
breeder for awhile while he/she grew up a little bit. I was also leaning this
way because the 40 breeder currently has no fish and a few different types of
corals, but nothing special. I was thinking this would be a good way to
quarantine him in a more normal environment than my basic qt tank and see which
corals he has a taste for before moving to the larger tank. Will this idea work
at all, or am I just better off purchasing a larger emperor and adding it
straight to the 240.

 

[revsgirl]

:bump2:

 

[Trex]

Since you already have the big tank, putting it in 40 breeder to grow out won't be a bad thing, and might actaully help it a bit. Though, I would put another fish or two in there -- as dither fish.

As for the growth, I have only kept a blue face angel (( as far as large angels go )), so that will be my reference.
I would guess that you would have about 6-9 months before it was too big for the 40.

My blue face went from this,

To this in about a year.

 

[Schmoople]

Thanks for the tip. I have been wanting some anthias of some type so I guess I could get a few of them to act as dither fish with the emperor. Beautiful blue face btw.

 

[Trex]

Thanks, that was from many years ago -- before I stocked for the current tank, and not the one that I planned on having. Still don't have that big tank.

 

[kmaintl]

Since your Emperor you want to pickup is junvenile, he shouldn't be a threat to any of your other existing angels. i don't think you'll have any problems putting him into the 240g after he's been quarantined for at least 4 to 6 weeks minimum.

 

[Trex]

Since your Emperor you want to pickup is junvenile, he shouldn't be a threat to any of your other existing angels. i don't think you'll have any problems putting him into the 240g after he's been quarantined for at least 4 to 6 weeks minimum.

IMO, the bigger issue would be the other fish picking on it, which can make it difficult to feed. I thought the OP's desire was to use the 40 as a grow out tank, and to get the young angel adjusted to eating prepared foods.

 

[kmaintl]

4-6weeks adjustment period in QT. if it doesn't become self-sufficient in eating hardily and quickly, it stays in QT until it does. i QT my fishes 2 months and when they go into the main display... usually no issue. juvenile angels are FAST.

 

[Trex]

I would still go with the 40 route -- dwarf angels can be aggressive to new additions, no matter how fast they are.

I had to remove a lemonpeel that was beating the snot out of my blue angel.

But, in the end it is the OP's choice.

 

[kmaintl]

Lemonpeel is one of the very few exceptions, they are one of the MOST AGGRESSIVE pygmy angelfishes out there. I never had problems with flame angels. I say he can go either way... the quaratine period will allow one a good time period to observe the juvenile angel.

 

[Trex]

I have had flames that were very aggressive -- even going after a pair of SI percs.

The OP wanted to treat the 40 as a natural QT.

 

[Schmoople]

I am leaning towards adding the emperor to the 40 breeder first, to let him get some size on him first and to use as a more natural qt tank.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Lemonpeel is one of the very few exceptions, they are one of the MOST AGGRESSIVE pygmy angelfishes out there. I never had problems with flame angels. I say he can go either way... the quaratine period will allow one a good time period to observe the juvenile angel.

I never knew this. My lemon peel is pretty docile. It does not bother anything in my tank. I guess I got lucky.

 

[Trex]

I never knew this. My lemon peel is pretty docile. It does not bother anything in my tank. I guess I got lucky.

All dwarfs will have their individual personalities. However, there are 2 dwarfs (( currently have 6 different species, have kept at least 11 different ones )) that I will never kept again -- lemonpeel and bi-color.