Watanabei Angelfish

Daenion · May 9, 2023

Is it better to have watanabei angelfish in pairs or threes or by themselves?

I have a 130g display and was wondering if I cannkeep a male and female in there. Also do they have issues with tangs?

Snoopy 67 · May 9, 2023

I started with a trio of females. When the dominant purple tang was rehomed 1 turned to a male.
Males do not ship well, tried it & lost.

Griev · May 9, 2023

I have 5 in my 200 (2 males, 3 females), they're very social animals and the dancing they do for each other is one of the best parts of having them. Imo you shouldn't keep them alone.

nuxx · May 9, 2023

Griev said:
I have 5 in my 200 (2 males, 3 females), they're very social animals and the dancing they do for each other is one of the best parts of having them. Imo you shouldn't keep them alone.

5 sounds nice!

Tcook · May 9, 2023

I have one with a bellus in my 120. They do great together.

jda · May 9, 2023

They do fine alone, but also well in pairs or groups. I would get smaller females since they are not usually as picked over. These are deepwater fish, need to be decompressed correctly and command a premium price. Often the best larger males go to Japan or China and only the less hardy ones seem to make it to the US. If you see one that is not swimming well, then walk away.

Griev · May 9, 2023

nuxx said:
5 sounds nice!

They're my favorite! I also have 3 female spotbreasts in there too.

nuxx · May 9, 2023

Griev said:
They're my favorite! I also have 3 female spotbreasts in there too.

Very cool!

Wish I had more Angels in my tank, just the Bandit and Masked.

Went hard on Tangs...

Daenion · May 9, 2023

Thank you very much for the replies. The purple tang comment was a bit scary.

Currently I got a hippo (5ft tank) and that is it for bigger fish. I was going to add a purple tang and one or two other.

Any suggestions that are reef safe?

Janet Belanger · May 9, 2023

I have just one and she rules the roost! She's so personable, spits water at me, and does some 'sharking' and zipping around (skimming the top of the water) when she's super stokked to see me (i.e. anytime I walk by the tank and there's a chance she'll be fed).

Ultimately, I concur with the issues with acclimating them in this thread, I tried a couple and they both got fast moving bacterial infections while in QT. I gave up because I don't want to encourage collection of fish that don't fare well in captivity. I gave up, until the LFS made me an offer I couldn't refuse. They offered me a super deal and asked me to come get one that had been in store for a few months. She's been with me for nearly 4 years now.

Griev · May 9, 2023

My biggest male also splashes at me if he thinks it's been too long since I've fed them. Then he likes to swim sideways to show off. They have a ton of personality.

Snoopy 67 · May 9, 2023

I got all small females when I started.

jp_75 · Jul 18, 2023

Tcook said:
I have one with a bellus in my 120. They do great together.

Have you introduce them together? I’m planning 180-200 gallon tank and really want Watanabei in. Right now have Bellus who i think is becoming a male. Wonder if they should be placed together in new tank?

Tcook · Jul 18, 2023

Bellus went in first bya few months iirc. Both were female.

Sean_B · Jul 18, 2023

insightful info for my "someday" tank.

my personal vision is to have a female Watanabei and a male SwallowTail Tiger, someday hopefully soon

Griev · Jul 19, 2023

jp_75 said:
Have you introduce them together? I’m planning 180-200 gallon tank and really want Watanabei in. Right now have Bellus who i think is becoming a male. Wonder if they should be placed together in new tank?

It will depend on the genders and sizes of your fish. The general rules are that the biggest will eventually become male, the presence of a larger male will prevent females from turning male, and in most cases multiple males won't tolerate each other.

I have a 200 gallon with 5 Watanabe (2 male/3 female) and 3 Spotbreast Swallowtails (all female) and they all currently get along.

Having two males in a tank doesn't typically work, and I believe is only working in my case because I originally got a small male and two females, one of them larger than the male. She eventually turned male, but was used to the other small male and now tolerates him.