ok first thing you want to ask yourself, do i have a big enough tank, 125 gallon or bigger. the next question is, is my tank mature, 6 months or older. then the final question is, how good is my water quality. if your water quality is not good you will find out fast with these guys because they will become splotchy in color. if you qualify these first 3 questions then you have to decide where to get the emperor. make sure the one you buy at the store is healthy, no marks or diseased looking. then you don't want to pay any more than 80 for them, but a lot of places at least around where i live sell them for 60. also make sure it's eating. if it doesn't eat skip it and go to the next store. once you find it, it is very easy to take care of. feed it 3-4 times a day as these guys in the wild are constant grazers. when you feed them this much make sure it is small quantities though as you do not want to mess up your parameters. make sure you have a large cleanup crew just in case as well. this is what i feed my queen angel which would be a good idea for you to feed your emperor, feed them formula 2 ocean nutrition flake or pellet. i feed mine flake. i feed him brine shrimp with spirulina in it. nori or seaweed once a day. mysid shrimp everyso often, angel diet with sponge as the #1 ingredient. test your levels once a week to make sure cause these guys will drop if your levels are off. also when you first bring it home hopefully you have a qt tank. leave him in the qt tank for 2 weeks just to be safe. it would also be in your best interest to have a cleaner shrimp, a large one for the emperor to clean himself. also if you do get a cleaner shrimp do not feed your emperor krill or plankton or anything that looks like shrimp as they might as well eat your cleaner. mine does fine with the cleaner i have. good luck
