chaosfyre
Member
Hi guys, I'm new to the board though I've been lurking for a couple years, amassing information. Well, I just set up my tank in the beginning of January. Its 100 gallon tank, now with 120 lbs of rock, 90 lbs of sand/crushed coral substrate, a 110 AC hang-on-back filter, gravity fed sump with a 90 mag return pump. It cycled a few weeks ago, with bacterial inoculations and 5 lbs of live sand and 5-10 lbs of live rock to start it off. After it had been cycled, I did a 50% water change (in addition to previous smaller water changes). Since then the parameters have been perfect. Even while cycling the levels did not climb very high.
Anyway, last weekend I made a trip to the LFS in Houston and got a button polyp which is doing great, a mimic tang, a coral beauty, and a flame angel. I've heard dwarf angels can have trouble getting along depending on the size/age of the fish, the personality of the fish, when they are introduced (most aggressive fish should go last, or the fish should be introduced together), if there is enough algae to eat in the tank, and enough hiding places with natural "barriers" in territory planned out in the live rock.
Well, there was a sale at the LFS where all coral beauties in the store were $20 because they had more in than usual. I picked the healthiest one there, which also happened to be the largest one. It wasn't as colorful as some of the others in the store, but I the main reason I chose it was because of its personality. This fish had been housed right beside a much smaller coral beauty. The smaller one was swimming up and down the glass trying to get to the large one, while the large one totally ignored it and couldn't have cared less. I figured the large one was a good candidate for pairing with a flame angel.
I used the same logic with the flame-- the flame is much smaller than the coral beauty, and I've heard different reports about whether flames or coral beauties are more aggressive. Well, this particular flame was housed next to a lemon peel dwarf and the two completely ignored each other. I almost got the lemon peel as well since the two fish seemed compatible, but ended up with a mimic tang instead since I was warned lemon peels are notorious for nipping at corals. Plus, balancing 3 angels at once seemed a bit of a stretch, though my friends have done it before (even with 3 coral beauties being kept together, though it gave him trouble!).
I acclimated the fish and let the flame out first. Then I let the coral beauty and tang out. They both hid for a bit. I was really worried about whether they would get along, so I laid low for the next hour or two and watched. They came out almost right away. The coral beauty seemed curious about the flame, lazily following it around a bit. The flame would swim off, and the beauty would lose interest until it saw the flame again. The two of them ended up choosing crevices right next to each other instead of spreading out... probably because one crevice is big for the beauty, and the other is tiny for the flame.
Well, let me just say, I am so glad I got that tang!!! He helped the process out immensely. The tang kept trying to buddy up with the angels! Can you believe it? How strange. He would sidle up to them as if trying to cuddle, then graze along side them. The angels were having none of it, and would swim off. He would sedately follow, grazing along beside them. The flame fitted in places he could not follow, so he ended up tagging along behind the coral beauty for the most part. And a good thing, too, because the beauty would catch sight of the flame, start following, then the tang would come along behind the beauty, and the beauty would immediately dart off. You could literally see it thinking, "Whoa! I'm not the biggest fish in here... what does this guy want? It keeps following me!" The tang acted like a mediator, following whichever angel was out at the time, like a bodyguard.
All in all, the acclimation process was very peaceful, no nipping or chasing or darting about. Just circling slowly and eyeing each other. I got the fish Sunday night, and now it is Tuesday. The fish now totally ignore each other, swimming beside each other along with the tang. The tang is very friendly with both of them, but neither seem to respond to the tang either way. They don't mind him following them anymore, though. I've been feeding more algae pellets than usual until the seaweed I ordered comes in. The key to a peaceful, content fish is to make sure they are getting enough of their diet. They are so busy grazing they hardly have eyes for each other! And of course, the emerald and hermit crabs love the algae pellets too, as well as the lawnmower blenny and even the wrasse and sand-sifter goby...Also, the algae does not cloud up the water like other foods do, and my critters are voracious algae pellet eaters. For the most part, whatever I put in is gone over night. Besides that, I've been alternating brine and flakes.
I am glad I got the beauty angel I did, and not a more "colorful" one. Almost as soon as I put my beauty in, his color became vibrant and gorgeous. I guess he was not happy in the tiny store tank, though the smaller ones seemed fine.
Here is a video of Monday night, a full day after the fish were introduced:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFJLUti2vQo
Anyway, last weekend I made a trip to the LFS in Houston and got a button polyp which is doing great, a mimic tang, a coral beauty, and a flame angel. I've heard dwarf angels can have trouble getting along depending on the size/age of the fish, the personality of the fish, when they are introduced (most aggressive fish should go last, or the fish should be introduced together), if there is enough algae to eat in the tank, and enough hiding places with natural "barriers" in territory planned out in the live rock.
Well, there was a sale at the LFS where all coral beauties in the store were $20 because they had more in than usual. I picked the healthiest one there, which also happened to be the largest one. It wasn't as colorful as some of the others in the store, but I the main reason I chose it was because of its personality. This fish had been housed right beside a much smaller coral beauty. The smaller one was swimming up and down the glass trying to get to the large one, while the large one totally ignored it and couldn't have cared less. I figured the large one was a good candidate for pairing with a flame angel.
I used the same logic with the flame-- the flame is much smaller than the coral beauty, and I've heard different reports about whether flames or coral beauties are more aggressive. Well, this particular flame was housed next to a lemon peel dwarf and the two completely ignored each other. I almost got the lemon peel as well since the two fish seemed compatible, but ended up with a mimic tang instead since I was warned lemon peels are notorious for nipping at corals. Plus, balancing 3 angels at once seemed a bit of a stretch, though my friends have done it before (even with 3 coral beauties being kept together, though it gave him trouble!).
I acclimated the fish and let the flame out first. Then I let the coral beauty and tang out. They both hid for a bit. I was really worried about whether they would get along, so I laid low for the next hour or two and watched. They came out almost right away. The coral beauty seemed curious about the flame, lazily following it around a bit. The flame would swim off, and the beauty would lose interest until it saw the flame again. The two of them ended up choosing crevices right next to each other instead of spreading out... probably because one crevice is big for the beauty, and the other is tiny for the flame.
Well, let me just say, I am so glad I got that tang!!! He helped the process out immensely. The tang kept trying to buddy up with the angels! Can you believe it? How strange. He would sidle up to them as if trying to cuddle, then graze along side them. The angels were having none of it, and would swim off. He would sedately follow, grazing along beside them. The flame fitted in places he could not follow, so he ended up tagging along behind the coral beauty for the most part. And a good thing, too, because the beauty would catch sight of the flame, start following, then the tang would come along behind the beauty, and the beauty would immediately dart off. You could literally see it thinking, "Whoa! I'm not the biggest fish in here... what does this guy want? It keeps following me!" The tang acted like a mediator, following whichever angel was out at the time, like a bodyguard.
All in all, the acclimation process was very peaceful, no nipping or chasing or darting about. Just circling slowly and eyeing each other. I got the fish Sunday night, and now it is Tuesday. The fish now totally ignore each other, swimming beside each other along with the tang. The tang is very friendly with both of them, but neither seem to respond to the tang either way. They don't mind him following them anymore, though. I've been feeding more algae pellets than usual until the seaweed I ordered comes in. The key to a peaceful, content fish is to make sure they are getting enough of their diet. They are so busy grazing they hardly have eyes for each other! And of course, the emerald and hermit crabs love the algae pellets too, as well as the lawnmower blenny and even the wrasse and sand-sifter goby...Also, the algae does not cloud up the water like other foods do, and my critters are voracious algae pellet eaters. For the most part, whatever I put in is gone over night. Besides that, I've been alternating brine and flakes.
I am glad I got the beauty angel I did, and not a more "colorful" one. Almost as soon as I put my beauty in, his color became vibrant and gorgeous. I guess he was not happy in the tiny store tank, though the smaller ones seemed fine.
Here is a video of Monday night, a full day after the fish were introduced:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFJLUti2vQo
