dwarf/pygmy angels in nanos

[newbiecarlz]

Ive seen a few posts around re these and am looking for some clarification..

 

has anyone kept these in a nano, and if so for how long?

 

what size tank are they being kept in? ive seen it recommended as 20-30 gal as the minimum size on this site, but other sites are saying anything less than 50gal-ish is too small ???

 

my next question is why does a small angel need 20-30 or 50gal when a damsel which has the same kind of size and activity level can be put in much smaller tanks?

 

for example at my local LFS they have blue damsels that reach 8cm max size and flavicauda angels that reach 8cm max size, why is the damsel ok for just about any size but the angel needs so much bigger??

 

is it simply because angels need more room to be 'mentally' happy (ie they stress in smaller tanks?) does anyone have any experience in this regard?

[Pili4444]

I belive that angels are much more of a grazer and need a substantially larger area to do this.

[DarkXerox]

Well I have a cherub in mine, they have specially designed foods for them that include more things that a herbivorous fish tend to like. But it seems to eat pretty damn anything I feed it, flake, pellets, formula 1, pygmy angel formula, mysis, etc.

 

Another option would be a flameback angel. They look almost the same except for a bright yellow stripe on their back.

[offsprg01]

flme angels and cherub angels look nothng alike. their coloration is totaly diffrent. do a search on this site and you can see that.

[canesfan44]

dark said flameback angel, not flame angel; they look very similar

[offsprg01]

oops sorry my mistake they do look very similar. stupid dsylexia

[Kogut]

I have a pygmy (cherub) angel in my tank. It's a 20 Long w/ a CPR hang on fuge. He's grown to his full size and is best friends with my evil alpha b*tch clownfish. He's constantly swimming around in front of the rock-work and has a great personality. Sometimes it will attack a hermit crab or the pepp. shrimp, but it always retreats to the caves with little or no harm done. Hasn't been nipping @ my SPS, either. *Knock on wood* I honestly wouldn't keep it in anything less than a 20Long because of all the swimming room they like and LR they need...

 

Feeding... Mine eats Formula 2 like a pig. It also eats any baby snail it sees on the glass or rocks, pods, mysis, any bloody thing it manages to see, it will eat. It out competes the lazy clownfish for food since the clown only leaves the anemone 1x per day to cruise with the angel around the right side of the tank.

[Sushi]

i would suggest 20g tanks to be the minimum, but it seems like xerox has had some success with keeping one in a nano-cube. but to be on the safe side, nothing less than 24'' with an ideal 30'' minimum should be the best choice for dwarf/pygmy angels

[BKtomodachi]

I love flamebacks... they are so cool, and *almost* always reef safe.

[supernip]

I want a golden angel

[offsprg01]

i think flame backs my be related to cerub or pygm's which ever you prefer. ??? i'll look it up when i get home. i'm sure it's in a book i have some where.

 

i miss my cherub :*(

[brianemone]

i have a dwarf angel in my 22g (coral beauty)

 

its very happy, doesnt nip at corals loves flake food and caleurpa

 

make sure there is enough swiming room, they like swimming around in caves and through things

[Tempest]

I keep a cherub in a 20 long FOWLR. He gets along well with the other fish (percula, unidentified wrasse) and eats anything and everything. I feed the tank frozen formula 1 and 2, flakes, mysis shrimp, cyclopeeze and angel food (ocean nutrition).

 

The reason some fish need more room than others, regardless of size, is the environment they come from. Fish like tangs and Angels are open-water fish and spend a lot of time swimming around looking for food. They can become stressed in small environments. Typically dwarf angels aren't recommended for any tank smaller than 30 gallons, but I know of others who keep cherubs in 20 longs. However, I wouldn't keep any other pygmy angel in a tank that small.

[EtOH_is_good]

definately have lots of places for the angel to swim and hide. my cherub is constantly in motion cruising from one end of the tank to the other by going in and out of the rockwork. ocassionally will swim in open spaces, but really sticks to the countless number of different paths from one side to the other. when i'm working within the tank, it'll hide within the rockwork, so make sure there's also some space for that.

[archaeoreefer]

I've had a pygmy cherub angel in my 20L tank for about 6 months now. He's fully grown at 2-3". I feed him a small amount of bloodworms (Hikari) in the morning, and a pinch of Formula 2 (1? whichever the herbaceous version is) in the evening. Pretty much eats out of my hand. Otherwise he forages on the live rock. Be sure you have enough live rock. I wouldn't worry about too much open space (although some open space is good), better to have caves and ledges and such for him to hide in and swim through (mine goes spellunking through even the narrowest of openings in my rockwork!). He'll hide there at night. Never nips as my corals or other inverts.

 

Other so-called dwarf angels can grow upwards of 5-6", and 20gs just isn't going to cut it--although flamebacks, Potter's, Coral Beauty's etc. are a little smaller. I'd think you'd want a 30-40 gallon for these; especially if you plan on keeping other fish. But watch out! Angels can be territorial, so you'll want to be careful when adding other fish (I had a six line wrasse in there with mine for awhile and he was harrased to death); if you can, buy them at the same time and introduce them together, otherwise there'll be a senority-based pecking order. But the pygmy is generally more relaxed than most. I keep only the one fish in there now.

 

Hope this is useful.