Potters and Venustus Angel in a 125gal

[Sigmund]

Per the question regarding compatability I asked last week, I bought the Venustus angel last Friday. Thanks everyone for the feedback.

I had a small Potters about 2inches already in my 125, and just added the 2.5 inches Venustus angel. I did not re-arrange any rock work or do any other type of changes to ease the transition.

The Potters was pretty aggressive from the start, started getting into whirling fighting between the two. I put a blanket over the tank and turned off all of the lights to allow the new fish a chance to get comfortable in the tank without having to fight. It's now been a few days, and the Potter's is the more dominant and will occaisonally charge at the Venustus, but no biting or fighting occurs. It appears the Potters is less aggressive with the Venustus when it is on either end of the tank, doesn't like it as much when it is towards the middle of the tank. It seems they are getting more comfortable with each other every day.

From others past experience is this likely to be as good as they will ever get along? Or can I expect it to continue to improve over time. Any pst experiences would be greatly appreciated.

The Venustus is really beautiful I will try to get a picture of it to post soon....

[Stanton]

I would like to see a pic of your venustus angel. Where did you get it from?

[Sigmund]

I actually got it at a LFS store for $50.

It came in about 2 months ago and was priced at $125. I almost bought it on the spot, but had heard that they can be difficult, already had a Potters angel and thought this was too much risk for $125 dollars. After it didn't sell the first month they reduced it to $100. I kept checking it out every week when I went in there and it looked healthy, but I still didn't buy it. Then about a week ago they marked it down to $50 and i just couldn't take it anymore, fish was still healthy and such a great deal that i could no longer pass it up. Not sure why it didn't sell, was in great shape and had great colors, maybe the people didn't realize what a great deal it was...

Still hoping that the 2 angels will still get along a little better than they are right now, I assume if I keep them both fat and happy they will get use to each other. I will post a pic as soon as I can get a good one. Don't expect too much though my picture taking ability is not on par with some others that post on this board...

[Stanton]

I've been wanting one as well but just can't drop the cheddar. I could have on ordered but it would cost 160.00 to get one in. You got a sweet deal..I wouldn't passed it up either. Good luck with it and get some pics up asap.

[Sigmund]

Does anyone have any personal experience with multiple angels together that can tell me if the relationship continues to improve over time, and if so how long did it take. Or is it that a week in, it's as good as it is going to get.

My assumption is that it should continue to improve over time as they become more comfortable with each other.

Any info would be appreciated.

[Sigmund]

Update on the Venustus Angel:

It's now been a week and the Venutus has secured an area of the tank as his. His territory is pretty much 1/4 of the tank, when he is within this area the Potters will not chase him, although it will occaisonally give him the sideways stare down. When the Venustus goes outside of this area he will often get chased back to this area. No biting or nipping is happening, and both angels are eating well and look healthy.

Can I expect the realationship between the two to improve over time as they get more use to each other?

Would introducing a new fish take the newness of off the Venutus? Any other suggestions and or personal experiences that worked?

[Bret61081]

What kind of lighting do you have on your tank? I had a venustus for about 2 months in my 55g and it was doing great. The problem was when I upgraded to T5's it never came out of the rocks to eat and it eventually starved. I just picked one up yesterday that was eating live brine like crazy. Out of the 5 they had, this was the only one who went right after food so it was mine! Today he took some nice sized pieces of Mysis too which makes my life 100% easier! NO LIVE FOOD! It is currently in a 24G nano cube in my kitchen where it gets indirect light from my 95G. I want to get it used to lights slowly before putting it in my tank. The only other angel in there is a Watanabe so hopefully it will ignore it all together!

[LargeAngels]

If they have tolerated each other for a week with out any damage and they now have each staked out a place then the aggression should lessen, provided they continuously have enough food. If the food supply diminishes, feedings or natural browsing, then they may fight again. You will probably have the occasional flare up, but harmless. Another fish may help out if the potters feels that he/she needs to defend the territory from it.

My venustus pair never hides in bright light. One thing which I have observed is that this pair loves good flake food such as OSI, veggie flakes or HBH. I feed all the fish varied diets such as Formula 1 and 2, angel formula, mysis (large and small), some brine, cyclopezee, arctic pods, a mixed green food, Spectrum pellets, etc. But the Venustus prefer small mysis, flake and Spectrum.

[Sigmund]

LargeAngels,

Thanks for the info. My biggest concern longterm is that the Venustus territory is much smaller than the Potters, and ideally I would hope both fish are able to have the run of the entire tank. I never wanted my reef to be like a cichlid tank were the fishes all have defined territories.

By the way since you live in A2 thought you might find it funny that my wife named the Venustus "Bo" for "Bo Schembechler". Rather a strange choice since we are both Spartans, but it was also the first name I thought of. And we both liked Bo even as Spartans.

Have a good weekend...