multibar angel

[milsj099]

anyone here keep a multibar angel

[rssjsb]

I've got one.

[milsj099]

what size tank do you have? and how long for?
im finally getting one in the next week after lots of research, and just want to here what advice other people have about them

[rssjsb]

I obtained mine last summer (almost exactly a year ago) from another hobbyist who was breaking down his tank. So I already had a leg up in that the fish was acclimated and eating well.

He's in a 185-gallon tank with three other angels - majestic, singapore, and potters - a Kole tang, rabbit fish, clowns and a pair of filefish.

Other people posting here have described their multis as obnoxious or even nasty. Mine has not been that way. After some initial hazing from the tang and majestic, he settled in pretty well.

The potters went in later. After the initial challenges from the bigger fish, he started bullying the multibar. I thought I was going to have to remove the potters, but it subsided after awhile.

He eats pretty much anything I put in - frozen, pellets, occasional formula 2 flakes. He also loves nori and grazes the rock all day.

I should mention that he does sample my sps from time to time, but I haven't noticed any real damage as a result.

HTH.

[milsj099]

should he be added before or after the lemonpeel angel
or should i add them both at the same time?

[rssjsb]

I don't have any experience with lemonpeels, so don't know where they are on the aggressiveness/territoriality scale. However, I can't give you any advice without knowing the basics.

How big is your tank? How long has it been running? What else is in there? What's your QT situation?

[milsj099]

its a 55 gallon,
with a quarantine tank
running about a year,
just changed my stock recentely,
lots and lost of live rock,
i know its risky putting 2 dwarf angels in a tank that small, but im going to risk it.
weve got a clownfish, royal gramma and a blue damsel, then were adding the two dwarf angels

[jcw]

I have one in a 72g for the past 6+ months with a small tang, butterfly and a couple percula clowns and a blenny.

Does fine. Eats flake and NLS pellets well. Medium shy. Seems to be on the smaller side of the dwarf angels. A lemonpeel can get kinda big. Looks almost like a small butterfly more than a dwarf angel to me.

[albano]

its a 55 gallon,
with a quarantine tank
running about a year,
just changed my stock recentely,
lots and lost of live rock,
i know its risky putting 2 dwarf angels in a tank that small, but im going to risk it.

both the Multibar and Lemonpeel are not easy to keep! Unless you know that they are already eating and doing well, you may lose them!

[milsj099]

im friends with my local fs and they have said they will get them both on flake and keep them for a week

[albano]

i know its risky putting 2 dwarf angels in a tank that small, but im going to risk it.


im friends with my local fs and they have said they will get them both on flake and keep them for a week
After checking you other posts, it appears that you already lost some 'difficult' fish...I see that you're 'going to risk it', unfortunately it's the fish that must 'pay the price'!

IMO...the odds are against them eating in a week

[milsj099]

i have lost some difficult fish but have suceeded with others, as every time i fail, i learn more the next time. i wont buy the fish unlesss there eating, i know the odds are against me, but hopefully i will succeed :cool:

[LobsterOfJustice]

I would not expect the two angels to get along in a 55g.

[nonimmigrant]

its a 55 gallon,
with a quarantine tank
running about a year,
just changed my stock recentely,
lots and lost of live rock,
i know its risky putting 2 dwarf angels in a tank that small, but im going to risk it.
weve got a clownfish, royal gramma and a blue damsel, then were adding the two dwarf angels

I've had a harem of 5 for years now (they are in the 400g now) and they are one of the more difficult centropyge in terms of getting them to eat. Your LFS telling you that they can get them on flake in a week is terribly optimistic based on my experience with this species. Now, you've not said what species of clown your keeping, but I will tell you that you should get rid of the damsel and think about the gramma. If you are keeping a larger species of clown, it will harass the multibar.

I would keep the multibars in QT for a min of 6 weeks but do keep a piece or two of good LR in there. IME, they will pick on the LR for a week or so before taking clams or mysis. They are also rather skitty when first introduced, so try to avoid walking back and forth in front of the tank a lot in the beginning.

Good luck.

[milsj099]

its a young blakc clown, and thanks. my localfish store said when they go up to TMC(an english wholesaler) to pick there fish, they would pick one that is already eating

[albano]

my localfish store said when they go up to TMC(an english wholesaler) to pick there fish, they would pick one that is already eating
IMO...most wholesalers 'turn' their inventory weekly/quickly...
the odds of them finding one that is already eating are very low (~0%)... your friends at the LFS are BSing you... you need to do a lot more research before buying any more 'difficult' fish and find another store!

[milsj099]

maybe your right, thanks for the advice, i will post u on how it goes

[ataller]

I believe it took around 3 months to get my multibarred to actually eat pellets.

Consistency and persistence being the key.

Good luck.

[ryanrid]

IME with difficult angels (multibar, golens etc) it take approx 6 weeks for them to start taking prepared foods, so when qt you should have quality live rock for them to eat from with pods and sponges to get thru this period.

[Chad Vossen]

Even with a tank full of live rock, corals, and algae, I've been unable to get a multibar onto prepared foods. I've quarantined them in a 80 gallon reef every time. lots of sponge and stuff to eat. they make it 2-3 weeks...

[milsj099]

in your opinion are the golden or potters hardier than the multibar angel ?

[albano]

in your opinion are the golden or potters hardier than the multibar angel ?
:thumbdown come on! get serious...find an angel that has an 'easy/beginner' care level!

[sandwi54]

:thumbdown come on! get serious...find an angel that has an 'easy/beginner' care level!

+1. In my honest opinion, hard-to-acclimate angels like potters, multibar, etc. shouldn't even be imported. Only a very small percentage of them make it in a home aquarium and it's just throwing lives away...

There are over 50 species of dwarf angels, and at least half of them acclimate well to captive life. Why don't you look into one of them. There's gotta be one that appeals to you.

[milsj099]

i love the multibar angel, and am determined to suceed with it. i am going to give it a try, even thought its a expensive try :)

[wayne in norway]

Yes, but you'll chop thro' 4 or 5 before you get disillusioned and learn.

I have a number of dwarf angels now, and have kept plenty in the past, and I cannot get these to feed properly, and they invariably die after a few weeks, and I do not think that Potters, lemonpeels are hard fish to keep at all as a reference point. Unless you think you really can do something special then I would avoid them unless the LFS really do have one that eats.

Words of warning
1. TMC are a good wholesaler, but they can't keep a fish like this hanging around working on it to get it to feed. I would assume all the time it's there it's further starved and closer to dying.
2. Putting it in an LFS and showing it a bit of brine or pellets is not likely to get it to feed. Again, every day there is a day close to death.
3. They are normally too big - I like to buy very small Centropyge - way easy to work with. Whenever I see these they are much too big - >5cms for me to be really comfortable with. If I saw a really small one I'd be a lot more motivated.

If it really does eat heartily in the shop, rip their arm off. If it jsut looks ok forget it.

[sandwi54]

i love the multibar angel, and am determined to suceed with it. i am going to give it a try, even thought its a expensive try :)

I wouldn't call it an "expensive try." multibar angels are not expensive compared to a lot of fish. However, unless you are experienced enough and can actually do something different to get the fish to eat and stay alive in captive life, I would just think it's morally wrong to buy such a fish. You are likely to have many of them die before you get lucky to find one that eats. Remember, for every fish you buy, that creates market demand and the divers take another one out of the ocean, so essentially you are killing these fish, even though you don't directly do it.

Buy fish for your experience level and be content.

[albano]

i love the multibar angel, and am determined to suceed with it. i am going to give it a try, even thought its a expensive try :)

VERY expensive for the 'poor' fish!

[Sheol]

Another note here, Lemonpeels are pretty aggressive for Centropyge and will dominate/prevent the Multi-bar from eating. You will need passive fish here, not rowdy ones..

Sincerely,
Matthew

[rssjsb]

I just want to say I completely agree with all of the other commenters here. Your determination and motivation aren't really the issue in whether you can succeed with this difficult fish. In addition, adding one with another centropyge in a smallish tank will just mean that the multibar will take to the rocks and it will be even harder to get it to eat.

I was lucky enough to come across someone who was taking down his tank and had a healthy well adjusted fish. Unless you have similar luck, don't do it.

[dbraun15]

I will add in my current experience and mirror what many here have said. I currently have one which has been in QT for about 6 weeks and will likely remain there for a couple more months.

Being in its own QT tank allowed me to feed it up to 8 times a day with various foods until it gravitated towards something it ate. Once there, I was able to work with other foods until now it will eat a number of prepared foods.

Of course with this process I had to do daily water changes as well as treat it for Flukes and other diseases that eventually cropped up.

The point is, this is not a fish that you can simply pick up, and simply hope for the best. It can be worked with to adjust it to captive life, but it takes tremendous effort and I am not sure that 'giving it a try' fits into that category.

I wish you well, it is a beautiful fish, but please proceed with respect for what will be necessary.