Breeding Flame Angels

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1 Apr 2008
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East London
Hello everyone. These little fish amaze me to no end. I think they would be a wonderful addition to anybody's aquarium. Sadly they have a hefty price tag attached to them... Recently ive been contemplating to setup some breeding tanks and trying to have them reproduce so that I could sell them to the public. I have a few questions though before I get to ahead of myself.

A) Has anybody in SA successfully bread these marine fish? I know overseas its been done. But as to local?
B) What is the cheapest you have seen a Flame Angel go for in a Pet Shop?

Also, if you feel that there is anything else I should know please post. Flame Angels are a pricy endeavor to mess up on...
 
A) Not sure
B) R600 - some time ago...
 
More like R900 - 1000.00 now :(

Could easily be, I'm a bit out with pricing at the moment. That was the last I saw a Flame's price - about a year ago.
 
Saw some for R750 a couple of months ago.
 
I think the BIG question still is breeding these creatures regardless of price.

They carry such a hefty price, because tank breeding is very difficult and wild populations are very much in decline.
 
OK, if you can tank breed Flame Angels, you will be one of forerunner in breeding these fish. Seems to not have been done yet. Sexing seems to be impossible, so a large school would need to be purchased and certain females will change to males

Here some links:

Flame Angel, Flame Angelfish, Centropyge loriculus

Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine - Media Review: Important Advances in the Aquaculture of Marine Angelfish

Breeding Marine (Saltwater) Fish

http://www.library.umaine.edu/theses/pdf/CallanCK2007.pdf
 
Yup, I have what are allegedly a mated pair. They do cute little dances with each other, and never fight. However I'm not sure how one can determine whether they are truely mated.

Regarding breeding, finding the right food for the fry in the first few weeks is apparently the big challenge. It's been done before, but apparently exactly what food they succeeded with is being kept a secret.

I saw some at Sam's a few months back for R850 ea, but there's na ways I'd pay that much for a freshly imported fish. Too risky.

I paid R1100 for my pair, but they'd been in a local tank for years. Four months later they're looking very healthy.

Q
 
FWIW, I have a spawning trio of C. argi here at home in Chicago, IL. Centropyge angels are hemaphrodites, so if you get them small enough, and start out with 2 or 3 in a large enough tank, they will grow into a pair/trio, with the dominant and largest fish being a male.

Dwarf Angelfish have been successfully spawned and reared in captivity by a few individuals at this point. It's definitely difficult still! There may be mulitple suitable first foods, but at least two have definitely been identified and both are calanoid (pelagic) copepod nauplii (babies). I have been able to hatch my C. argi pretty much anytime, but haven't had any luck getting them past the starvation point.

I helped compile the breeding overview for the Centropyge genus at MOFIB - Marine Ornamental Fish & Invert Breeders Association :: View topic - Dwarf Angelfish-<i>Centropyge</i> Breeding/Spawning Overview - there's a lot of info there that any aspiring Centropyge breeder should know - I hadn't seen that PDF article, so I'm making sure to add it (thanks for posting it!)

FWIW,

Matt
 
Yup, I have what are allegedly a mated pair. They do cute little dances with each other, and never fight. However I'm not sure how one can determine whether they are truely mated.

Regarding breeding, finding the right food for the fry in the first few weeks is apparently the big challenge. It's been done before, but apparently exactly what food they succeeded with is being kept a secret.

I saw some at Sam's a few months back for R850 ea, but there's na ways I'd pay that much for a freshly imported fish. Too risky.

I paid R1100 for my pair, but they'd been in a local tank for years. Four months later they're looking very healthy.

Q

1100 for the pair is a giveaway
 
FWIW, I have a spawning trio of C. argi here at home in Chicago, IL. Centropyge angels are hemaphrodites, so if you get them small enough, and start out with 2 or 3 in a large enough tank, they will grow into a pair/trio, with the dominant and largest fish being a male.

Dwarf Angelfish have been successfully spawned and reared in captivity by a few individuals at this point. It's definitely difficult still! There may be mulitple suitable first foods, but at least two have definitely been identified and both are calanoid (pelagic) copepod nauplii (babies). I have been able to hatch my C. argi pretty much anytime, but haven't had any luck getting them past the starvation point.

I helped compile the breeding overview for the Centropyge genus at MOFIB - Marine Ornamental Fish & Invert Breeders Association :: View topic - Dwarf Angelfish-<i>Centropyge</i> Breeding/Spawning Overview - there's a lot of info there that any aspiring Centropyge breeder should know - I hadn't seen that PDF article, so I'm making sure to add it (thanks for posting it!)

FWIW,

Matt

Matt, welcome to the Forum. Is there any chance you can open your own thread and introduce yourself, as it sounds that you are very knowledgeable and would certainly help us fellow reefers a lot. Thanks for the input by the way:thumbup:
 
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