Bullying Coral Beauty  3/30/08
Hello Crew!!
Long time no talk and a special hey to girl wonder Mich!!
<Hi Melissa, Mich back with you! Girl wonder! Heehee! Funny! I do make people scratch their heads and wonder.>
Well a lot has happened since my last email. True to Bob's advice I have kept my head down and been reading.;)
<Never stop learning!>
Let me give a short update on what has been happening. I had a tank crisis.
<Been there, done that!>
Basically the 55 G sprung a leak so I had to purchase a new tank.
<Oops!>
Yay Me I guess.
<Gee, darn!>
I moved on up to 135 G!!
<Whoohoo!>
I can finally get a tang!
<Yay!>
So we made the move rather uneventfully.
<Good to hear!>
I stored everything in totes at temp with powerheads while everyone had a short stay in a 30G. So everyone ( coral beauty, 2 blue green chromis, Ocellaris Clown (Shirley she's a big girl hehehe) chocolate chip starfish (you may remember him because of your great advice he is thriving grown
almost an inch and a half in the year I have had him)
<Wow! Stars typically don't do well in captivity! I am surprised, but I do wish you continued success here!>
a camelback shrimp, a cleaner shrimp, and 10 Astreas) made the move and it has been rather uneventful as far as chemistry wise. One would think with all the extra room the inhabitants would be happy. That's not necessarily the case here.
<Uh-oh!>
I have arranged the tank so that the rock is basically on the ends of the tanks with the middle being somewhat open.
<ScottF would be proud! He does a rather humorous talk on "Aquascaping For The Aesthetically Challenged" He calls this the twin peak formation. Almost makes you wonder what twin peaks he is referring to! Heehee!>
There is approx. 45 lbs on either side arranged in a series of caves.
<Sounds very nice! Have any pictures? Email them to the site, to Scott's attention. Maybe he will use them in one of his presentations at IMAC or MACNA this year.>
The coral beauty has completely taken over everything.
<Hmm, some dwarf angels can be aggressive but this species generally isn't. Fish, like people sometimes don't fall into stereotypes, you got a very "special" one, "lucky you"!>
It keeps attacking Shirley every time she tries to come near the rock and explore. She has a bruise on her upper right side above her fin that I have been watching.
<Yikes!>
Then just a bit ago he went to the cleaner shrimp for a cleaning and when he was done turned around and had a go at him.
<Wow!>
Both of the shrimp pretty much stay in hiding at this point.
<I guess they are wise!>
I am wondering what I can do to resolve this?
<I would try to remove him from the system, rearrange the rockwork, let the other more docile fish establish themselves for a month or so and then try reintroducing the Coral Beauty.>
He swims back and forth patrolling the length of the tank like the Gestapo.
<You could call him Colonel Klink!>
I am planning on adding some livestock but am somewhat scared to for fear he will just have a go at everything I put in the tank.
<I think you need to remove him for a bit.>
So I am wondering if I should just try to arrange the rock differently instead although I really don't want to do that.
<You could try just removing him and letting the other fish establish themselves, but I think you are more likely to have success if you rearrange some of the live rock.>
I am going to add more rock as well but had wanted to wait a bit as I spent a small fortune just on the tank.
<Understandable.>
So what are your thoughts here? My options as I see them are 1. Try to find him a good home.
<A viable option.>
2. Move the rocks and change the territories
<A good option! But I think you need to remove him from the system for a while or the Colonel will think you're expanding his penthouse >
3. Add more fish (essentially putting a bigger kid on the playground)
or a combination of those options.
<I'm not so sure about the third, you just may end up with a bigger bully. I would start with removal and rearrangement. Add new fish to the mix. Let everyone get comfortable and then try reintroducing Colonel Klink.>
Also in the meantime is there anything special I should be doing for Big Shirley?
<Maybe finding him a little Squiggy?>
She is swimming and eating fine. Her activity has remained the same. I worry though because as long as she sees him coming she turns and waves her body at him and he backs off but as soon as her back turns though and she isn't paying attention he rams her. Although he does leave her be at night while she is resting.
<I think Colonel Kink need to be put in the stockade... read isolation, for an attitude adjustment.>
Sorry for babbling.
<No worries! I do it all the time!>
I'm sure by now you realise it is just my nature. Hehehe
<Mine too!>
Thanks again for your help. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
<Hope you get the Colonel under control and peace and quiet is returned to the western front of TV Land.
Cheers, Mich>
Melissa

C. bispinosus swimming erratically   2/6/07
Hello to the crew of Wet Web,
<Brandon>
I have something of a strange problem on my hands.  I have a C. bispinosus that I bought from a rather irreputable LFS.
<Mmmm>
  I was watching it in the store, and it seemed to be quite fine.  I bought it and a C. ferrugata.
The C. ferrugata is doing quite well.  He/She has come out of hiding and is running around eating food off of the live rock.  The C. bispinosus is out and running all over the place, and here it comes.  The little bugger is swimming very very erratically.  It looks as if it is playing in the current.
<Happens some times...>
  There is an electric blue damsel that seems to be mimicking him, as he only does it when the C. bispinosa is around.  Furthermore they are only doing this on one side of the tank.
<Ah, a clue>
The left corner.  Earlier today all of the fishes went to the corner that all of this strangeness is occurring in and found something that appeared to be very interesting in the top corner.
<Yes, themselves>
I looked, but there was nothing there.
<Due to the properties of optics and water... if your head were in the tank, you'd see "it" too>
  Ok, so I was wrong, I just looked and the C. bispinosus is going all over the place in the whole tank.  I looked all over WWM, for an answer but I did not see one that matched this particular query.  My water is within normal parameters:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Copper: 0
Phosphate: Undetermined as of yet.  I don't think that it is too high.
There are no wacky algae blooms, or other such mess.
Alkalinity:  Again not sure I lost the instructions to the test, so I will be buying another soon.
Calcium:  400 mg/L which suggests that the Alkalinity is in acceptable ranges, as I do not add supplements.
Flow is random and over one thousand gallons per hour.
I will add that I thought that they all had Cryptocaryon, but on further inspection and research I realized that the "white spots" were actually O2 bubbles.  I caught one and the spots went away.  I have not even began to look into medications yet.  I will accept the loss of one fish before I will accept the loss of all the fishes, and the cnidarians/sessile life.  I will also add that I QT'ed the C. Bispinosa, as well as everything in the tank save the H. crispa, for a month or more.  I know that I should have QT'ed the H. crispa, but I don't have lighting that would have allowed it to survive the QT time.  I was also thinking about stress as these are sensitive inverts.  I will add that the H. crispa ejected some red/brown slime like substance which appears to be a byproduct of metabolism, A.K.A Mouth poop.  One entrance/exit jeeze...  Each fish tried to eat it and found it to be unpalatable.  Is this stuff toxic?
<Yes, mildly usually>
  Just one more thought on the erratic swimming.  Is it possible that the fish is reacting to it's own reflection in the glass and might be attempting to mate/spawn/fight?
<Bingo! This is very likely the case>
I know that I have seen certain Wrasses react to mirrors in a myriad of ways, could this be a possible explanation?  
<Yes>
Some of the other fishes have "noticed" themselves in the glass but they quickly loose interest.  Oh yes.  One other thing happened today.  A curious fish knocked a Sarcophyton elegans off of it's perch and into the H. crispa today.  
<Yikes...>
The S. elegans did not make it.  I was thinking that this could be related, but wouldn't it be systemic?
<Not likely related, but not healthy either>
As in wouldn't everyone be getting poisoned as opposed to one particular fish?
<Yes, confirmed>
The H. crispa appears to be fine.  I will know more in a week or two.
Thank you for all of you wonderful advice, and help thus far.  I apologize for the overtly long query.
Brandon R. Foster
<Try placing a piece of dark paper over the one panel (on the outside)... Not to worry. Bob Fenner>

Re: C. bispinosus swimming erratically, incomplete understanding of Crypt lifecycle...  2/19/07
Hello all,
It is not that much later, but I have figured out what the issue was.  The C. bispinosa was in fact reacting to it's own reflection.
<Ah, quite common>
I have allowed algae to take over both sides of the glass, and he/she has since stopped the erratic swimming.  The fish did however, wind up with a slight Cryptocaryon infestation.
<Mmm, perhaps "stress" related, eh?>
I tried to catch it, much to no avail.  I really have no idea how people are capable of catching these guys in the wild.
<Two nets...>
I left the little guy in there, as I thought that I might kill it by over stressing it.  I left him with the hope that it might clear up on it's own.  
<Uhh, no... it won't>
I came into possession quite by accident, I might add of a Pseudocheilinus hexataenia.  Right about the time the C. bispinosa disappeared, so did the P. hexataenia.  When they both reappeared, a day later, the C. bispinosa was quite clear of any malaise.
<Mmm... no my friend... the Crypt has simply "cycled off"... it is still there... will be back "with a proverbial vengeance"...>
I wonder did the P. hexataenia clean him?
<No>
I have not seen any mention of them doing this in the wild, although I have heard of them doing it in aquaria.  Do you guys, and gals know of this?  At any rate, the H. crispa is doing fine, and has taken on a much more brown/tan color.
<Ah, good>
  So I guess that it is none the worse for wear after the brush with the S. elegans.
A special thanks to Mr. Fenner on this one,
Brandon R. Foster
<Brandon, please do read re Crypt on WWM: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mardisindex.htm
scroll down... Scotter and I's articles re... So you know what you're up against. Bob Fenner>

This Beauty Is Acting Goofy
Hey guys,
<Hi there! Scott F. your guy today!>
I tried to get to the chat room to post this question but it seems to be down this morning?
<Not aware of any problems...I'm sure that we'll check it out>
Anyway I got a question about my coral beauty. She seems to be acting a little out of the norm the past few days. She cleared out a area in the back of the tank and won't let any other tankmates go near it. She also has been acting grouchy with the other tank mates and not feeding as well as she used to. This is really unusual for her because she is normally very peaceful. The only signs of anything is her fins are a bit frayed probably from her clearing this nest like area. There are no signs of any parasites or anything and all my tank levels are normal. Thanks for any advice you can toss my way. Rob.
<Well, Rob- as far as the "nest" is concerned-this is somewhat unusual for a Centropyge angelfish to do, but certainly not unthinkable. This fish may just be trying to establish a "home base" of sorts to retreat to when he/she feels that it is necessary. I would not be overly concerned about this behavior at this point...Just keep an eye on her to make sure that there is no injury resulting from the "clearing" behavior. Regards, Scott F>

Hyper-beauty (Dwarf Angel on speed) 4/2/03
Probably a strange question, but here goes....!!
How active are Coral Beauties?  Mine, who's about a week old in the tank, has become Speed Racer and zips around!! 
<not at all normal for the reclusive dwarf angels... most any fish. Often caused by stress (low pH, e.g.) or even excessively bright lights (MH) or a mirrored reflection in the glass (causes pacing back and forth with reflection). Many possibilities here>
No aggression with the other fish (who seem mildly appalled from time to time at his antics), looks great, eyes clear, eats like a horse, and is very personable when he catches me watching.  He doesn't look ill, and water parameters are fine.  Other fish in tank (only 2 smaller guys) look great and are eating well too.  Is this just normal behavior?
<not really>
Also...odd little story. have a very small tank-raised Common Clown (adorable little guy) who for the three months I had him in the big tank seemed a little retarded.  Never saw him eat, hung out in a top corner, sometimes head down like a vampire, sometimes floating on top of the water with one fin waving feebly.  Every day we thought was his last.  Finally, one day he actually went after food (we were shocked) and apparently caught the attention of the Yellow-tailed Damsel (nasty thing) who began to chase and nibble on him.  I promptly took him out and had him in a fishbowl w/ airstone until he went to the Great Reef in the sky.  Well.....he loved it....swam, ate, interacted with me etc.  So, now he lives in a 5g tank with BioWheel, live rock, and a blue claw hermit for company...and is healthy, eating like crazy, and very cheerful.  Go figure!!!
<rather shy it sounds <G>>
Anyhow, thanks for any info on above question...I'm still fairly new to this, but am reading everything I can find, and thoroughly enjoy your website!! Allison
<no worries... you are very observant and conscientious... kudos to you, my friend. And best regards, Anthony>

Coral Beauty- scared of itself...HELP
    Hey, awesome website! A few days ago, I took a trip to a local fish supplier and purchased a M/F pair of adult Fire Gobies which are just stunning. Surprisingly the Domino Damsel doesn't harass them at all...perhaps he's scared of the extended fins (Lol.)
<Maybe>
I also purchased a very nice looking Coral Beauty angelfish. It's about 3 inches long, in good physical shape, and has some great coloration. It also is eating Spirulina and dry food really well. However ever since the lights came on the next day, all it has been doing is swimming close to the glass from one side of the tank to the other, and occasionally "attacking" its reflection in the glass.
<Happens>
Apparently he thinks that his own reflection is another Pygmy angel, and due to the aggressive nature between most pygmy angels, he insists on attacking it for hours every day. Any suggestions? It is no doubt causing tons of stress on the fish.
<I would try taping a piece of paper against this glass panel... this will obscure the fish's reflection>
This morning I awoke to find very light white spots on the angel, all over the place (seems like stress-induced Ich...not sure yet) I can treat this easily with medication, but it still won't take care of the stress problem. I didn't quarantine any of the fish upon arrival because the quarantine tank's pump had died out sometime that day.....what are the odds of that? However, I acclimated them with the lights off, etc. I have a (sort of) fish-only 75 gal. tank, with about a dozen hermit crabs.  
Thanks in advance for your help, and please reply back to this address with any solutions/questions.                                                                                                     -Bryan  M.,  Pennsylvania
<Try papering over the outside... and if the ich, stress continues... remove this fish to a separate treatment tank... Bob Fenner>

Coral Beauty Angel, not eating & gulping????
Hey guys I just found your site last week and I LOVE it. So much info... I just started my tank about 6 weeks ago & everything is great. I've been working with my local fish shop (found it hard to find 1 I could trust) and my water etc is perfect.... I test almost every day.....Anyway, we have had a yellow tail blue damsel for about 3 weeks and he is great. We recently purchased a coral beauty (doing fine) and a mated pair of gold stripe maroon clowns and their host anemone. The female is clown is excellent and they are both using the anemone but our little boy hasn't eaten all week (since we bought him home). he swims around a little but seems to like to stay in the one area behind or under the anemone. She seems to bite at him often but he isn't scared away. She is bossy but otherwise friendly. He seems to be gulping?? quickly (hard to describe) and has a small scrape on his side but still seems healthy. I'm worried about the not eating and the gulping.
<Me too...>
Iv offered heaps of different foods but not interested. None of the other fish are having prob.s and I'd hate to lose my little Nemo (blame the kids). Sorry so long but hope you don't mind. Id give specifics on tank size etc but I'm in Australia and haven't figured out how to convert litres, kilos etc into gallons and pounds for you.......xxx Roxi
<Have you read our archived FAQs on Dwarf Angel Disease, Feeding, Coral Beauties? Please see here: http://wetwebmedia.com/marine/fishes/angels/centropyge/index.htm
and the linked FAQs, Articles (in blue, at top). Bob Fenner>

Banggai Cardinal & Coral Beauty angel questions  12/17/05
First let me tell you that I have a 60 gal tank w/a protein skimmer, wet/dry filter, a UV sterilizer; and 32 lbs of live rock.  In the tank now are a bicolor blenny, two Banggai cardinals and a coral beauty angel.  I took a water sample to a very reputable fish store a week ago, and everything tested great.
<Non-informational>
Now, about my Banggai cardinals.  I feel pretty stupid asking this, but here goes.  I purchased two Banggai cardinals a week ago.  They have been doing great.  They hid and hardly came out for about 3 days (I didn't even see them eat).  But then they started to come out a little more
each day, and now they are out almost all the time and eating well.  Here's my question.  I noticed tonight that there a white spots on their fins.  I didn't notice these spots before, but then, I didn't really look.  The problem is, these fish have spots all over them.  Do they normally have spots on their fins, or could this be ich?
<Do have spots as coloration... Crypt looks different... smaller, more discrete, raised>
My next question is about my coral beauty angel. I have had this fish since June of this year and it has done great.  Two weeks ago I got rid of my Picasso trigger because I kept hearing that it would limit me on any more fish purchases and would eventually cause a problem with the fish I currently had.  In order to catch the trigger, I had to rearrange all of the live rock.  After the trigger had been gone about 3 or 4 days, my coral beauty started hiding more (I did create more hiding spots when I rearranged the rock), and stopped eating.  It stays near the bottom all of the time (it
is swimming upright, not on it's side).  I feed Spirulina, frozen brine shrimp, Prime Reef flakes and green marine algae.  At the recommendation of the fish store, for the past two days I have fed the fish a frozen angel and butterfly diet.  Last night I saw the coral beauty take one bite of it. When I fed the fish today, the coral beauty started moving around more, but I never saw it eat.  I know that it could be getting food that goes down
into it's hiding places and I not see it eating.  There are no spots on the fish, no torn fins, and it's not looking thin.  The only thing I really notice is that the color on its head seems to be fading some.
<The behavior of this fish sounds about "normal", some loss of color can occur...>
Otherwise, it looks okay.  Do you think the hiding and not eating is because of the change in the fish and moving the rocks around?
<Likely this has had an effect, yes>
Any suggestions?  Once again, thanks so much for your help.
LaVonda Black
<You are quarantining new livestock before adding I hope/trust. Do take a look on WWM re Banggai Cardinal appearance, Centropyge behavior. Bob Fenner>