Re: Coral Beauty     1/13/15
Hello Bob,
Bruce here.
I am following up on previous email.
My previous nitrate measurement was incorrect it was around 5.0 I failed to complete my math on it.
It is now slightly under 5 and Phosphates are undetectable.
<Mmm; well chemo-photosynthates need HPO4>
All current fish and corals are doing well.
<Ahh, good>
The lighting fixtures have been move back down.
Me of all people should know, let thinks settle down and then change them slowly.
I have always told others I know just keep things stable otherwise leave things alone as much as possible.
<A worthy approach>
Some of my green corals are now either green and blue, all blue or purple. my purple Acro's are still purple with some red and pink tips.
Everything is doing nicely.
Also I will admit I have heard good and bad about certain inhabitants, but I will now state if your Coral Beauty is picking excessively on your corals, better look at the health of your corals. Since all the corals are doing well it has not touch them.
<Ah yes>
I want to say WetWeb is a great service and thank you guys for all your help and info.
<Thank you for your kind, encouraging words. Bob Fenner>

Coral Beauty Feeding 3/24/2011
<Hello Ray>
I recently purchased a coral beauty for my 125 gallon aquarium with an assortment of small damselfish and an auriga Butterflyfish. While the coral beauty seems interested in frozen brine shrimp and mysis shrimp, it hasn't eaten yet. I added an algae clip because I think the live rock doesn't have much living things on it anymore. I was thinking of doing a water change, but I was wondering if you had any other ideas of what I could do to help it on it's way.
<Best to read here.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/c_bispinosa.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/corlbeaufdgfaq.htm
James (Salty Dog)>
Sent from my iPod
<Sent from my Dell desktop>

Coral Beauty Question 11/07/08 <Hi Erin> We bought a beautiful coral beauty about 3 weeks ago. Today when I got home from work she was laying on her side at the bottom on the tank flopping around. She looks like she is dying, any suggestions? <Before we can answer the question, we need a lot more information. Water conditions Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, pH, salinity are a good start. What are your Coral Beauties tank mates? How did you acclimate your fish? Was he eating? How was he acting during the last three weeks? Give us some more information and we can try to address your question.> Have a Great Day !!!!! <Take care and good luck - BrianG> Erin Dukes

Centropyge Feeding Issues...and Defiance or Maybe ...   3/29/06 Hi, <Hey Joe, Adam J with you tonight.> I have had a coral beauty for about two weeks now, and it has not eaten anything. <Not uncommon with new specimens.>   I saw it feed vigorously in the fish store.   <A good sign…it is at least willing to eat captive fair.> It tries to eat mysis shrimp that I throw in the tank, but for some reason spits it out after a few seconds. <Look at the positive though…..it is showing interest, maybe offer a better variety, try some krill, squid, fresh clam/scallop meat, ocean nutrition Centropyge (pygmy-angel) formula….and consider soaking any of this fair in a nutritional supplement such as Selcon.> Other then his lack of appetite, he behaves  completely normally and has no visible ailments (except a pinched stomach).   <Is this specimen in quarantine or in the display competing with other livestock for food?> I have also tried feeding him dried algae and Caulerpa, which he shows no interest in.  All other fish are well and eating.  He is behavior clearly tells me he is not being intimidated by any other fish.   <Ahhh, I have my answer…no quarantine.> Any ideas?? <I would continue to offer food, different foods….and just wait for the time being…..since s/he is in display I surmise there is some live rock as well for the animal to graze upon, no?> Thanks Much, <Anytime.> Joe Marano <Adam Jackson>

Bicolor angel/disease?   3/4/06 Hi Bob <James today> I'm a huge fan and love your book. <Bob thanks you.>  I have a 125g FOWLR tank that's been running for almost three months now.  My bicolor angel just started to rub his face against some of the LR yesterday and has no physical signs of any parasites. <May be too early to see.>  He's  looks good and has been eating fine though.   Do you think this is the beginning of ICH ? <Don't know> What should I do right now ? <I'd watch closely and at first sign of disease transfer to QT.> Leave him there or give him a dip and QT for several weeks? I was thinking of doing a five minute Methylene blue  dip and QT with Cupramine for two weeks. <I really don't like treating fish unless I know for sure that they are infected.  Was the fish in QT before going into the display?>  In the main tank I also have: 1 blue throat trigger, 2 Clarkiis, 3 Chromis Your help is highly appreciated.   It's a tough hobby, <Not so tough, as long as we don't make it tough.>  buts it's people like you who keep us going ! thanks <You're welcome.  James (Salty Dog)> Peter 

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>

Two Questions: Compatibility related, of course  11/17/05 Hello WWM Crew - I have two questions for you to answer, one being a little more difficult than the other. I recently picked up a complete used system from a fellow reef enthusiast who was being forced out of the hobby. I initially was only looking for a new tank and stand to upgrade an existing set up, but was given an offer that I could not refuse. For the price that the stand alone would have cost me, I received a tank, stand, 96w Power compact fixture, heater, BakPak skimmer, HOB filter, Canister filter, HO overflow, fuge, live rock, live sand, clean up animals, and 3 fish. The fish are a Gold-stripe Maroon clown, Coral beauty, and a yellow-tail damsel. It also included 15 different species of corals and other sessile inverts.  <Wow! Great find!> Unfortunately, the previous owner had informed me that the tank included a Koran angel rather than a Coral beauty. Other than the obvious difference in the cost of the fish, this created a more immediate problem for me. I already have a mature Coral Beauty which has been in my main tank for well over a year.  This leads me to my first question:  Are there any steps that can be taken that will maximize the success of keeping two coral beauties in the same tank? I know that it is notoriously hard to keep more than one species of dwarf angel together, but I know that people have had success keeping multiples of the same species. The Coral Beauties would both be in a 40 gal tank, that is aquascaped to create multiple territories through the use of coral and "sand spurs". (Sand spurs are open areas between coral banks that divers follow in reefs.)  <I would say that you may have some chance of success in a very large tank (greater than 180gal), but I have a hard time recommending even a single coral beauty in a 40 gallon tank... two in such a small tank is out of the question.> My second question relates to the reason why I was upgrading my tanks in the first place. I have a juvenile Naso tang and a juvenile Panther grouper which I purchased when they were both around 3" in size. I was well aware that these are both large growing species and require large tanks, however since I knew I would be upgrading my system in the NEAR future I figured that the juveniles would be ok. I watched the Naso and the Panther very closely to make sure that neither outgrew their current tanks and to make sure that I had an appropriately larger setup available. Initially I planned on putting both the Naso and the Panther together in their larger tank, but I am beginning to worry that this is destined to be a major problem. At this point the Naso is approximately 4.5" long and the Panther has reached a little over 5". I am pretty sure that these two fish would not have any problems, however I am concerned that the panther might go after the other 3 tank residents. There is a 4" coral beauty, 3"+ Gold stripe Maroon clown, and a Blue Devil damsel. I am not concerned about the damsel as the Grouper has been around damsels without incident for the entire time I have owned it. There are plenty of hiding spaces in the tank which they could easily get into but the grouper could not.  <Hmmm... I would not be so confident in the safety of any of these smaller fish. Anything that can fit into the groupers mouth is likely to become food at some point.> Knowing that it is generally advisable to put in the most aggressive fish last, I have held off introducing the Panther grouper. My initial thought is that I should place it in an internal fuge to see its reaction to the other fish. If its highly aggressive, I may be better off keeping them separate.  <Aggression and predation are different phenomena. I wouldn't expect the grouper to be especially aggressive, except towards other similar predators. It is, however very likely to be predatory on the smaller fish, especially as it gets larger.> What is your opinion on the possibility of successfully keeping such an aggressive fish with those other tank mates. I already hand feed the grouper to make sure that he is well fed at all times and with one questionable exception involving a wrasse, he has never "disappeared" any tank mates. Thank you. Art  <All of our aquarium keeping choices require some compromise. If you want to keep your grouper, the compromise is to exclude any fish small enough for it to eat, or live with the fact that they may very well be eaten. Best Regards. AdamC.>

Popeye on Coral Beauty Angel  11/15/05 Greetings! <Salutations> Great Site!!!! <Thank you> Yesterday morning, I noticed my Coral Beauty Angel had a case of Popeye (in just one eye). As the day progressed, it became larger. Thanks to your site, I found that it must be an injury and I can treat with Epsom Salt, which I did yesterday evening @ 1 Tbsp per 5 gallons. This morning the eye looks worse yet. It's eye is very large and now because he's been flicking his eye off of the live rock, he's damaging it. <Mmmm...> Is the flicking because the Popeye is as irritating as it looks, or is there some other problem that I'm not aware of. <Hard to tell... but magnesium sulfate does take a while (a few days generally) to effect positive, visible change> Is there anything else I can do besides wait and pray for the best? Any info would be greatly appreciated Brandy Cook <If the system is otherwise stable, optimized, I would just leave the fish in it, along with the Epsom, and hope. Bob Fenner> 

Sick Coral Beauty  9/19/05 Hi Guys <How goes it?> I kinda feel guilty having to bother you, but I have a Coral Beauty in need. <Not a problem, that's why we volunteer :)> I have a 20 gallon tank (a little small) with two protein skimmers, both for 60 gallon tanks and I'm using carbon and Poly Filter with 20-25% water changes weekly. <Sounds good> The water is 78 F, S.G. 1.024 , ph 8.2 , ammonia  0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0-5. <All good> The animals are 1-Coral Beauty (Sunrise), 1-Black Clown (Dab), 1-Banded Shrimp (Aunt Tennay), 1-Turbo Snail (Wetfoot). I've had them for a little more than a year. I was feeding Brine shrimp with Spirulina almost exclusively (my mistake I think). <Not nearly varied enough, and brine shrimp do not provide much nutritional value> I'm now feeding seaweed (red and green), Spectrum dry, an omnivorous and an Angel formula with sponge in it. <Great!> Sunrise has fading color to the point of spottiness in places, lightly tattered fins and has done some twitching and scraping, is losing his appetite and hides too much now. The quarantine tank is ready but I can't figure out if I should use it or what I would do if I did. <Keep up the varied diet...try to get a hold of some live Mysid shrimp (www.Reed Mariculture.com is a great source of live foods of all types) to feed Sunrise as well.  Don't make the move to a quarantine tank until you can positively identify a disease.  This will hopefully work itself out.  Everything else you're doing is fine, so for now it's just wait and see> Thanks for any help you can offer. <Anytime> James <Michael Maddox>

Electric Scallop - 09/12/05 Recently, I purchased an "electric scallop" from a local pet store.  They stated they are hardy and easy to take care of. <<I disagree>> Now, from having read your website, I realize that this was not an accurate statement. <<Nope>> I added the scallop to my tank of Friday, and now today (i.e. Sunday), my Coral Beauty fish died. <<Likely not related.>> The Coral Beauty was established in the tank and was showing no signs of being sick or stressed.  The chemicals in the tank are in acceptable ranges.  I did see the Coral Beauty picking at the scallop a few times but didn't think it looked too serious. <<Not for the fish anyway...>> Did the Scallop kill the Coral Beauty? <<Don't think so...would look to different causes.>> From what I've read the chances of success with the electric scallop are low as it will is mostly likely starve...right? <<Correct...better left in the ocean in my opinion.>> I could likely convince the pet store to take it back especially since they misrepresented the sale. <<Worth a shot...EricR>>

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>

Flame and Coral Beauty angels fighting         -greetings from rainy Chicago! << Greetings from snowy Salt Lake. >> I did a stupid thing and took the advice of a LFS in my area that I've never visited before and now I have a coral beauty and a flame angel in my 54 gallon tank TOGETHER! (yikes). the new flame angel immediately started chasing my poor coral beauty whom I've had for a year and truly care about. << I wouldn't have been too worried about this, so I'm surprised to see such a problem.  Especially caused by the new fish and not the old fish. >> I'm going to try and return him but I strongly have the feeling that they won't take him back and I just don't want to give a $60 fish away, (not that I have anyone to give him to). << Lots of hobbyists and clubs in the Chicago area. >> I also have a blue tang, yellow tang, blue devil damsel (small), and two Percula clowns. do you guys have suggestions or helpful advice to aid my dilemma. I care about my fish and don't want to see any of them die of stress. << Well if you can catch him, then I'd keep him in the tank is something like a breeding trap for a few days.  If you can't easily catch him then I wouldn't do anything.  The more you mess with the tank the more likely you are to stress the other fish. >> the flame angel will chase the coral beauty for a second and then call off the chase but he does do it frequently. the coral beauty doesn't seem distressed but then it's only been a day. I was thinking if I add some more LR for hiding spaces and just watch for a week maybe they'll get used to each other. the flame angel is slightly bigger which is another concern. I've gone through all your FAQ's and didn't find anything to help me in my situation. only advice I found was advice I should of looked for before I bought the fish, (won't make that mistake again)!! please, please, please help. thank you again for your site, I now know where to go for unbiased advice!! << Yeah I really think I would do nothing and just wait it out.  Probably not what you were hoping to hear but that is what I would do. >>         -thanks, heather <<  Blundell  >>

Coral Beauty and dropsy Whitney Alan Gray wrote: >Hello all, <Hi, MikeD here> >     Long time reader, first time writer here today.  My question >concerns a Coral Beauty with what I believe to be Dropsy.  No other >livestock appear to be affected.  I have a 1.5 year old 46 Gal tank >with 50 lbs of live rock, a Hot Magnum, Magnum 350, asst powerheads, a >sea clone skimmer, a UV Sterilizer, and a 288W PC fixture.  As far as >stocking goes, I've got a yellow tang, a coral beauty, a lawnmower >blenny, an ocellaris clown, a royal Gramma and a Niger trigger.<Here's part of your problem, with the tank being severely overcrowded, usually a major precursor for problems such as yours>  I also >have a feather duster and a Condylactis anemone.  Water parameters are >fine, with nitrates being at about 20ppm. >      The story with the coral beauty goes as follows:  About a week >ago, I noticed a small white speck of what appeared to be fungus on the >coral beauty's side, and a small slit in it's caudal fin.  After >several days, the slit had gotten larger, and the fungus was now the >size of a large grain of salt.  With this, I decided to medicate (day1) >using Melafix and PimaFix.<These are primarily additives for recent injuries and not true medications, a waste of time as well in cases such as yours.>  I turned off my protein skimmer at this >time.  Two days later (day 3)  I had noticed no improvement in the fin >or fungus, and noticed that one side of its body was swollen, with >protruding scales.  At this point, I was still running three week old >carbon in the HOT magnum, so I removed the Carbon, continued using Mela >and PimaFix, and started using Maracyn two.<My suggestion here would be to run both Maracyn and Maracyn II to cover any eventuality as far as gram positive and negative bacteria>  Today (day5),  the coral >beauty is still very swollen, and its mouth appears to be very red.  It >is also breathing very heavily (no redness of gills that I can see) and >the speck and slit in tail are still present.  I figured the combo of >meds I was using would have knocked out the small speck of fungus I >saw,  but after about four days and no progress, I decided to cut the >magnum 350 (which still had filter media that may be adsorbing the >meds.)  I still left the HOT magnum and powerheads running.  Within two >hours of cutting the Magnum 350 and dosing the meds, the water was >cloudy, and my yellow tang was also breathing heavily.  I looked >around, and found my coral beauty near death, on its side at the bottom >of the tank.  I immediately cut the lights, turned on the skimmer and >magnum 350, and re-instated carbon into the HOT magnum.  Two hours >later, the coral beauty is swimming around fine (except for the swollen >body, labored breathing, etc- but hey, its not dead!)  Several  other >observations:  my UV sterilizer has been on the whole time<this is a piece of equipment that often to usually is NOT what people think it is>, no other >fish are affected, the coral beauty swims around fine, doesn't hide, >and eats fine.  Lately (before speck appeared), the anemone has been >moving around, spewing brown stuff (I thought/think its poop though), >and randomly deflating.  Since I've turned the skimmer back on, it >hasn't really removed anything from the water, despite being turned off >for 5 days.  I also don't think the swelling occurred until I dosed >with Mela/PimaFix either.  The left side of my fish looks like a >pinecone, and it appeared almost overnight.  Do you think the >Mela/PimaFix could have caused this (the dropsy)?<Caused it, no, but it certainly didn't help and lulled you into wasting valuable time during which you could have been using the correct regimen of antibiotics>  Do you think it is >dropsy?<Actually, it sounds like a bacterial infection aggravated by overcrowding and probably improper diet....remember, dropsy is a symptom, not a disease.>  I'm afraid to medicate after what happened today.  I know I >need to act fast, but what should I do?<Again, since you have the Maracyn2, I'd add Maracyn 1 but in a hospital or quarantine tank.....you're extremely lucky that medicating your display tank hasn't backfired and caused a total collapse of the system>  I thought the meds were >ineffective or being adsorbed my some filter media in the magnum 350 >(like a phosphate remover,  and another substance by sea Chem (not >carbon or Zeolite) that I cant think of the name of ... Purigen >maybe?)<I'd be VERY cautious about all of these panaceas you seem drawn to as they can do serious harm, particularly when used in tandem and regularly.  My basic advice in this area is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and then fix ONLY what IS broke!>so I shut it off and look what happened.  I thought the anemone >could have released some toxin into the water (on some of its >tentacles, there appear to be constrictions, like in a sausage), but if >that were the case, wouldn't all fish be affected and wouldn't my >skimmer be going crazy?<Yes, it would, but anemones don't release toxins into the water. What you were seeing was what you thought it was, an anemone version of a bowel movement. BTW I'd NEVER use products like you describe with anemones in the tank>  Sorry about the long e-mail, but I wanted you >to know everything so you could give the best advice possible.  I've >never seen anything like this, what should I do to save him?<No need for apologies...try the Maracyn 1 & 2 in a Q tank, improve the diet and you should have a good chance at success.> >Thanks, >Whit

White Blotch on Coral Beauty and Cloudy Water after Feeding (7/29/04) Hi all- <Hello There! Just Leslie on duty for the crew this morning.> I'm a newbie with saltwater tanks, so please bear with me. <No problem at all I was a newbie once and still am in many areas.>   We've got a 55 gallon tank - started up in May.  Started it off with 6 damsels - 4 survived and are still in the tank (domino, blue devil, humbug, yellow tail).  Lucky 4, they are pretty tough little fish with the personalities to go with it. .....I am sure the LFS recommended cycling your tank with live fish but for future reference many, folks are using the fishless cycling methods these days. Cycling is very hard on the fish and it is considered cruel by many.> Water has been tested by local marine aquarium store and they said it looks fine. <Great!> Went through the pioneer algae stage and survived, now getting some green algae (hair?) - cleaning it out weekly by stirring up and filtering out.   <Take a look at this article and related FAQs for information on controlling nuisance algae in your tank: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/algaeconMar.htm > Added a Longhorn Cowfish and Checkerboard Hawkfish at the beginning of July - all doing great. <That's great. Do you realize that your Longhorn Cowfish can attain a size of 18 inches and will need a much bigger aquarium in the future? > Here is an article on your Cowfish..... http://www.wetwebmedia.com/algaeconMar.htm Added Diamond Watchman Goby and Coral Beauty Angel this past weekend. <Much better choices for a 55g> On Monday I noticed a white blotch on the side of the Coral Beauty -- I believe it is a fungus. <It's hard to say what is on your Coral Beauty, true fungal infections are not very common. A white blotch,  depending on what it looks like could be a number of  things.......Lymphocystis is one thing that comes to mind, but there are many diseases that have white specks, spots, patches and areas of pigment loss.  This is why quarantining new fish for a period of 4 to 6 weeks, prior to placing them into your display tank with your other fish that are doing well, is essential. > I called the store and they said I could bring the fish back (but I don't want to) or I could try using some peroxide on the fish.  Is this the best way to treat the fungus?  They said it isn't contagious... I hope not.  I've applied the peroxide to the spot and it seemed like a few scales came off... is this okay?   < I have never used peroxide directly on a wound on a fish. Mike D. treats cloudy eyes with an 11 to 12 minute dip in a diluted solution of Hydrogen Peroxide. He uses of  7cc of 3% peroxide in 1 liter of tank water. It apparently works very well. There is also a recent article on the use of peroxide for treating Marine Velvet......   http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/sp/feature/index.htm .  I don't think losing a few scales is to serious but you should keep a close eye on the area for any signs of infection or worsening of the condition. Wound Control is an excellent product that is used topically for any loss of skin/scale integrity. This article should be helpful..... The Three Sets of Factors that Determine Livestock Health and FAQs:   http://www.wetwebmedia.com/mardisease.htm > My second question is about my water.  It clouds up after I've fed the fish and stays cloudy for a few hours and then clears... is this normal?   <Yes, I believe so.> Do I need a better filter (using Penguin 330 double wheel filter and a Top Fin 40)?   < A protein skimmer is a good idea in a marine tank of your size. Live rock would also be a good addition if you do not already have it. > The store says my water is fine and think that the fish are just stirring things up when eating... I'm just not sure. <That sounds right on.> Thanks for the help in advance. Denise <Your most welcome, Leslie>

Coral beauty beats up porcupine puffer? Whaaaa?!! I recently purchased a coral beauty <Good lookin' fish>, and a while after that, after some research and a LOT of questions added a porcupine puffer. OK well the thing is, they were fine until about 8 days after I put the PORK in and I started to see the Pork's skin looking as if it had been torn off. Well jumping to many conclusions I thought it might have been a disease, I have been doing water changes on a regular basis and all the water perimeters are fine. Before taking him out I saw my coral beauty go up and bite him, and it looks as if she is the culprit in this mess....so my question (finally hehe) is this normal/common, or do I just have one evil coral beauty??? <Yes, coral beauties are generally passive with fish other than Centropyge angels.> what would you do? <Well, make sure that the puffer wasn't already sick. Any fish will take advantage (much to our dismay) of a sick critter. If the puffer was hurtin' then it is likely that the angel was simply capitalizing on a weak tankmate. Darwinism at its best. -Kevin> Thank you much, Karie

Quarantine Quandary Hi WWM crew, <Hi there! Scott F. with you tonight!> Sorry to write again so soon. But here is the thing. I just had a very pretty Coral Beauty die on me in my QT. <Must be a lot of that going around with Coral Beauties these days...> I feel I may have killed it but wonder if it might have been the reverse. The tank was started over---here is what I did: I put a new sponge (Whisper) in my main tank for 3 weeks. Then I put in maybe 6 gals of new water and added 4 gals of water (maybe more) from the main tank. <Good, although you could have used 100% tank water, too> The main tank is doing nicely aside from some nasty algae <This, too, shall pass> , but everything is thriving, and it has been going for over a year. The QT sat around like this for awhile. <Remember, a QT is not a permanent feature...You break it down when not in use> Anyway on to yesterday: I had the fish just about two weeks.  I had just done a water change (1 gal), this is in a ten gal. This was the second water change. The water change is from my main tank. During the water change I pulled some PVC around and the fish swam about briefly. It looked healthy but has been rather shy. Yesterday sometime or other the fish died. <Bummer...> I was rather busy yesterday and I think pulled the dead fish out today. <Not the best practice, but we all have busy lives to lead....understandable> Post mortem revealed no burning, spots or marks of any kind-- darn healthiest looking dead fish I have ever seen. When the fish was alive I don't remember seeing heavily clamped fins or trouble breathing. I turned the Whisper off last night. Today I did a water test on the Qt and found the following rather alarming figures. I must say maybe I have gotten a little unconscientious on the water tests. <Oops> Both tanks are usually almost boringly stable. Even the Qt. But anyway here are the test results: temp 7.8; S.G. 1.023; ph 8.2; ammonia .6 !; nitrite 1 ! and nitrate 10. <Don't like that ammonia level. or the nitrite level..> To me this looks like a cycle or maybe a recycle. Could a dead fish have caused this? <In a small tank with minimal filtration, it's entirely possible...> Or could the fish have lived that long in water that bad? I know a damsel might but this was a Coral beauty. Or was the tank just too unestablished? (BTW, this doesn't sound too dissimilar to how I have started up a QT in the past.) I can't say I have not had unexplained deaths in the past. Would I see no distress in a fish with this water quality or lack thereof? <You would most likely see distress of some sort...Again, I'd opt to break down the QT between uses...Do test the water during the QT period...Hard to be sure exactly what it was that killed the fish...It could have been the ammonia and nitrite levels, if they were detectible prior to the fish's death...Or- it could have been poor collection practices (entirely beyond your control), etc. Don't be discouraged...Hang in there! Regards, Scott F> BTW, I did look in the FAQs but didn't find anything quite like this mentioned. Also what to do at this point with it? Big water change or let the tank just cycle itself out. Only biomedia is the sponge in the whisper. Thanks. --des

Re: Coral Beauty trouble Bob, Thanks for the advice yesterday, your advice was comforting. Could you tell me what I should feed the Coral Beauty once he is back to health? I know it will eat algae off of my live rock but could you tell me if it will eat meaty foods or if it needs Nori and/or Formula Two. Is the Coral Beauty like the Yellow Tang in the way of having getting HLLE if not given enough greens? <Not so susceptible to this largely nutritional complaint. This Dwarf Angel does eat a great deal of algae and assorted sponges, ascidians (hence the use of live rock in their systems), and do learn to take many types of prepared and frozen foods in captivity. Please read through the Centropyge Angel sections posted on WWM including the FAQs files, starting here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/fishes/angels/Centropyge/index.htm Bob Fenner> Thanks again, Amy

Coral Beauty Sick. Hey Bob <<Hi Javier>> I have a 50 gallon saltwater tank running for over a year now and have not had any problems after a rough start. The tank has now stabilized and have not lost any fish in 9 months. The levels are good and I do bi-weekly water changes, keeping the temp @ 81 degrees and salinity at 1.020. I have 70 lbs of live rock and sand, a canister filter and protein skimmer.  <<What are the test results, this might help.>> The my stock consist of a yellow tang, a maroon clown, a coral beauty and some small fish (Chromis/Firefish). I feed them brine shrimp (frozen & live), formula 2 flakes, Wardley's marine flake food, Sera iodine enriched granulated food and Nutrafin Max food to keep their diet varied. About two days ago I noticed that my Coral Beauty was acting kind of strange just hovering near the LR without much movement. (Very unlike him). But I went about my routine of feeding them. Normally at feeding time all the fish dart around and head up to the surface and a frenzy takes place once I drop the food in. Everything went as expected except for the Coral Beauty. He did seem to be interested in going after the food, but once near it he just went for it, looked at it and just swam away.  Later that night I noticed him in the bottom right of the tank under some rock covering just chilling. (Having a private party). Having my tank for awhile I know each of my fish's behavior at feeding time, at night, w/light on or off, when frightened, during a territory dispute. and where each turns in for the night. Yesterday he was in the same spot at the bottom right of the tank under the LR covering pointing up and tail down. He looks like he has some white film forming on his mouth/lips? A fungus or bacteria?  <<Likely bacteria, but could be fungus. Please see: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/infectio.htm>> Please help. I did add some Melafix to the tank. Does this stuff really work, a waste of money or bad idea? What is your recommendation? Setting up a hospital tank for quarantine or let him ride it out and not stress him more? Javier <<Melafix is likely not necessary or useful. These problems are the result of poor water quality, nutrition, overall environment. I suggest water changes, green herbivorous foods daily (live rock with algae/microalgae is ideal). Please do follow and read the link above and also go to the FAQ's. Best of luck, Craig>> 
Re: Coral Beauty Sick. Thanks, <<You're always welcome Javier.>> I'll check the water parameters again. I did one a week ago and they were normal. None of the other fish seem to be bothered or show signs of illness. I do a water change every two weeks. How much of a water change to you recommend? (Currently 75 lbs of LR & LS). So in volume I may have about 35 gallons? <<Depends on load, type of inhabitants. You have quite a few fish so likely somewhere in the 25-30% range, but this is dependent on many factors, husbandry, feeding, etc. I would assume your volume to be 40 gal.>> On a separate note, I notice strange creature in my tank. I have never seem it before in my tank and have not added any LR or LS since my initial set-up, which was cured. It is the size and of a quarter, flat and somewhat of a circular shape. It is black in color and moves like a slug or snail with two small tentacles/feelers. In the center of the body it has a small white slit, cat eye in look. Once I hit the lights if moved to the dark under the live rock. <<Hard to tell w/o a photo, and maybe not then either! Likely a snail, Trochus, Nudibranch, or limpid. Try this: http://www.tcnj.edu/~maughme2/faq.htm Yours, Craig>>

Acclimating Coral Beauty Hello Bob, I have on four occasions now tried to stock coral beauty's in my store but have always had very limited success getting them to feed. I have tried pretty much all of the prepared foods we stock. Do you have any recommendations on getting these guys started? <Yes... in well-established systems with plenty of healthy live rock... and a live sump/refugium in addition if possible. They nibble on algae, sponges, sea squirts in the wild...> All of the ones we received have been from QM and looked great on arrival. I have had great success with other supposedly less hardy dwarf species and am close to putting coral beauties on my "Do Not Order". <It may be that you're spot on here... the source your supplier is using may be "bunk" for this species. If you can, avoid ones from Indonesia and the Philippines... pay more for better specimens from elsewhere in the West-, South-Pacific. Bob Fenner> Thanks, Richard

Pygmy Angel Hi WWM Crew, <Hi Matt> I have a quick question about compatibility that I would appreciate your advice on.  I am thinking of buying a Flame or Coral Beauty Angel and was wondering if they would be compatible in the following tank? 30g 20lb live rock 1 Flashback Pseudochromis 1 YTB Damsel 1 Perc. Clown 1 Coral Banded Shrimp 2 Hermits This would be my final addition to the tank and all of the other residents have been in the tank for at least a month. Thanks in advance for your time. <These fish are really wonderful but they are variable in their response to tank mates, etc. I bought one some time ago and he is reasonable enough but he hassles everyone in the tank (Purple Tang, Clown, Blenny, shrimp, etc.).  They are individuals and some get along and some don't.  I wish I could provide a more concrete answer for you.  Thank you so much for your support of WWM! Craig>

Coral Beauty Currently I have a Coral Beauty that I have acquired about a week and a half ago.  Two to three days after, I noticed that the fish had ich and so I had treated it with something the fish store had recommended.  Looks like the ich went away within a day or two after putting in the medication in the tank.  Now its eyes look kind of bulging and cloudy.  I'm still treating the tank for the ich but what would you recommend for the eyes? <It is probably a secondary infection of some sort. When you have both eyes bulging and cloudy, it is most likely the disease known as (no surprise here) Popeye. This malady is usually caused by bacteria, and usually is indicative of water conditions which need to be improved. This can also be brought on by parasites, but is less likely.  There is even the outside possibility that the "treatment" has caused this problem- but not likely. Treatment can be as simple as improving water quality in the treatment tank (you are treating in a separate aquarium, right? If not- you should be!), or, in many cases, treating with medication such as Maracyn. I never advise the casual "dumping" of medication into the tank-sometimes this does more harm than good! Do check the FAQs on disease on the WetWebMedia.Com site and verify if the fish does indeed have this disease, then take appropriate action. You should be able to save this fish with prompt treatment. Good luck! Scott F.> Is there something I can do to save the fish? Thanks, Mary Gonzalez

Coral Beauty Woes Hello crew member of the day. <Scott F. this evening> I have several  questions regarding a Coral Beauty I just lost.  I have a 55 gallon FOWLR with a Fluval 304, a protein skimmer, two cleaner shrimp, three fish (purple Pseudochromis, percula clown, and tomato clown, {and a late Coral Beauty}) and a few snails. My water parameters are pH8.3, temp 79, NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 <10 ppm, Alk 10,salinity 1.023. <All sound okay> I bought the Coral Beauty a few weeks ago and kept it in a 20 gallon long quarantine tank by itself with a three pound piece of cured live rock for grazing.  I had no treatment in the Q-tank but the fish looked healthy with no spots and no trouble breathing and was eating the Formula two food I was feeding it like a monster. I put him in my main tank after two weeks of quarantine and he looked healthy for the first few days. <I'm very happy that you quarantine your new arrivals! But please make it a minimum of 3 weeks from now on, okay? This allows times for many diseases to manifest themselves before getting into your main system> This past Thursday, I noticed one small white spot pop up on his side.  I watched him very closely and he did not change his behavior and no more spots arose so I thought no problem that this may just be a piece of sand or dead skin. Yesterday, my cleaner shrimp jumped on the Coral Beauty and the fish opened his gills and mouth and the shrimp helped him for about ten minutes. The fish actually laid down in the sand while the shrimp worked.  Today, the Coral Beauty would not eat and would just drift over on its side. After observing this, I put CopperSafe in the bare 20 gallon quarantine tank and moved the Coral Beauty to try and help but I was too late.  I was shocked how quickly this Coral Beauty went down with no white spots showing up on the exterior of the fish.  I was cautious about premature treating for one spot and now feel terrible. Do you think I can conclude this was a work of Ich with the fish having one white dot show up and the fact that the cleaner shrimp spent so much time in the fishes gills? <Very hard to say from here, but your keen observation of the cleaning process leads me to believe it was some sort of parasitic malady. As you can see, diseases can manifest themselves even after a couple of weeks of quarantine, and don't always show dramatic signs. The reason for his death could have been something else entirely, for all we know. I think you did a great job of taking prompt action with him when he looked ill. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, a fish can die all to quickly?> I also have a few more related questions.  Now, my quarantine tank has 20 gallons of water treated with CopperSafe this morning and had a fish I presume died from Ich in it for several hours. If I go buy another fish tomorrow, add it to the quarantine tank, and let it stay there for 28 days, can I assume it will not be able to contract Ick and will be safe to add to my main tank?   <Good question, but please don't assume that a new fish cannot become ill in this tank. After every use, whether medication is used or not, you should break down the quarantine tank and disinfect it and any equipment used with it. Then you can set it up again. Remember, a quarantine tank need not be a permanent feature. Simply set it up when you need it.> Also, should I move my three fish from my 55 gallon tank that was shared with the sick Coral Beauty to the quarantine tank for preventive treatment with copper since it is already set up, or should I observe their behavior and move them only if needed? <Another excellent question! If you are convinced that ich was the cause of the Coral Beauty's death, then you would be wise to isolate your remaining fish in the quarantine tank. However, I would observe them in quarantine rather than just medicate. Copper is effective, but it can be hard on fish; don't use it unless absolutely necessary. I'd break down and reset the quarantine tank, then place the remaining fish in it for observation. The main system will go "fallow", free of potential hosts for the ich parasite for 3-4 weeks, and the parasite population (if present) will most likely "crash" during that time for lack of hosts. Better to err on the side of caution, IMO- ich can be tough to get out of your tank once it establishes a foothold.> Is it true that as long as they were healthy when I added the Coral Beauty and I do not stress them now, they will not be attacked by Ick? <Likely, but not guaranteed- hence my recommendation to quarantine/observe them.> IF I buy another Coral Beauty, should I quarantine them with copper as a preventative? <I would not use copper as a preventative. I like the idea of properly executed freshwater dips and observation for 3 weeks. Medicate if necessary.> I also have a question about a Yellow Tang.  I would love to buy a yellow tang but am confused about how to quarantine them.  In The Conscientious Marine Aquarist, Bob says for the yellow tang just do a freshwater dip with no copper or medications.  Does this mean no quarantine at all or do a freshwater dip and then quarantine for several weeks with no treatment and then go the main display tank? <No- he does mean quarantine the fish- just don't use copper as a preventative. Use the dip in conjunction with quarantine.> Can you use copper with the Yellow tang as a preventative? Is that bad news? <As above. Tangs have digestive fauna which can be damaged by prolonged exposure to copper, which is why Bob recommends only using it if the fish is actually ill. If the digestive fauna are damaged severely enough, the fish could die. Tangs, as you know, are big eaters and need to graze continuously.> Thanks for all your help.  I just don't want to lose any more fish! Amy <Your questions, observations, and attitude are outstanding! Just make the minor changes that I suggested and you should be fine! Don't let the loss of the Coral Beauty discourage you. Learn all that you can from this sad episode, and you will continue to be a successful aquarist! Good luck!  Scott F.>

Coral Beauty Chow...? Hey guys, <Scott F. da guy tonight!> I was wondering what to feed my coral beauty. He picks off the rocks all day and gobbles up brine but won't touch the frozen pygmy angel formula I bought for him. I know angels require a special diet and I was wondering if you have any suggestions as to what to try? Thanks, Rob <Well, Rob- like most Centropyge angels, the Coral Beauty derives a good percentage of its nutrition from algae material. As you have observed, the fish will spend a good part of its day picking detritus and algae from the live rock in your system. You may want to try a variety of foods, such as Mysis shrimp, finely chopped seafoods (squid, clams, etc), and an algae based frozen food, such as Ocean Nutrition's Formula II, or perhaps Nori sheets or other macroalgae, such as Gracilaria. Another thing that you can do is place some small live rocks in a brightly lit aquarium, where you can encourage green algae growth. Then, place the rocks in your tank for the fish to pick at. If you keep trying a variety of foods, you should have no problems keeping this fish in prime condition. Good luck!  Scott F.>

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>

New Coral Beauty Angelfish I brought home a coral beauty a day or two ago and I have him quarantined. <Good idea.> He has not eaten any Mysis shrimp as of yet so he has me a bit worried. I was doing some reading and I came across this: "Dwarf angels are susceptible to the common parasitic scourges of ich (Cryptocaryon), and velvet disease (Amyloodinium), and unfortunately sensitive to conventional treatment (copper with or w/o formalin formulations). " My angel doesn't appear to have a disease but I do maintain a small amount of copper in my tank to remove any disease on his body or anything that could infect my main tank. He has no problems other than not eating. My quarantine tank doesn't quite have the macro/micro algae growth that my main tank does so I was hoping he would get by on Mysis until introduction into the main tank. Should I be worried, remove the copper by doing a massive water change, or is his not eating just from being new? I've always read not to be worried if your fish doesn't eat for a day or two. but in my own short-lived personal experience I've never had a fish not eat after the first 24 hours. (notice I prefaced it with short-lived.) <I always recommend that people quarantine their new fish and perform daily, small water changes (10% everyday for the two to three weeks of quarantine. This helps to promote the fish's immune system and helps to remove any parasites. I would start doing this now and allow the copper levels to diminish. -Steven Pro> thanks for the help!!

Coral Beauty Dip/bath Hi Guys! <Howdy> I am bringing home a Coral Beauty from the LFS on Monday. I am very excited and want everything to go well with this beautiful fish and my other fishes. LFS sold me Paraguard for my dip, I asked for Methylene Blue as per your suggestion but this is what they had. Is this safe, I have not opened the bottle yet?  <Safe, yes... but not the same general purpose> Also this is my first time at attempting the dip/bath and am quite uneasy about it. Q&A says to start with system water, than add fresh water and Methylene Blue. Do I have it right. I thought about a half gallon of my system water and fresh water, and use the directions off the Paraguard to see how much to add. I have another question that does not pertain to the dip/bath so will send another e-mail, so you can place them in their proper Q&A. <Okay> Thank you in advance for your advice. Sincerely, Lori <Be chatting, Bob Fenner>

Coral Beauty Angel and Clowns Hi I was wondering if you could answer a question for me. We have a pair of Tomato Clowns and we just purchased a Coral Beauty Angel. The angel immediately kicked them out of their nesting area .What do I do? Are these compatible?  <actually a very reasonable mix.. and it is better to have the normally passive angel more aggressive in the long run> Any help would be appreciated. <rearranging the rockwork sometimes confuses the tankmates and makes them more concerned with finding a place to sleep rather than pushing each other around. If no fin nipping...no worries> Thank You, Scott Caine <best regards, Anthony>

Coral Beauty Hello Everyone, Hope all is well. I am in the process of saving a coral beauty from the freezer at the LFS. It is missing an eye and cannot be sold, so I will be taking it home and trying to rehabilitate it. <Good for you.> One eye looks to be gone and is kind of white and slightly fuzzy, not a big nasty fuzzy spot, but kind of fleshy, like when you just lose your eye. It will be going into a quarantine tank <Excellent!> and I was wondering if I should add anything to the water to help the healing process. <1 tablespoon of Epsom salt per 5 gallons of water and a medicated food for bacterial infections would be great.> The tank will be a 10 gallon with a Penguin 125 back filter for circulation, I will not be adding the carbon insert. Should I add some medication, or wait and see if she heals on her own. <I would wait, but be prepared to add a broad spectrum antibiotic if it does not respond to or eat the medicated food.> I know the odds are not in her favor, but she has a better chance in my med tank than she does in the freezer. Thanks a lot, and best regards, Gage <Good luck to you and your fish. -Steven Pro>

Coral beauty or Yellowfin? Bob et al, I recently (6 weeks ago) added what I thought was a Coral Beauty, only to see on your site that it may be a Yellowfin or moonbeam dwarf. How can I be sure? <You should be able to distinguish them from the photos. Please see here for additional pictures   www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?ID=10974&genusname=Centropyge &speciesname=flavipectoralis> My guy looks more like the guy in the Yellowfin pic, and has the bright yellow pectoral fins, also bright blue dorsal fin, blue tail and blue head, a yellow body with blue stripes. <The yellow body part is off for this fish. All the photos I have ever seen show a pretty dark body. There is a lot of hybridization amongst Centropyges. Perhaps you have one. Feel free to send us a picture if you can get it, something in the 400 KB range.> Your description "good fish for medium aggressive fish-only set-ups" kind of concerns me. The Yellowfin is currently the only fishy inhabitant of a 55 gallon with some mushrooms. I'd like to add some more softies in the future (I have 4x48"NO fluorescents). I also have a gold striped maroon clown freshly in the quarantine tank. Do you foresee any problems? <No> I've been watching for some nips at the mushrooms, none yet, keeping my fingers crossed. <LPS corals would be in more danger along with Xenia and feather dusters.> Any tankmates to suggest? <As per most Centropyge.> It would also have to be DSB safe, no sand sifters eating my pods. <Not a problem with this fish. -Steven Pro>

Coral Beauty trouble (Bob's turn) Bob, I have a Coral Beauty I just purchased Saturday and placed in a 20 gallon quarantine system. The fish seemed healthy at the store; bright colors, active, clear eyes, nice plump shape, etc. I have it in a 20 gallon long by itself with a set of barnacles for cover, a heater, thermometer, and Tetratec 300 filter seeded (for 4 weeks) with bacteria from my 55 gallon tank. I have tried to get it to eat everything I have, frozen krill, frozen plankton, frozen Formula Two, flake Formula Two, and Nori. It won't touch a speck of food and now has very cloudy eyes and is not very active. Any ideas?  <Perhaps "just shock" from collection, being moved about... some Centropyge species are consistently like this... I would either move this animal prematurely (as in not waiting for the whole two weeks quarantine interval) to a stable live-rock equipped tank (through a freshwater bath process), or place some thoroughly cured LR in the twenty with it (as food source and to stabilize water quality)> My water parameters are 78 degrees, 0 NH3, NO2, NO3, and 1.023 salinity. I have the fluorescent light that came with the tank on for twelve hours a day. I don't know what could be the problem so I don't know what to do to try to help this beautiful fish. Please help by suggesting what could be wrong and what I should do. Thanks again, Amy <Please read through the parts of WetWebMedia.com re "Quarantine", "Dips/Baths", and the genus Centropyge for more background. Bob Fenner>
Coral Beauty trouble (Anthony's turn) Bob, <Bob just got back from Indonesia and I'm praying to the gods of long term vision that he has not returned with a thong tan. Anthony Calfo in your service> I have a Coral Beauty I just purchased Saturday and placed in a 20 gallon quarantine system.  <good job!> The fish seemed healthy at the store; bright colors, active, clear eyes, nice plump shape, etc.  <for future reference too... play Bob's "deposit game" with them by placing money if possible down to hold the fish and let it sit on import for at least a week if not two. A quick turn around is otherwise hard on a fish> I have it in a 20 gallon long by itself with a set of barnacles for cover, a heater, thermometer, and Tetratec 300 filter seeded (for 4 weeks) with bacteria from my 55 gallon tank. I have tried to get it to eat everything I have, frozen krill, frozen plankton, frozen Formula Two, flake Formula Two, and Nori. It won't touch a speck of food and now has very cloudy eyes and is not very active. Any ideas?  <the no eating is not a surprise and not that much to worry about. The cloudy eyes is an issue. Do medicate with Furan based drugs to play it safe. Look for secondary symptoms of parasites too> My water parameters are 78 degrees, 0 NH3, NO2, NO3, and 1.023 salinity. I have the fluorescent light that came with the tank on for twelve hours a day. I don't know what could be the problem so I don't know what to do to try to help this beautiful fish.  <consider a FW dip if parasites seem evident. Else the antibiotics for at least 5 days. Find an algae covered piece of rock for it to nibble on too> Please help by suggesting what could be wrong and what I should do. Thanks again, Amy <best regards, Anthony>

Angel or Demon? (Coral Beauty In A Reef Tank) Hi, <Hi there! Scott F. with you today!> I'm writing to ask an important question. I have a medium sized coral beauty angelfish, a cleaner wrasse and a ocellaris clownfish in a 29 gallon tank. I have recently turned my fish only tank into a beautiful reef tank. I have only a few mushrooms and a large brain coral in the tank along with about 50lbs of live rock and also numerous crabs and a few snails. I want to turn the tank into a beautiful coral reef. <An admirable goal, indeed!> I want to know what are the most compatible corals to place in the tank that are the least attractive and delicious to the coral beauty? Your help is greatly appreciated. <Well, in my experience, Coral Beauties can be some of the least inclined of the Centropyge angels to munch coral, but the possibility still exists. I'd definitely avoid most LPS corals, as they seem particularly tasty to Centropyge angels! I'd recommend the more "noxious" soft corals (as Scott Michael calls 'em), such as Sinularia, Cladiella, Sarcophyton, and Lobophytum. I do successfully keep some SPS species with them as well, with good results. I stop short of fully endorsing these fish for reef tanks, however. The possibility exists, particularly in a smaller system, that these guys could "turn" at any given time and start turning your beautiful reef into a FOWLR tank! Proceed with caution here> Lastly, I'm running an emperor 400 filter with a powerhead for water movement a 24" Aqualight power compact (130 watts with built in fans and ballast/reflectors) and a SeaClone 100 protein skimmer. <Soft corals can do okay under this setup. You may need more current and regular use of chemical filtration media to help remove allelopathic compounds produced by softies> Almost forgot, if you can answer one additional question. My owners manual for my SeaClone 100 says I should close my air line and open it 3/4 to 1 1/2 turns depending on the level my water is above the protein skimmer. It does not tell me how many turns for my tank size and I'm stumped. My skimmer is about 3 to 4 inches below the top of my water and I've heard that a lot of bubbles coming from my skimmer is not good for my tank or fish. <No- it's not a good thing> However, when I went to my LFS the main reef tank in their store had a skimmer that was going crazy with bubbles. My skimmer turned to 1/2 turn is already producing some bubbles in my tank, but the tornado effect in the skimmer is very weak and not collecting anything but moisture in the collection cup. I've turned it to 3/4 turn and tornado effect has improved with no spurts of water being pumped out but an actual constant stream coming out of line. Can you tell me with the powerhead and the emperor 400 creating a pretty good flow rate in the 29 gallon should I increase the air/ water mixture to 1 or 1 1/4 turns even though I'm getting a considerable amount of bubbles from the 3/4 turn but still no collection of waste in the collection cup? Your opinion is needed in both situations ...........Thanks, LeBron <Hmm...Unfortunately, I cannot be of much help here, because I have no personal experience with this particular skimmer. This model has a reputation for being a bit touchy, in terms of adjusting to get a good skim. I'd play around with it a bit and just see what works for you, or you could contact the manufacturer and see if they have any good advice for you.  You may want to post on the WWM Chat Forum to see what some of your fellow hobbyists have done with this skimmer to get better results. Good luck! Regards, Scott F>

Coral Beauty & Flame Angel Dear Bob: Are the Coral Beauty and Flame Angel reef compatible? I had heard that the Flame Angel will eat Feather Dusters. And will they get along in the same tank? Thanks, Mark <Both are "reef compatible" in my opinion... maybe six or sevens out of a ten possible score... Yes, they both will/do eat live rock components, including the worms that are feather dusters if hungry...  And the two species can get along in the same tank, if they're started small and the tank is large enough (let's say 75 gallons plus). Bob Fenner>

Coral Beauty not feeding I have a question on the newest member of my reef tank. It is a 3 inch Coral Beauty. I have had him in my Berlin system for about 5 days. When I offer food (frozen or flake) he doesn't seem to go for it. He is not being bothered by any of the other fish, he just swims around exploring his new home. a 125 gal tank. He picks at the live rock and the sand but he just wont go for the food I offer. I always feed a good mixture of different food for them. Is there anything I can do to get him to eat. <Offer live rock, try different live, frozen/defrosted and fresh foods and wait> What is the major food for the coral beauty? <Algae, sponges, ascidians...see this and related Centropyge species gut contents notes on fishbase.org.> I feed mixed clams, shrimp ,algae , marine supreme from PRO SALT. flake food from TETRA. I don't want him to starve to death, that's cruel. Can you help me? <You have helped yourself, now only you can aid this specimen. Bob Fenner>

Coral Beauty Hi Bob, I planning to buy a coral beauty. But I afraid that the reef tank mate might attack it or vice versa. What I afraid is that my Domino will attack the coral Beauty because this Domino is extreme aggressive. My tank contains: 1) one 4 inch yellow tang 2) one 3 inch brown tang 3) One 3 inch flame angel 4) One 2 inch bicolor 5) One 4 inch brown bird fish 6) One 2 inch Domino 7) One 1 1/2 inch Dascyllus 8) One 1 inch Yellow-Tail Blue Damsel Coral 1) Some green star polyps 2) Close and Open Brain 3) Hammer Coral 4) Colt Coral 5) Some Mushroom 6) Sun Coral and Dendrophylliid 7) some Button polyps 8) Leather 9) Frogspawn Coral , tooth coral, torch coral, bubble, 10) Pagoda Coral 11) Elegance Coral 12) two sand anemones and one tube anemones 13) Some feather duster worms Q1) Do you encourage me to buy this coral beauty ? <Maybe... if this tank is at least a hundred gallons... space enough for two Centropyge species> Q2) My Domino had turn it color from black to partly white one it front portion (head to part of body). What is happen to him ? <This is a natural color change with age/growth... take a look on FishBase or the WWM site under Dascyllus trimaculatus> Q3) Will the Coral Beauty be picking on my coral listed above ? <Hopefully not, but it, and the Flame may someday> Q4) Do you think that my 4 feet about 60 gallon tank is overstocked with coral and fish ? <Yes> Q5) Any other colorful reef fish to recommend ? <None for this system... And I would give the Domino the heave ho... Get rid of it... trade it in... it will cause more trouble as time goes by> Thank you, Danny C <You're welcome. Bob Fenner>
Re: Coral Beauty/Domino Bob, You are right. I already wanted to capture the domino in my tank. but I try to catch it with a net but unable to as it run very fast and is very smart. I do not want to remove all my reef setup, is there any suggestion to capture this fish out my tank without disturbing my corals? Regard, Danny C <Please read through the sections on www.WetWebMedia.com  re Damsels, Moving Aquariums... Bob Fenner>

Coral Beauty's eye and Naso Tang Bob, this is the first time I am writing you. I have been reading your FAQ on your website and found it very informative.  <Good to hear> I have a couple of questions that I am hoping you can help me out with. I recently upgraded my 50 gallon aquarium to a 125 gallon aquarium. I initially had a Dragon Wrasse, Tomato Clown, Coral Beauty, and a small Blue Angel. Everyone was doing fine after I moved them into the 125 gallon aquarium and after a couple of weeks I went out and bought a small Naso Tang. I started noticing that one of my Coral Beauty's eyes was starting to get cloudy. I didn't want to catch it and put it into a quarantine tank right away because I thought that maybe the Coral Beauty had gotten scratched or something when I netted it and moved it into the 125 so I just left it alone and kept a close eye on it to see if it would just heal on it's own. <Doubt if the Naso introduction had anything to do with the cloudy eye... suspect the cause is what you state... and would have done the same...> I didn't want to stress it out any more especially since I had just gotten done moving it a couple of weeks earlier plus the Coral beauty was swimming around normally and actively eating as usual so I didn't think that it was infected with anything. While I was keeping on eye on the Coral Beauty I was tending to the new Naso Tang and trying to get it to eat. For the first few days it would pretty much hind behind rocks only coming out if I threw in some brine shrimp in there. <Typical... they're actually big algae eaters in the wild> That seemed to be the only thing it was interested in, pretty much ignoring everything else I tried to feed it. After it would eat a little brine shrimp, it would just go back and hide behind some live rock. Initially, I thought it was just shy and not yet accustomed to the tank and was expecting it to become more active when it felt more comfortable. That hasn't happened yet. What I have noticed though is that his fins have started to look like someone has been nipping on them. I have been observing the fish for quite some time and I haven't noticed any signs of any of my other fish being aggressive towards the Tang. <Likely the fraying is from being caught, moved, lack of nutrition...> I have finally moved my Coral Beauty into my hospital tank because it has been about a week and her eye has gotten worse. It is not only cloudy but now has swelled up and gotten very big. I'm not sure what this is and what might have caused it or how to treat it.  <Still believe the root cause is mechanical trauma... a possible infection, secondary.> I have also moved my Naso Tang into a hospital tank because I now think that it might have tail rot or something. I haven't noticed any of my fish picking on him so I don't know what else would cause his fin to look like it has been getting nipped. His lack of swimming around has made me think that it is sick but I am not sure what he has and thus have no idea on how to treat him.  <I would probably have left the Naso in the main/display tank and hoped that it would have "rallied"... otherwise, a percentage don't adapt to captive conditions (more than half)... and the quarantine system is likely compromised by such an active tankmate... and this fish will unlikely (re)sume eating there.> If there is any advice you can give I would greatly appreciate it. I really liked my Coral Beauty and would have to lose her and I had high expectations of seeing the Naso Tang owning the upper part of my 125 gallon aquarium since all my other fish hang out pretty much in the bottom half of the tank. Thank you. Gianluca <I would wait yet another week on the Coral Beauty to see if the eye will resolve and start to show signs of curing (the cloudiness will dissolve first, but the swelling may take several weeks. The Naso... I would likely place it back in the main tank (be careful of the sharp processes on caudal peduncle) and hope for the best (You do have live rock with some algal material growing on it I trust... in both the display and quarantine systems). If the eye continues to dis-improve I would likely daub it with a cotton-swab and a mercury-based medicant (mercurochrome, Merthiolate, Merbromin) that is used on children. I would wait a good week on this decision as I state... and weigh the damage of handling against the hope of repair of the eye. If the eye appears smooth on its surface, wait. Bob Fenner>

Angelfishes for  Marine Aquariums Diversity, Selection & Care New eBook on Amazon: Available here New Print Book on Create Space: Available here by Robert (Bob) Fenner