Emperor Angels...Need personal experiences

[jnc914]

I am weighing heavily on adding either a large juvenile or a small adult emperor to my tank. I have heard some conflicting stories as to hobbyists that have purchased Juve Emps and that they never fully changed over to the adult coloration, or if they did the color was dull. Is there anyone who has actually purchased a Juvenile that has had a good color change? For those that had purchased a juvenile and had success with it, what did you add to the diet to assist in the color change? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

[marrone]

There was just a thread on color changes of Juv not being as colorful as adults from the sea.

Why don't you do a search on "Emperor Angels" here on RC as you'll find a lot of thread covering pretty much everything you want to know. That way you'll get a lot of info and then if you have additional questions you can make a post asking them.

[jnc914]

Already did that, and I was in the thread with the color change info. The issue I have is that there were few hobbyists that actually had firsthand experience posting.

[jnc914]

So, again I will ask for anyone with first hand experience in keeping a juvenile Emp during or after the color change.

[adamsky27]

Good question! I was in the last thread also with no real answer.

[SDguy]

You might try the FO forum, as most people who have/do kept/keep emp's, do so in non reef tanks.

[marrone]

I think this question was answer by a # of people in the last thread. The answer was that when the Emperor change the colors weren't as full and nice as once that came out of the wild.

A # of people had them as Juv and over time changed into adults, it's a commonly kept angel, both Juv and adults.

[emperior911]

I've had both, Juv and adult. both seemed to fade a bit. diet and water quality is a big issue. the adult i had was picture perfect. After a year or so the color started to fade. with juv, you have the same problem.. i don't think it's the actual transition i think it's the health of the fish. if you don't plan on having total reef quality, dont try one. they get HLLE more then any other fish.

[emperior911]

Queen angels, passer angels, french angels, mac angels and blue line would be my choice that always keep there colors

[cvye]

I got a 3" juvie and he transitioned well. No fading at either end, but during the transition he was pretty white on top. He's fine now (6-7") and still growing...

I'd tried smaller ones with no success. They both died within a couple of weeks. Go with a 3-4 incher to start with.

He gets lots of nori, pellet (New Life) and flake (Omega One). He has a small touch of HLLE that he's overcoming once I decreased ozone use and added zoe+zoecon to his diet.

He's in an sps-dominated reef and the only thing he's picked on are some sea-whips (gorgonians). But I wouldn't dare put in clams or brains.

[buldog]

I have had my emperor for 5 years. I got as a juvi and his colors are great. He is in a 200 gallon f/o tank. He got HLLE about 6 months ago, maybe because of nutrition and my nitrates went up to 200. I didn't monitor the water, because I was chaning 20% every week. They are a great fish, but angels are sensitive to having other fish around. My tangs, triggers will upset him sometimes and he will even get out of their way during feeding. They make a grunt sound when startled or upset. I would go with a 3-4" juvi and just feed him a good variety.

[cvye]

Yes. Mine has driven out quite a few fish from the tank - literally. I found my Copperband on the floor after I returned from DizzyWorld. A non-fed Emperor is a non-happy Emperor. Currently he dislikes my Fiji foxface. But as for my Zebrasoma tangs, he seems pretty cool with them. Sometimes he appears to think he is one, as he does the tail joust a little with them occasionally. But HLLE is thought to be linked to stress, so we are both probably guilty of not giving them enough room. A friend of mine once had a 900 gallon angel tank! As he grows I keep pulling corals and rocks to give him more swimming room.

[dogstar74]

I can't say if the colors of mine were less colorful than others' because I haven't ever had an adult. But I will tell you mine left nothing to be desired. He changed from juvi to adult beautifully. I do think that he would have gone on to change more, but he didn't survive a 1300 mile move from Des Moines to Utah. But he was one of the most spectacular fish, and I loved watching the transformation.

I fed Formula one frozen and Angel formula frozen. He ate well and stayed very colorful.

HTH

[hdtvguy]

IMO you have to get a adult from the ocean to get the straight lines and the color. I have seen young ones change in a tank and IMO they never look as good as the adults caught.


You have to them a heavy diet of foods rich with sponges and allot of algae based foods to keep the colors. Have very good water quality is also a major factor.


Here is a pic of my Emp caught Adult size. You just will not see this with a small one tank raised IMO.

[NexDog]

I don't think I've ever seen an Emp as pretty as that!

[dogstar74]

SUPER DUPER DUDE! is he from the red sea?

[zemuron114]

the nicest ones come from christmas island. They have the bright orange tail and the perfect coloring - but they are always big, like 7" +

[Black71gp]

and you have that in with lps.. ? what other corals?

[hdtvguy]

mushrooms, yellow leather, brain and a magnifica Anemone.

[an-sps]

I would stick with getting a adult. why wait for the color when you can get it now. Just try to get a medium size about 4-5 inch adult that is the best bet.

[Black71gp]

and you got him an adult.. wow that is everything i want.. just you got lucky.. i wanna try smaller and train him to eat good stuff... we will see...

[greenfroggiespawn]

I picked this up.

I love the blue color on it and rather not see it change lol.

I do agree that the lack of sponge in the diet could be the biggest factor for these fish.

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

hdtvguy come's through once again...

[jmaneyapanda]

zemuron- do you have any photos of a Christmas Island with a bright orange tail as you described? An acquaintance of mine bought a 8" emperor from Marine Center desrcibed as just that- an Orange Tailed Christmas Island Emperor. The tail was as yellow as a yellow tang- no orange. When he called back, he was told that is just a name, because when compared side by side, they are slightly less yellow, and a a little more orange, but nothing outlandish. He was happy, because it was still a gorgeous and healthy fish, but a bit misleading, nonetheless.

[triggerfish1976]

I have found that many places sell angels from Christmas Islands as "Orange Tails" but it is not always accurate because very few actually will have a noticable orage colored tail. Red Sea Emp's can also have Orange tails as well but mostly come in with the standard yellow tail. I think the Marine Center noted in the Christmas Island and Red Sea Empror Angel's description that they do not like to call them orange tails for obvious reasons. At first I thought that it was just a gimmick to sell these fish for higher prices and Orange tails was just a better way to describe the more vibrant colors of these fish but I have in fact seen photos on RC of a true O.T. Emp. and it really was orange.
I still think that these two are the best colored of all of the Emperor Angels. One of the LFS around me has a big red sea and a big Christmas Island Emperor and they are both show fish that I would love to have if I didn't have many corals that I know would be lunch.