Majestic Angel needs to eat

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bpeitzke

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
May 30, 2003
Messages
149
Location
Pacific Palisades, CA, USA
A few weeks ago we added two new fish to our 40 gal FOWLR tank - a coral beauty dwarf angel and a majestic angel. Both are lovely fish, ~ 3" long, and we've had no compatiblilty problems since we returned our overly aggressive neon damsel to the fish store. Other fish are a fat, 5" speckled green puffer, a 1" purple damsel (not aggressive), and a 3" tomato clown.

We feed them half a cube of frozen angel food (mostly marine sponge), diced for sharing except for one big chunk we feed Puffer, and marine flakes. We've also had some macro algae which the angels nibble on, but need to get some more. The coral beauty has figured out that the flakes are food and has started feeding as aggressively as the older fish.

But the beautiful majestic angel never goes after any of the food. He just swims around lazily, and I worry that he's not getting enough to eat. I see no signs of stress though, at least not so far. He also tends to hide under the LR more than the others.

I'd appreciate any suggestions on food, especially for this majestic angel who doesn't seem to eat.
 
I had a maj angel for 4 years before i made a huge mistake and sold him before moving. Your tank is to small and the fish is shy in nature and intimidated by the others in the tank. He won't last long in your setup. He needs at least 75 gallons to thrive.
 
You have way too many fish in your tank now. Like saltydawgy said you need 75 min. The puffer is way too big for this tank too. The CB will do good in this size of a tank. I hate to give you bad news like this, but your fish will be better off in a bigger tank. I have a majestic now and he is in my 90. He is as happy as can be and eats everything I put in there. You need to take that majestic back to the store. HTH
 
Re: advice on majestic angel not eating

I hear you guys loud & clear, and agree. Unfortunately the FS guy didn't tell us about the majestic's min tank requirement. Ideally I'd like to upsize to a ~ 75 gal tank, but don't think we have the time & $$ to do it now, especially since to get 75g in our tank spot we'd need to go custom.

I realize we have too many fish for our 40g tank, and one being the Puffer makes it worse - he eats like 10 fish! At least we haven't been having trouble with waste buildup - I guess b/c we have enough LR now.

We're very attached to our current fish, esp Puffer, the only survivor of our past tank nitrite explosion problem (caused by overfeeding). So politically I doubt I'll be able to convince family to return anyone, even Majestic who needs more space.

If we have to keep all our current fish, what could we do to encourage Majestic to eat? Only thing I can think of is to keep a bundle of macro algae in there at all times. Any other ideas?

I'll work on a bigger tank as the real solution, but I think it will take time.
 
Try soaking mysis shrimp in garlic. Or get some frozen angel formula, or buy a seaweed clip and put some seaweed in the tank to let him graze on.
 
Feeding Majestic

We have the frozen angel formula - that's been the main part of our daily feeding. We feed half a cube each day; cut that in half and dice up one half (qtr-cube) for sharing, and give Puffer the other qtr-cube. Majestic doesn't go after it. I think it's all eaten up by the others before he even sees it. He's just not aggressive at all about feeding. In contrast, the coral beauty has become just as aggressive as the others (except for the clown who takes his life in his hands by competing with Puffer for the big piece of frozen angel food). We have some frozen shrimp (not sure whether it's "mysis") that we've started feeding, primarily for Puffer, about once/week. Majestic doesn't go after that either. You think if we soaked it in garlic, it might tempt him?

We do have some macro algae, very thin spaghetti-like stuff, that Majestic has been seen picking at. I'll try to find some seaweed and/or get more of the macro algae.

Thanks for the advice.

Regards,

- Bob
 
I see your point and I have to admit that I have been the self inflected victim of overcrowding in the past as well. One thing that helped get mine off to a good start was a fresh opened clam left in the tank. The only problem with this is the puffer will probably ravage it before the maj angel gets a chance. Worth a shot though.
 
Clam for Majestic?

No way! Puffer would scarf up that clam in no time. He's really our biggest problem - eats more than all the others put together. He tries to eat my finger when I'm feeding him the big piece of frozen angel food, while my wife distributes the diced AF for the other fish. He's gotten me a few times, and broken the skin :eek:( Trouble is, we love him, like I said (sigh).

One guy at LFS suggested we feed them lettuce, for the Majestic. We tried it, but Puffer just inhaled it all!

I'm gonna pursue the other food ideas.
 
Feeding Majestic

>>Was he eating at the lfs?<<

I presume so. And they told us he'd be compatible with other fish. But then they told us the blenny & goby would as well, and Puffer just ate them both immediately - very traumatic esp for daughter to watch.

The other fish have not bothered him, not even Puffer, and he doesn't freak out when they swim near him - he's not acting shy, other than not cruising around as much as the others.

We have some sort of frozen shrimp. I guess I can try dicing it up into tiny bits and mixing it with some garlic oil, if that's what you meant (if not, clarify?).

Tried lettuce - Puffer just ate it; Majestic never got a chance.

I'll try to find some live brine shrimp; also try to find some seaweed or at least more of that macro algae.

I understand that real solution is a bigger tank, but I gotta focus on things I can really do right now.
 
One guy at LFS suggested we feed them lettuce, for the Majestic
No nutritional value, neither does the brine.
Have you tried Ocean Nutrition's angel fish food? My Maculosus scarfs it up and I also has the sponges in it that these big angels need.
I know you are getting brow beaten on this, but honestly even a 75 gallon is too small if you wish to keep this fish long term, 150 or bigger is best for any large angel. With the load you currently have, water quality is going to become a major concern sooner rather than later.
 
Tank too small for Majestic - I agree

Thanks for the advice on the food. I was skeptical about the lettuce, but surprised that brine shrimp don't have any nutritional value.

We've been feeding them frozen angel food pellets that we dice up for sharing. But the Majestic hasn't been seen eating any of it.

Sadly he's on the downhill slide - very inactive now - I fear he's doomed.

I agree with advice that our tank is too small for him, but I can't seem to convice my wife & daughter (sigh)

I think when he passes to fish heaven, I'll discourage replacement and try to keep us down to four fish in this 40g tank. Puffer is the big load of course, and precludes us from having any inverts or vulnerable fish like blennies :eek:(

But we love the puffer.

Long range goal is a bigger tank.

Thanks again.

- Bob
 
"Discouragement"? there should be no question.

I find it hard to believe that people buy such expensive animals without reading up on their general care and needs. Just gonna watch him die in a small cramped tank and do nothing. Why not take the angel's health into consideration and take the fish back to the LFS to be nursed back to health and given a more appropriate home.

Honestly, you probably spent more cash on the fish then the set up. What gives???
 
Re: cramped tank

Our adult daughter, the one who got us into SW, did read up on the majestic angel and decided it was both beautiful and compatible. Unfortunately the web page she read didn't say anything about tank size.

Actually we have way more in the setup than in the fish. I think this angel was $50.

Don't get me wrong, I'm upset about this, but I'm not the fish emperor and have to contend with strongly opinioned wife & daughter (she's a lawyer, so you can imagine).

The majestic is now very lethargic, basically not moving around at all. Do you think it's too late to take him back to LFS? Any chance they could save him?

BTW I don't see how they maintain fish with such tank size needs. When we bought him ~ 2 weeks ago he was in an 8x8" cube. Maybe that was OK b/c he was alone? Or maybe he could survive in there for a week or so? I don't know.

I do appreciate your advice.
 
When we bought him ~ 2 weeks ago he was in an 8x8" cube. Maybe that was OK b/c he was alone? Or maybe he could survive in there for a week or so? I don't know.
Ya short term its ok. Most LFS's move them fast.
Do you have another tank (qt) you can isolate this fish? Any other symptoms? Spots? eroding fins?
 
I don't think you should by any fish from that LFS from now on because they don't seem to care about their fish. Keeping an angelfish that could easily hit 11 inches in an 8 x 8 in cube is just wrong, even if they plan to sell it in a week. Angelfish need a lot of space and a 40 gal. tank is way too small. Even if you brought it back to ther fish store, they would just throw it in that little tank again. The only other thing you can do is give to someone with a large tank, but they probably wouldn't even take it from you anyway because its near its death. Sorry if I sounded a little harsh, but things like these can really be dissapointing to hear. Good luck
 
I probably came off like a real jerk, but the maj is my favorite angel and I hate hearing stories like this. It is a touchy fish to get acclimated, but once it is eating and used to its home, you can expect +8 years of one of the most beautiful pieces of living moving art. I had one for 4 years. I sold it to a buddy that killed him and I still feel badly about the whole thing. $50 is a really good deal. A good LFS will take the time to talk to you about this kind of fish and what it needs. You might want to reconsider where you buy your fish and products. I go to a fish store and talk to the same couple of guys every time. They are familiar with what I have as far as set up and livestock. Knowing this they can give me reccomendations on livestock and dry goods. Many times, they ushered me out the door without opening my wallet because they knew I would be making a mistake. I am loyal to the store and they know it is because of the service they provide.
 
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