Golden Angelfish
Scientific Name : Centropyge Aurantia
Origin : Indo-Pacific Oceans
Temperament : Very Shy
Temperature : 72F - 82F
Maximum Size : 4 Inches
Diet : Omnivore
Difficulty : Difficult
Reef Safe : With Caution
Tank Size : 100 Gallons
The Golden angelfish is an expensive angelfish that is uncommon in the trade and even harder to keep in captivity for long periods of time. They hail from the depths of throughout the Western Pacific all the way to Indonesia.
They are a deepwater centropyge species that can be found at depths as deep as 180 feet. While most deepwater dwarf angelfish are known to be somewhat shy, the golden angelfish goes a step further in this area. It is a ghost. In the reef, you will be lucky to catch a glimpse of one as they almost never come out in the open when the lights are on.
The golden angelfish is a fish that is best left to those that can properly see to its needs. It is usually listed under experts only. There are always some exceptions to this rule as seen in the video below. That golden angelfish is in a Fish Only aquarium without any live rock but is doing well.
The main difficulty with this species is its shy demeanor. After all, you cannot feed what you almost never see in the reef. Therefore, they really do need a lot of live rock for them to graze on. A tank of at least a hundred gallons is needed. Ensure it has plenty of live rock for it to feed on and strictly no aggressive tank mates.
Getting this fish to feed on anything is difficult. The most we can do is target feed a selection of food items within its cave and hope it eats. But there have been many cases of where the golden angelfish does just fine in large tanks the size of 200 or more gallons without any feeding. In that respect, it is much like the Mandarin dragonet.
The genus centropyge feed primarily on detritus, small crustaceans and algae. Despite this, the vast majority of them tend to accept most prepated foods in captivity. It is always important to offer a mix of both meaty and algae or spirulina best foods in the marine aquarium.
A good mix of meaty and vegetable matter is essential to the overall health of dwarf angels. Some other good foods to feed daily are * Sea Veggies Seaweed, which are nutritious seaweed for grazers. Prime Reef * Flake Food which is a blend of numerous seafood and algae such as seaweed, lobster meat, salmon, shrimp, squid and zooplankton.
The best dry pellet foods on the market come from the highly reputable makers, * New Life Spectrum. Use a * Seaweed Clip when feeding them seaweed sheets. Simply take a sheet, fold it and clip it. Secure the clip to the aquarium glass in a location of your choice and they should graze on it throughout the day. Centropyge species can nip on corals so be warned.
It is important to acclimate it to the bright lighting that is commonly seen in our aquariums. Quarantining this fish is not recommended as they need to enter an established reef immediately. Lower the tanks photoperiod and you might even want to turn off one or more fixtures for a while.
Overall, do not expect to see too much of this fish even if it is thriving. It is a beautiful fish that is unfortunately painfully shy.
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