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Angelixir

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Pygmey, Sep 13, 2016.

  1. Sep 13, 2016 #1
    Pygmey Cedar Rapids, IA

    Pygmey Well-Known ReefKeeper

    751
    Cedar Rapids, IA
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    +119 / 1 / -0
    With the new tank I setup not too long ago I have decided to do fish only and keep some fish that I have wanted to keep for quite some time.

    One of the difficult things with certain angels and butterflies is the fact they like sponges.. So I purchased a couple of sponges to try and grow out to see if I needed to entice some of the angels to eat.

    Currently have a bi-color, singapore, Flagfin, and a juvenile emperor. The fish are actually doing ok eating on their own. I purchased them already eating but still wanted to try a food soak that I had not seen before. Angelixir is by Brightwell and has the amino acids in it that are present in the structure of a sponge.

    Well today I took a few cubes of mysis.. Not PE like I wanted. Prepared them like the bottle states. IE rinsing them, then squeezing out all the liquid then using enough of the Angelixir to soak the shrimp. After that you are supposed to let it sit for 5 minutes.

    I fed it then to my tank.. Now granted this is right away in the morning as the fish wake up so I will try again later but my bi-color seemed really interested.. The emperor seemed interested but confujsed when it tried to eat one, singapore went crazy for it and the flagfin showed slight interest.

    Hopefully this will help keep some of the very challenging fish like butterflies, angels and morrish idols.

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Sep 13, 2016 #2
    jeremy Davenport, IA

    jeremy Acro Addict

    2,382
    Davenport, IA
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    Awesome fish selection
     
  3. Sep 13, 2016 #3
    Dave Des Moines Area

    Dave Experienced Reefkeeper

    1,749
    Des Moines Area
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    Good idea and like your fish selections. There is also a frozen food that contains sponge as the first ingredient but I forget who makes it. Seascapes carries it here in Des Moines.

    You dont have to keep your tank fish only if you dont want to. My wife's favorite fish tend to fall in the "reef safe with caution" category so we designed one tank around those fish and our experience has been that SPS, leathers and euphylia tend to be fine (not so much for zoas though). We dont have the same fish as you but here are the ones that are similar:
    - blue face angel
    -gold flake angel (@Armydog@Armydog had one that ate a bunch of coral but think they were lps)
    - regal angel
    - flame angel
    - moorish idol
    - emperor angel (no longer have him)
    Also have tangs etc.and dont have any issues with the corals we have in that tank.

    Interestingly, there must be only certain sponges they like as we have a ton of sponge growth in that tank I would have thought they would have eaten.
     
  4. Sep 13, 2016 #4
    Armydog

    Armydog Expert Reefkeeper

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    He did end up eating my lps but was fine with sps, leathers, zoas, palys, and gorgs
     
  5. Sep 13, 2016 #5
    Pygmey Cedar Rapids, IA

    Pygmey Well-Known ReefKeeper

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    Cedar Rapids, IA
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    I was going to get a goldflake but then found a flagfin that was eating.. They are beautiful fish.. I agree that they must only eat certain sponges because I put in an orange one and they have all left it alone.
     
  6. Sep 13, 2016 #6
    mpivit Dubuque

    mpivit Well-Known ReefKeeper

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    Dubuque
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    Sweet fish.
    I agree that some corals are ok. I have a regal and gold flake, they are great with most corals. The only ones they eat are pricy zoas, and brain type corals.

    If well fed they are ok with my clam too, but if I miss a feeding the regal will pick on it. They've been ok with SPS, chalices, torches, mushrooms and leathers.
    I've had the regal a few years and the gold flake for about a year and a half.


    Sent from my iPad via App
     
  7. Sep 13, 2016 #7
    Pygmey Cedar Rapids, IA

    Pygmey Well-Known ReefKeeper

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    What are your angels eating?? Would love a regal
     
  8. Sep 13, 2016 #8
    Armydog

    Armydog Expert Reefkeeper

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    I love angelfish and it sucked to sell the goldflake I was pretty bummed about that had it since it was like 2" long. If I didnt like lps more I would have kept him
     
  9. Sep 13, 2016 #9
    Pygmey Cedar Rapids, IA

    Pygmey Well-Known ReefKeeper

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    Cedar Rapids, IA
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    If anything happens to this flagfin I will be hunting for a goldflake next.. This flagfin does seem to have a white spot on its back that is about the size of a nail head.. It is not ich but seems to be some type of small injury.. It was in a tank with an aggressive queen angel and some long spine urchins.. Not sure if it is that or what but the fish is eating very well, swimming well and looks otherwise very healthy
     
  10. Sep 13, 2016 #10
    mpivit Dubuque

    mpivit Well-Known ReefKeeper

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    Dubuque
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    I got my regal when he was really small, he eats anything I feed. He was eating Blender mush and spectrum pellets from day 1. Just lucky I guess.


    Sent from my iPad via App
     
  11. Sep 14, 2016 #11
    Dave Des Moines Area

    Dave Experienced Reefkeeper

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    We started all angels and the idol with live grocery store clams but they now eat nori, club DIY and NLS pellets (NLS 2x/day autofeeder). We still have 3-4 live clams in the sump and havent fed any for over a year.
     
  12. Sep 14, 2016 #12
    Pygmey Cedar Rapids, IA

    Pygmey Well-Known ReefKeeper

    751
    Cedar Rapids, IA
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    Interesting. Where did you find them live? Did you have any that fowled the water? Just tossed them in the sump?
     
  13. Sep 14, 2016 #13
    Dave Des Moines Area

    Dave Experienced Reefkeeper

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    Bought at local Hy-Vee. They have them on ice. Just slowly acclimate them to water & temp and most will survive. We lose one every now and then but we've had some over a year. When time to feed just pry them open put them in the tank. It sometimes helps to slice them up a bit in the shell with a razor blade but is not really necessary. Whatever the fish don't eat (which is usually all of it) the bristleworms will take care of the rest. They haven't fouled the water when we have lost one but then again one system is 240 gallons and the other 400-ish so one dead clam in a large volume probably isn't a big deal.

    We've tried mussels too which the fish like but have found out they don't last long in the sump - maybe 3-5 days at best for us anyway.
     

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