Coral Beauty
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Coral Beauty
Scientific Name Centropyge bispinosus
Max. Size: 4 inches
Tank Size: 30+ gallons
Aggression: Most species are ideal aquarium fishes. Most species are ideal for invertebrate aquarium. Centropygme may fight with the same genus so should be added with caution.
Hardiness: Moderately hardy; Not extremely demanding of pristine water conditions.
Reef-Safe: Yes, with caution, some may nip at corals. Varies among individual specimens.
Available as captive-bred: Not currently.
Physical Description
Coral Beauty Angelfish may vary in color pattern when coming from different regions. The following description is for the color form most often seen in the hobby.
Head, dorsal, cadual, ventral, and anal fins are a dark blue color, with the fins tending towards a darker blue then the head. Fins have a lined pattern with the lines being a darker blue then the rest of the fin. Edges of the fins are rimmed with a thin black border with a light blue border just past that. Flanks of the fish have a base of an orangy-yellow (may be red-ish in some individuals) with thin wavy dark blue bars running vertically across them (in some fish, the blue bars may be thick enough that it appears the fish has orange-yellow bars). Pectoral fins tend to be yellow in color, though this can vary.
There is not a dramatic difference between the juvenile and adult forms of this fish.
Distribution
Indo-Pacific. East Africa to the Tuamoto Islands, north to the Izu Island, south to Lord Howe Island.
Taxonomic Stuff
- Order: Perciformes
- Class: Actinopterygii
- Family: Pomacanthidae
- Genus: Centropyge
- Species: Bispinosa
Behavior
This fish is often considered shy and only mildly aggressive. Shyness can be countered in part by providing the proper tank setup. Provide plenty of rockwork with places for the Angel to hide and caves/ect to hang out in. Avoid overcrowding a tank and do not house this Angel with larger, aggressive fish as they will stress it out. To avoid aggression, do not house it with much smaller fish, unless both ample tank size and hiding places are provided. Also, do not house it with other Angels, unless one has a very large tank. Generally it is recomended a tank be 100 gallons or larger if attemtping to house multiple dwarf Angels. In a 'minimum size' tank or such, two dwarf Angels will harrass or outright attack each other.
As the Angel becomes used to life in its new home, it should start to venture out more and engage in what takes up a good deal of its time in the wild; grazing for algae. While this Angel is pretty much reef-safe, this grazing behaviour(and sometimes its desire for a new treat) can cause harm to small soft corals like Zoanthids. Otherwise, it should leave most corals alone. Clams and Scallops are far more tempting and it is usually recomended to avoid mixing them with this Angel.
Feeding
Opportunistic Herbivore. Primary diet consists of algae obtained by day-long grazing but they will eat small invertebrates that they encounter while grazing.
In the aquarium feed a vegtable based marine food supplemented with meaty foods like frozen mysis shrimp. Providing a clip with Nori or other seaweeds is a good idea and allowing some algae to grow on rocks or the back glass of the aquarium will allow for natural grazing. Whatever feeding plan you go with, make sure to keep it varied.
Breeding
Reported to be synchronous protogynic hermaphrodites. (Young fish develop into females first with some becoming males under the right conditions). Developed males tend to be larger then females.
Fry are pelagic.
Captive breeding has been done succesfully. A large tank, much research, and experience breeding fish is required before attempting to breed this fish
Social Structure
Coral Beauties live either singly, in aggregations or, most commonly, in small harems of 3-5 individuals with one dominant male, one head female and multiple other females.
They stay close to reefs and spend the day grazing for food while ducking in and out of the rocks at any sign of danger.
Current Views
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Additional Notes
While 30 gallons is considered an acceptable minimun tank size for this fish, many sources say that a larger tank is needed for the species to truly be content.
Average life-span is 10 years.
Pronounced: Sen-tro-pie-gee by-spine-oh-sus
Water Conditions: (SG 1.020 - 1.025, pH 8.1 - 8.4, Temp. 72 - 78° F).
