Centropyge colini log.

[Terryz_]

hmm.. dam sian if it's fin rot. i don't have medication. furan will work for this.

anyway just did another 1 pail of water change.

live brine? they curious and look at it. but no eating.

like i said before. these angels don't do well in QT. Need alot of liverock and they are not adapting well. that's why i want to get them out of QT ASAP. since they dont have ich anymore.

Try asking Henry if he have any with him or drop by C328 to buy lor since you study at SP... so near...

For feeding, try enriching with vitamin or garlic... Vitamin soaked food works for me...

Dun do water change daily, twice a week can liao..

Ya, Best is a QT with LR... They need the liverock to hide and feel at home...

[yikai]

Yes! finally one of the colini starting to feed on live brine shrimp. but he won't eat all. but at least he is feeding. will train him on mysis the next few days

[yikai]

Update! the same colini is now feeding on mysis NLS thera A+ pellets and henry's food.. but sparingly. at least he's feeding!

the other one still not yet but should follow suit soon! exciting!

don't dare to put too much henry's food in QT.

[yikai]

toyogo box leak. guess it can't handle the immense pressure of so much water. the sides were bowing haha.

so i transferred everything into a 2ft tank. fishes seem a little stressed, but they will be fine.

[yikai]

Updates on their new quarters.

Toyogo box leaking so now in a glass tank.

Both colinis placed inside betta box to facilitate easy feeding. They are feeding on pellets and mysis but not a lot. each time 3-4 pellets and about 5 mysis. that's it. so placing them into betta boxes to make sure they eat everything up and not foul the tank with uneaten food.

[yikai]

Also in the QT are two carribean sailfin blennies. Emblemaria pandionis

the first two photos are from internet.

the last 1 are mine in the QT.

their colours will turn a dark brown to black when comfortable and living in liverock. In the quarantine, their colours are a faded light grey. However they are extremely hardy and have been feeding very well in hyposalinity for almost 3 weeks.

[yikai]

Last but not least, the tank- raised juvenile C. bennetti also shares it's home with the rest.

But i will not post so much on these fishes. Afterall, this the colini log.

[dnsfpl]

may i know how much you paid for your colini?

thanks

[yikai]

The 2nd colini pair has been an up and down experience..... one of the two stopped eating while in hypo, as usual. typical with this difficult species. the other one has been extremely well behaved and have been feeding very well on everything including pellets.

yesterday i transferred both into normal strength seawater of sg 1.025, as their 2 week hyposalinity treatment is over and there is no more ich.

both were transferred into the normal strength seawater over 6 hours acclimation. too short, but what the heck... Now i have liverock in the holding tub where both of them can graze.

here's the annoying part.

Colini 1 - has not been feeding even in hyposalinity QT.

Colini 2 - has been feeding very well but stopped all of a sudden when transferred into normal strength seawater.

Super frustrating. Took me 1 week to get it feeding very well and then it just stopped in a new environment. It's actually very common for the touchier dwarf angels to exhibit this behavior when placed in a new environment. the training will have to start all over again. Dwarf angels will exhibit this apparent feeding amnesia when undergoing copper treatment too.

They just forget how to feed and you have to try again. I'm not giving up though. This pair of colinis are holding up pretty well, although i'm beginning to see a little sunken belly which worries me a little..

And as if the colinis weren't difficult enough, here's a new pair of dwarves. A "pair" of Centropyge aurantius, the golden angelfish. One was from ah beng and the other from CF. They're not killing each other, but there is some chasing, albeit nothing serious. If everything goes well, over the next 1 or 2 days, they will pair up with no problems. If they were incompatible, one of them will be dead by now.

both were aquired at different times and i skipped hyposalinity for these two completely. Golden angels require nothing but luxury and hyposalinity QT is not luxurious. Although my simple holding tub is not really reef-standard, it has liverocks and macroalgae for them to feel at home.

Here's the BEAUTIFUL part. both are feeding on live brine shrimp. They pick and sample but that's good enough for me. A feeding golden is a home run anyday.

Congratulations lemon, you officially have two of the world's most challenging dwarf angels in your holding tub. No pressure.

Touch wood but if the colinis were to die on me, i will stop my attempt with this species for awhile. If you have been reading my log diligently since the beginning, you will soon realise this is one of the toughest dwarf angels around.

My future attempts with colinis and golden will be straight into liverock filled tanks with no quarantine. As proven, these fishes fare ridiculously poorly in quarantine.

[FuEl]

both were transferred into the normal strength seawater over 6 hours acclimation. too short, but what the heck...

I don't get it. So much effort trying to feed the fish & get rid of ich. It'll be a miracle if they even survive after this quickie transfer.

[yikai]

I don't get it. So much effort trying to feed the fish & get rid of ich. It'll be a miracle if they even survive after this quickie transfer.

all the angels from the 2nd batch did not have ich in the first place. Only the bennett's butterfly had slight ich, which is still in the hypo qt. the angels have finished their close to 2 week hypo treatment with no ich. Like i said, if you've kept them before, you would know that they fare poorly in QT. i wanted to get them into normal seawater with liverocks and macroalgae and out of qt ASAP. If the angels were in the QT longer without liverocks and something to feel comfortable in, they would probably be stressed even furthur. they're all alive after the transfer anyway.

besides, i believe you did this to a batch of your clowns without even acclimating them?

[FuEl]

Clownfish are tough. 1.016 to 1.020+ is no issue to them (tried & tested by commercial hatcheries). Not for your delicate fish, with your hypo being way below that.

[dnsfpl]

nice write up

this is my 2nd attempt keeping golden

first 1 died after a month

hope our golden can survive

cheers

[yikai]

nice write up

this is my 2nd attempt keeping golden

first 1 died after a month

hope our golden can survive

cheers

good luck. just be aware that for these fishes, feeding does not mean win.

in most fishes, they say, if it's feeding, half the battle is won.

for these fishes, (golden and colini), if it's feeding, there's a chance that the battle has not even started yet... But if it's feeding, it's still a good sign.

[Digiman]

Colinis, goldens. Next will be venustus and multibar i guess. Hope u succeed in these difficult fishes which i'd long given up.

[Terryz_]

6 hours very fast leh.. Might be a bit stressed for the angels... But if they are doing fine, should be no problem...

[yikai]

6 hours very fast leh.. Might be a bit stressed for the angels... But if they are doing fine, should be no problem...

all of them are fine.

but i'm getting very discouraged. when they feed, they don't feed much. then they give problems by rejecting food all of a sudden.

freaking finicky and just difficult altogether. if all of them die, i'm going to stop awhile until my tank finish cycling. then maybe try again. this time just skipping QT altogether and dumping them into my sump and train them to feed from there.

golden and colinis are really just too difficult...

[Terryz_]

all of them are fine.

but i'm getting very discouraged. when they feed, they don't feed much. then they give problems by rejecting food all of a sudden.

freaking finicky and just difficult altogether. if all of them die, i'm going to stop awhile until my tank finish cycling. then maybe try again. this time just skipping QT altogether and dumping them into my sump and train them to feed from there.

golden and colinis are really just too difficult...

Of all angels, you chose the 2 of the most difficult one... LOL..

I am going try all foods once I start collecting them...

[yikai]

Of all angels, you chose the 2 of the most difficult one... LOL..

I am going try all foods once I start collecting them...

that's because the easy and common ones no need to try.

i've tried EVERYTHING with them. it always starts out with

not feeding > live brine > mysis > pellets > not feeding > die

horrible cycle. i think if all these die i stop and wait for both our tanks to finish cycling then try again. afterall, it's not a terribly rare fish.

[Terryz_]

that's because the easy and common ones no need to try.

i've tried EVERYTHING with them. it always starts out with

not feeding > live brine > mysis > pellets > not feeding > die

horrible cycle. i think if all these die i stop and wait for both our tanks to finish cycling then try again. afterall, it's not a terribly rare fish.

That cycle might internal parasite or effects of cyanide poisoning which we have no control over...

And true, feeding is not a sure win with these angels..

Colini might be difficult to find... Maybe seasonal?

[yikai]

That cycle might internal parasite or effects of cyanide poisoning which we have no control over...

And true, feeding is not a sure win with these angels..

Colini might be difficult to find... Maybe seasonal?

it's hard to say for sure. if it's internal, there might be chance of curing but usually it's too late by the time they decide to start feeding...

there's a chance it's cyanide also. this one there's totally no way for human intervention.

feeding is definitely not a win with them. look at mine. all 4 were feeding. yet how many going to make it? to be honest, i will be surprised if even ONE makes it..

as for availability, yeah could be seasonal. but just put our names on LFS "alert" list and we should be fine. If you want lah.

i think for colini and golden, best is to get healthy ones right from the start. this is one fish that must be handled properly since collection to your tank.

sealife and coral farm usually have very good specimens from the way they handle. coral farm's golden angel is one of the healthiest i've seen. actively pecking on liverock in a tank full of anthias, mystery wrasses and multicolour angel.

i think the most important step is to secure a healthy individual. next, bring home, acclimate and straight away into a tank with plenty of liverock. we don't know how long they have been kept with the oversea supplier and how long they have been not-feeding. liverock straight after purchase will help stimulate a feeding response ASAP.

then, keep them in dimly lit areas to reduce stress for the first few days.

flood tank with brine shrimp and slowly wean onto other foods.

i think my approach with them is too aggressive. I should never have put them under such strict quarantine protocols since the beginning.

after this batch if all don't make it, i will stop quarantining them. From next time on, straight into liverock tank and feed feed feed.

Like all reports on colinis and golden angels around the world, nothing but complete luxury will spell doom for this fish. so far they're right.

that's just my take on the situation. so far how many people succeed with golden and colini in singapore. less than 4?

in the U.S although they are strict with QT, most of them skip QT for goldens and colinis. really, they don't take QT very well...

mine is a classic example.

[dnsfpl]

my first golden was from cf

doing well for a month plus

died maybe due to stress from other angel

their fish are indeed healthier

i think there are quite a lot of success stories with golden

that is the reason why i give a 2nd try

currently it only kiss the glass

added a pair of black clown

hope all 3 will make it

cheers

[yikai]

my first golden was from cf

doing well for a month plus

died maybe due to stress from other angel

their fish are indeed healthier

i think there are quite a lot of success stories with golden

that is the reason why i give a 2nd try

currently piece only kiss the glass

hope it will make it

cheers

dying after a month is not good at all. a reasonable length of success will be 6 months or more IMO. but bear in mind these fishes live for decades in the wild. to survive 6 months in our tank is miserable.

i think this log is very useful for people who want to try colini and golden. read through and learn from my mistakes as well as others.

sure there are many people succeeding with golden angels. in singapore, off hand i know only 1-2. there could be more that are low profile.

i still think colini and golden are much harder than multibar and venustus.

[Terryz_]

dying after a month is not good at all. a reasonable length of success will be 6 months or more IMO. but bear in mind these fishes live for decades in the wild. to survive 6 months in our tank is miserable.

i think this log is very useful for people who want to try colini and golden. read through and learn from my mistakes as well as others.

sure there are many people succeeding with golden angels. in singapore, off hand i know only 1-2. there could be more that are low profile.

i still think colini and golden are much harder than multibar and venustus.

These four fall in the same category.. Super hard to sustain even when they are feeding, they get thinner and thinner...

[yikai]

These four fall in the same category.. Super hard to sustain even when they are feeding, they get thinner and thinner...

yes. you're right. like i've said before, feeding is definitely not the acid test for them. If you tell me you have one that's feeding i will just say, "so what?"

sigh.... getting very discouraged. nevermind, all this is valuable experience for me that will help me better myself as a reefer.

i've learned so much about these fishes ever since i embarked on my log.

terryz, one day lol. one day we will have all 4 living together in 1 glass box.