African Pygmy Angelfish

Facts about African Pygmy Angelfish, "Scientific name for African Pygmy Angelfish is Centropyge acanthops". The African Pygmy Angelfish is a type of dwarf angel fish. That comes from Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is also called the jumping bean angelfish, orange back angel fish and African Flameback Angelfish. It looks like the Brazilian flameback angelfish, species name Centropyge aurantonotus, but the African species has a light yellow or orange caudal fin. The Brazilian Flameback Angelfish is also called the fireball angelfish.

The African Pygmy Angelfish, a member of the Pomacanthidae family, is so named for the bright orange stripe from its face to its tail while its sides are dark blue or black. They are only three inches long (7.6 cm) at maturity, so they can be kept in tanks as small as 24 gallons (90 liters) of capacity. Fifty gallons (190 liters) is better. The bottom should be covered with rock and sand if not live or fake corral.

The African Pygmy Angelfish is suitable for beginner aquarium owners. They will eat most frozen and prepared fish foods. This African native to the Maldives. You can feed them mysis shrimp and spirulina algae. You can supplement with high quality angelfish specific preparations.

When you first get your African Pygmy Angelfish, it may need to be given live foods such as freshly chopped seafoods or brine shrimp or to encourage them to eat.
In the wild African Pygmy Angelfish like hiding in areas near caves where there is soft and stony corals. That's were the African Pygmy Angelfish feed on tunicates, sponges benthic algae and weeds.
The fact is that a African Pygmy Angelfish are omnivorous, (definition-they eat both other animals and plants).

The African Pygmy Angelfish are semi-aggressive. They will defend their territories from other angelfish. The African Pygmy Angelfish occasionally interfere with crabs. They may or may not pick at clam mantles. Do not put them in tanks with brain type corals. Avoid putting this small species of African Pygmy Angelfish in a tank with larger species of angel fish, eels, groupers, lions, scorpions or triggerfish. The will nip at the coral. They can be placed in reef tanks. The African Pygmy Angelfish will graze on live rock if it is present. Make sure the tank has plenty of hiding places for the African Pygmy Angelfish.
Ideal water temperature for your African Pygmy Angelfishh is between 72 to78º F (22 to 25.5º Cel) and pH from 8.1 to 8.4. The specific gravity at 1.020 to 1.025.The water should be 8 to 12 dKH; this is a measure of water hardness.

African Pygmy Angelfish Aquarium care

Test the water when preparing your tank for your African Pygmy Angelfish: You will need to purchase a liquid tester so that you can test for Nitrates and Ammonia. The strip-style test kits are unreliable and a waste of money. You should use a dechlorinating product to remove the harmful chlorine from the water. Test for nitrite, ammonia, and proper PH. The ammonia should always be 0, the nitrite should be 0, and the nitrate should preferably be below 20 ppm. If it's at or above 40 parts per million (ppm), you have too many fish or are not changing the water often enough. Cycling your tank is important, Follow the steps to cycle your tank. This establishes healthy bacterial and chemical levels.

When buying your African Pygmy Angelfish see which one looks like the healthier fish in the tank. Be wary of tanks with dead fish in them, as this can be a sign of illness or improper care. Clamped fins are a sign of illness. In addition, healthy African Pygmy Angelfish will have no white spots, make sure they swim with their fins held upright, and have a nice rich color or colors. Make sure they swim all over the tank and look healthy.
When adding the African Pygmy Angelfish to the aquarium, it is important to introduce the fish to the tank environment slowly. As soon as you get home, float the entire, closed pet store bag (with the African Pygmy Angelfish inside!) in the tank on top of the water for about a half hour. This will allow the water in the plastic bag and the African Pygmy Angelfish to equalize out to the same temperature as in your tank, so your fish does not get shocked by the different temperature. Next, add a small amount of water from your tank to the bag, and wait about 15 minutes. Do this at least one more time. Us a net to catch your African Pygmy Angelfish and then while the African Pygmy Angelfish is in the net, dispose of all the water down a drain or outside. Then transfer the African Pygmy Angelfish carefully into the your tank. This process not only reduces stress for you African Pygmy Angelfish, it also prevents the dirty pet store water from contaminating your tank with disease.
Remove 30% of the water from you African Pygmy Angelfish tank each month with new water, or a 15% water change every 2 weeks is ideal for keeping nitrates lower. With corals in the African Pygmy Angelfish tank, then 20% water change every month, or 10% change every 2 weeks.
African Pygmy Angelfish are omnivore, (definition-they eat both other animals and plants).