Identification:
The Swallowtail Angelfish (Genicanthus melanospilos) is also known as the Blackspot Swallowtail Angelfish and the Blackspot Lyretail Angelfish. One of the more brightly colored of its Genus, they excellent for the home aquarium. Swallowtail Angelfish feed on Zooplankton, and unlike most angelfish will not touch Sponges, Corals or any other sessile invertebrate. Making it the perfect candidate for a reef aquarium or community aquarium with other peaceful angelfish. The male and female of this species have totally different looks. The female is yellow dorsally and light blue ventrally. The caudal fin is marine-blue highlighted by a dark, blue-black edging on the top and bottom. The male is a pale yellow, with multiple thin, dark, vertical stripes.
The Swallowtail angels are timid requiring lots of hiding places in a rocky Aqua-scaped aquarium with ample amounts of live rock for grazing on microalgae and diatoms. They will not touch non-sessile invertebrates such as shrimp or crabs. There are though rare reports of niping at SPS corals and some species of polyp corals or zoanthids. Although keeping them well fed they tend not to bother corals much.
Food and Diet:
Feed a varied diet consisting of large pieces of meaty foods like krill, raw table shrimp, squid, clam and mussel. Occasionally you should supplement their diet with some herbivore food containing spirulina, and provide a sponge fortified diet specifically designed for Angelfish
Recommended amount of drip acclimation time:
3+ hours
Approximate Purchase Size:
2-1/2" to 3-1/2", 3-1/2" to 4-1/2", 4-1/2" to 5-1/2"
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