# japanese swallowtail angel



## crownz88 (Jan 30, 2010)

Does anyone have information on the breeding habits of the japanese swallowtail angel? I ask this because I currently have a female that is swims up to the hermit crabs on the sand in the tank and rubs against them while making a fast pulsing motion with her tail. It reminds me of the breeding motion of the freshwater discus that I use to breed. Do you think that if I added a male that breeding may be possible with this breed? Any thoughts would be great appreciated.


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## Pasfur (Mar 29, 2008)

It is not uncommon for marine Angelfish to breed. It is being done at the commercial level with the Centropyge genus. I am almost 100% certain that the Genicanthus genus has not been breed in captivity. If you were to accomplish this feat, it would certainly have retail value, as this is a very difficult fish to ship and acclimate to captivity.

I would suggest that you research methods used to raise tank-reared (not tank bred) species of the Holocanthus and Pomocanthus genus's. Other than that, I have no information to help. Good luck!


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## Bluetangclan (Jan 23, 2010)

Good luck, there are a few people out there commercially breeding the valuable angels, but they are the only ones worth the time. Last i heard the big boys were not sharing what they fed the larval fish either because they dont simply eat rotifers and the 'normal' fare. I used to be really into this aspect of the hobby but the lack of info and the fact the people werent willing share said info put me off about it.(I thought the purpose of the hobby was to share and spread info to make it better for everyone). The most I could fathom was that the had plankton nets and were able to drift net the kind of plankton that the larval fish ate. At the time both people successful and doing commercial stuff were in Hawaii. The minimum at the time for one of their aquacultured angels was something in the neighborhood of $250, and they didnt do common stuff like flames or coral beauties. Note this was 5 years ago or so and things might have changed.


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

Bluetangclan said:


> Good luck, there are a few people out there commercially breeding the valuable angels, but they are the only ones worth the time.


i just have to say i disagree with this statement. Not everyone will breed a fish for the value of it, some see it as a hobby in itself as others may see it as another clownfish in the wild that gets to survive another day because someones kid wanted "nemo"

as for the original poster, how long have you had this fish? does it seem in good health? its not flashing on the shells of the hermits is it? which would be a sign of sickness. how well does it eat? its not attempting to make the hermits a snack is it? 

i want to know how big the tank is and what else is in it before even thinking about telling you to go out and buy another fish. 
cheers and welcome to the forum.


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## Bluetangclan (Jan 23, 2010)

Businesses generally are not a charity. Breeding saltwater fish, even the easy ones like clowns is a very time consuming thing and they must be bulk produced to pay the bills and even then the breeder isnt getting rich. Angels are muuuuuuch more time intensive than Clownfish.Only the expensive ones will even dent the cost in time, research, and producing the food it takes to breed them and get them to the point of being able to sell them. 
While an aquarist might do it as a hobby, rarely does a hobbyist have the resources to do so with stuff like angels.
I am not saying the commercial people arent trying or wouldnt like to breed them, but in most cases they cant afford it.


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## Bluetangclan (Jan 23, 2010)

I wrote the above and went and started hunting my old research into this and a bit more info has been released. Frank B. was the first guy to breed these things. As you will note in the info on this site they have successfully bred several different species of angels besides centropyges. It isnt listed what he is breeding besides saying its something else. Currently he isnt selling anything. This site has a ton of good info without being specific and giving away secrets. Totally unlike sea turtle researchers where everyone publishes everything they can to everyone they can to spread info ASAP, fish guys keep it hidden even when they arent using it.
Your two biggest hurdles are food source and a very long larval phase 50 days +/-. The mystery food has been revealed sort of, you just have to narrow it down a bit. Copepod naupili. Good luck. Ill pop back up if I find some pertinant info. Note the species of the fish he did breed.
REEF CULTURE TECHNOLOGIES :: Purchase

Waikiki Aquarium was the first and I believe only place to rear a Genicanthus personatus and havent done it on purpose since. From what I gather that one made a leap of faith and lost.

ORA | PRODUCTS | FISH if you want to see what I am talkng about with producing in bulk enough to make a profit and survive.


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