Small Business Online

The emperor angelfish (Pomacanthus Imperator) is among three of the most recognizable angels in the hobby today. The other two are the queen angelfish (Holacanthus Ciliaris) and the French Angelfish (Pomacanthus Paru). It is the most popular member of the genus Pomacanthus. It also goes by the name “Imperator Angelfish”.

Among the most distinctively colored angels, it has bright yellow horizontal lines on its blue body, while a black band lined with neon blue covers its face. Its tail is either yellow or orange. Juvenile Emperor angelfish are just as stunning. Its entire body is filled with white concentric circles on a deep blue body.

The emperor angel is found throughout the Indo-Pacific and can be also be found in the red sea. As juveniles, Emperor angelfish provide cleaning services to other fish in the wild. They will constantly pick at any parasites it may find on the bodies of other fish. A pricey fish, juveniles are priced from $60 to $80 USD while very large “show quality” adults can fetch up to $400 USD.

Pomacanthus is home to some very big bullies. You can expect some aggression towards other large angelfish, especially towards other emperors. Fishes from outside the Pomacanthidae family are generally left alone. It might bully large tangs and butterfly fish but generally ignores them.

The emperor angelfish attains lengths of up to 16 inches in the wild. This means you can expect lengths of up to 10 to 11 inches in the tank as Emperor angelfish do not normally achieve their full length in captivity. But its still a big fish so it requires large tanks to truly do well. A 150 gallon is the bare minimum while a 200 gallon or larger aquarium is recommended as they need large amounts of space to swim in.

Sadly, this fish is entirely not reef safe. Though you may see some Emperor Angelfish housed in reef aquariums, they’re better suited to fish-only aquariums.In the wild their diet is made up of coral, sponges, tunicates and algae. They should be offered a good variety of foods from algae based foods like nori/seaweed to meaty foods like krill and mysis shrimp. New Life Spectrum offers excellent pellets that are very balanced. A balanced food that is pretty good for your Emperor Angelfish is Formula Two. It contains seafood and extra algae for herbivorous fishes. It is available in three forms, pellet, flake or frozen cube.

Angel Formula by Ocean Nutrition is by far the most complete food you can offer your Emperor Angelfish. This food was specifically designed to cater to the needs of large angelfish, they contain a good mix of fresh algae, fresh seafood, vitamins and most importantly, marine sponges. Unfortunately, Angel Formula is only offered in frozen form.

You can either buy branded seaweed or get some from your local supermarket (prices may vary). They can be very cheap or very expensive depending on the brand.

When buying from a supermarket, make sure the nori is unflavoured/unspiced. Just get regular, plain nori. Raw if you can find some. Attach the seaweed/nori to a clip and stick in onto the side of the aquarium.