The Golden Angelfish (centropyge Aurantia) is a stunning dwarf angelfish that commands a high price and is fairly difficult to find. The golden angelfish is a difficult angel to keep alive and should only be attempted by those that can properly see to its needs. Normally listed under "experts only", if you're looking for a relatively hardy dwarf angel like the Flame Angelfish, stop reading. If you still want to try a golden angelfish then read on.

The golden angelfish is a stunning red/bronze all over its body with vertical stripes on its sides. They are collected from Palau, New Guinea and especially around Indonesia where they are most common.

They are a deep water species in the wild that can be found living at depths as deep as 180 feet. They cost around $80 to $100 USD and they are hard to find. Hobbyists usually snap them up quickly if any are for sale. This is a deep water angelfish so look for any swim bladder damage. The fish should be able to maintain a leveled buoyancy and should not be tilting inexplicably.

Like most of its deep water brethren, the golden angelfish is a painfully shy fish that does not do well in tanks with too much activity or when housed with very aggressive tank mates. Despite its passive nature, they do not get along with conspecifics. Two dwarf angelfish will fight in an aquarium.

The golden angelfish needs large tanks with plenty of live rock to do well. Provide plenty of shaded areas and caves for shelter. It spends most of its time within shaded areas and is rarely seen out of such areas at all. Nothing smaller than an established 75 gallon aquarium for the golden angelfish. Aim for 150 gallons or larger aquariums. Since there is very little light at the depths it lives at, it must be given time to properly adapt to aquarium lighting conditions.

This is one area where things get pretty tough. It is very difficult to feed a golden angelfish simply because it is so shy. You cannot feed what you cannot see. If you cannot get it to accept prepared foods, it will simply feed off your live rock.This is the reason i recommended large established aquariums with plenty of live rock. They will need enough live rock for food or suffer a slow starvation.

This next part assumes it is accepting prepared foods :-

In the wild, dwarf angelfish are all grazers. They constantly scan the rock for food items throughout the day, much like surgeonfish. They feed on detritus, tiny crustaceans and a wide variety of algae.

They should be given a balanced diet in a saltwater aquarium. They should be fed a wide range of foods for variety. Feeding them a specific food for too long can be detrimental to their health. Although there are some hobbyists that feed them new life spectrum pellets for prolonged periods of time with no ill effects. They were all very healthy in fact.

A good pellet like those by New ife Spectrum should be offered along with algae/nori sheets plus a balanced frozen food (Formula One, Formula Two).

A very good food for dwarf angels is the Pygmy Angel Formula, produced by Ocean Nutrition. Ingredients such as kelp, krill, squid,squid, vitamins and minerals and much more are used in this frozen food. All these ingredients are mixed up, frozen, then formed into cubes. Unfortunately Pygmy Angel Formula is only available in frozen form.

I don't like feeding brine shrimp as they don't offer much nutritionally. Frozen adult brine shrimp contain mostly roughage, which is nothing more than fiber. Foods that are far superior like krill or mysis shrimp also have fiber.

Should you insist on feeding your dwarf angelfish brine shrimp, choose a type that has been enriched beforehand. Enriched artemia that were fed a nutritious food prior to freezing are known as enriched brine shrimp. They are used as vessels housing nutrition.

Newly hatched brine shrimp are also quite nutritious, as long as their yolk sacs are still in place. They turn back into garbage once their yolk sacs have been used up.

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