Aquarich Aquacultures Angels - Imperator Episode!

The undisputed monarch of all the ocean's Angelfish is the Imperator Angel. It is an absolute icon in the aquarium world as well as in photography and art. Anywhere you see coral reef imagery, there's an Imperator Angel there somewhere. It gets called a few different things around the globe because its popularity isn't limited to English speaking countries, but here it has only a couple common names, the other one being “Imperator Angel.” This is an ancient Greek word that translates roughly as “ruler of one's self,” but is more commonly used to describe the emperor characters of the ancient world, especially the Caesars of the Roman Empire. The scientific nomenclature for this fish is Pomacanthus imperator.

As of right now, (April 2024) the vast majority of Angelfish available to the home aquarist are wild caught, a practice we support when sustainably done and one that is vital to the well-being of many small, impoverished communities in the countries where ornamental fish export can be done. On the other side of this coin, we've also been the biggest champions of aquaculture in the hobby and have gone to incredible lengths to supply you everything aquacultured under the sun. We promised you years ago that if Aquacultured Imperator Angelfish ever became available, that you'd be able to get yourself one through a Quality Marine partner store and have kept that promise. We are beyond thrilled to offer you what is perhaps the most beautiful and sought after Angelfish in captive aquatics, aquacultured by the genius minds of our friends at Bali Aquarich.

The Aquacultured Imperator Angels we're offering currently are in their juvenile color phase. Marine Angelfish of most species go through really intense color changes as they mature, and this is especially true of Imperator Angels. Among all the Angels, the juvenile Imperator has the boldest pattern as a juvenile, and they will segue into the most amazing colored adult. You can see a good representation of the Bali Aquarich juvenile fish on our website here: https://www.qualitymarine.com/quality-marine/fish/angels/pomacanthus/imperator-juvenile-10053/ and they are stunning. This is a relatively slow growing fish, and it will take three years (or so) for it to attain its full adult coloration. This being said, all the stages in between are also uniquely beautiful. They'll hit this adult coloration at around eight inches on their way to being about a foot long. You'll see information all of the internet with the max length of 15-16 inches. This figure originally comes from the book “The Living Marine Resources of Somlia” by Sommer, Schneider and Poutiers in 1996, where they listed the max size of this fish at 40cm (15.7 inches). The largest specimen we can find record of is a 2018 catch that was 272mm (10.7 inches), though we have personally seen larger, unrecorded specimens than this. Suffice it to say, that this fish will reach adulthood around eight to ten inches long and will likely get 12 inches long as an adult, plus or minus an inch or two.

This size, when combined with their active lifestyle means that you'll need an aquarium that is at least 220 gallons by the time it reaches adulthood. We recommend that this aquarium be at least six feet long. A bigger tank than this is obviously a good thing if it is within your means. These fish will appreciate plenty of rockwork to hide in and swim through, but also some open space for swimming around. They do not require a sand bed and are good choices for bare bottom tanks. It will be difficult to give them an environment with too much flow. While they are not notorious jumpers, all Imperator Angels, aquacultured and otherwise are an investment, so a covered tank will act as insurance that your prize showpiece fish doesn't end up on the floor.

All the rest of the other aquarium parameters that Imperator Angelfish need should be familiar enough to anyone who has been keeping marine aquariums. These are not an incredibly delicate fish, but this being said, they will be their healthiest, most brilliantly colorful selves in aquariums that are well maintained and stable. A good temperature for this fish is in the 75 -78-degree Fahrenheit range, with a pH of 8 to 8.4 and stable. Shoot for specific gravity of at least 1.021 and up to 1.026. Individual fish can be acclimated temperatures that are cooler, down to 70 degrees or so. We suggest keeping your nutrient levels responsibly low, shoot for 5ppm nitrates or less.

The biggest difficulty most aquarists have encountered with Imperator Angels is that some of the wild specimens could be picky eaters. While most are fairly easily conditioned to taking prepared meals, some are difficult to convince. This potential pitfall is pretty much a non-concern for those of you lucky enough to get an aquacultured specimen from us and Bali Aquarich. Even though they are aquacultured, and quite used to processed foods, diet variety is very important for all Angelfish; here they get fed the Nutramar Algae and Color Boost Shots and Complete Pellets, which make a very complete diet by themselves, but we also feed Nutramar Ogo and Nori, and we supplement this a variety of chopped, thawed seafood from Gamma Foods. Frequently you'll come across advice saying to feed Marine Angelfish blanched vegetables, and this advice is an outdated a relic of a time when aquarists didn't understand marine fish digestion very well, and the practice should be avoided.

Imperator Angels are interesting fish; they will be aggressive with other Angels but will mostly ignore other fish. Aquacultured specimens are so new to the market that no one knows a lot yet about whether they will be more or less docile than their wild counterparts. Other aquacultured fish generally behave similarly to their wild forebears, or slightly more peacefully. This being said, these Angels will someday be large and active, so we don't recommend keeping them with small, timid fish that may be scared into hiding through mealtimes. We also suggest avoiding overly aggressive fish like large triggers and puffers. Another aspect of keeping Angels is that their natural behavior is grazing, and this seems to still be prevalent in the aquacultured specimens we've seen so far. As a result, they are pretty likely to pick on things like sponges, algae and coral polyps and whether or not these are actually eaten, this behavior can kill whatever they pick on just by irritating it to death. By obvious extension, we don't recommend keeping these fish in reef style aquaria. Imperator Angels love bivalves too (looking at you Tridacna Clams), actively hunting and consuming them. Avoid keeping any of these you intend to have for more than a week.

The Imperator Angel is among the most stunning fish that can be kept in captivity; if you look them up in Websters dictionary, you'll find them under “Showpiece Fish” (not really though.) These hardy, gorgeous and engaging fish are mainstays in artwork and photos of coral reef scenes around the world, are now available to you as aquacultured specimens! If you've been waiting for this day, now is your moment. Head to your Local Fish Store immediately and ask them to get you a Bali Aquarich Aquacultured Pomacanthus Imperator from Quality Marine today!