Amazing Angels: Flagfin / Threespot Angel (Apolemichthys trimaculatus)
Apolemichthys is an interesting genus for the home aquarium. When young or newly added to the home aquarium, they are generally very reclusive. This behavior ties in well with their nomenclature as the root word of their genus, “apolemos” means peaceful; alas, this is not a trait that lasts. They are a semi-aggressive fish in the home aquarium, and will become more territorial as they get larger, this makes sense for how they are found in the wild, juveniles very secretive and adults in very loose aggregations of small numbers (exceptions for spawning season). They are a common species throughout the tropical Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific region. They are reef associated and found a wide variety of depths.
In The Aquarium
As stated, their general disposition goes from being shy to boisterous over time, as a result, we suggest adding them to aquariums that have other fish with similar attributes. We also strongly suggest that they be the only Angelfish in the aquarium. In the home aquarium they should reach six to eight inches in a few years, but that is about as big as they will get, meaning they can be housed for their whole lives in a large, but not prohibitively sized aquariums. When you add to this their eye-popping coloration and their gregariousness once acclimated, they make for a stunning addition to the fish only or FOWLR aquarium.
Why fish only? “Diet” is the short answer. This is an omnivorous fish, that has a penchant for sponges and tunicates. This makes feeding in the home aquarium the primary challenge in successful husbandry of this animal. We have great luck segueing them onto prepared diets by feeding them a mix of meaty foods and sponge matter from TMC and Nutramar in house, which we do at least twice daily. Our focus on getting them from source to destination quickly results in a fish with a better feeding response and we attribute a lot of our success with all our livestock to this and the Flagfin Angel is no exception. Because this fish loves grazing on sponges, corals and other sessile invertebrates, we suggest not keeping them with creatures of this ilk.
Biblio:
Fishbase, Capuli, Estelita Emily. Kesner-Reyes, Kathleen. https://www.fishbase.se/summary/6525. Accessed 21 Sept 2020.
WORMS, Froese, R. & D. Pauly, 2019, http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetai... Accessed 21 September 2020
Allen, G.R., Steene, R. & M. Allen. 1998. A Guide to Angelfishes & Butterflyfishes. Odyssey Publishing/Tropical Reef Research.
Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press.