Queen Angelfish

The queen angelfish (Holacanthus Ciliaris) is one of most popular angelfish in the marine aquarium hobby. They are normally found in the Caribbean Sea and around Brazil.

Juvenile queen angels look quite different than adult specimens do. Juveniles are streaked with blue and yellow throughout their bodies while adults sport a brilliant iridescent yellow and blue.

Young queen angels assume an interesting role in their natural habitats. They take on the role of a "cleaner", where they pick parasites off other fish.

Known to be a bully in captivity, two specimens should never be housed together. While it is mainly peaceful with other species of fish, they are usually hostile towards conspecifics. It also a very large angelfish, reaching a foot and a half in the wild.

An aquarium no smaller than 150 gallons should be used to house a queen angelfish. As with all larger marine fish, the bigger the tank, the better. The queen angelfish is not reef safe, they can consume corals. Although some hobbyists have kept them in reef aquariums with minimal damage to their corals, queen angelfish are better suited to large, fish-only aquariums.

They feed on tunicates,sponges, corals, algae and plankton in the wild. Offer them a good variety of foods from sheets of nori/seaweed to meaty foods like krill or mysis shrimp. Angel Formula by Ocean Nutrition coms highly recommended as it was developed for the species.

Raw nori is a good choice if available. Get a clip for your nori and stick it on the side of the aquarium glass.