Annularis angelfish

Care at a glance

Overview

The Annularis angelfish is a large angel for a very big saltwater tank with no corals. Only experienced keepers should take one on.

Caring for the Annularis angelfish

Give an Annularis angelfish at least 219 gal (830 L), in a long tank with open swimming space for an adult. A tank 2.4 meters long or more is best. Add heavy rockwork for grazing and shelter.

Keep the water at 73 to 81°F (23 to 27°C) with a pH of 8.1 to 8.4. In the wild it grazes sponges and tunicates, so offer a varied diet several times a day. Include sponge-based angelfish preparations, spirulina and marine algae.

The Annularis angelfish is mostly peaceful but grows territorial toward other large angels as it matures. Keep it as the only large angel in anything under roughly 1300 to 1500 liters, and choose other tank mates with caution.

It is not reef safe. It is especially prone to nipping large-polyp stony corals, zoanthids, soft corals and clam mantles once it learns to see them as food. Breeding it is hard.

Good to know

The Annularis angelfish, in the family Pomacanthidae, is among the largest angelfish in its group. The juvenile is black with tight concentric white and blue rings. The adult is blue with narrow yellow-gold horizontal stripes and a yellow tail. A blue ring behind the gill cover gives the species its common and scientific names. The trade also sells it as the blue ring angelfish. It is regularly collected for the aquarium trade, particularly out of Sri Lanka.

In the wild

Annularis angelfish live on coastal and lagoon reefs across the Indo-West Pacific, at about 1 to 60 meters. Their range runs from East Africa through Indonesia and New Guinea to New Caledonia, and north to southern Japan. Juveniles settle into very shallow, algae-covered inshore habitat, then work their way out to deeper reef as they grow. Adults are often found paired up near caves.

Common questions

Related species

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  French angelfish

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• 

  Yellowbar angelfish

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  Asfur angelfish

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  Koran angelfish

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• 

  Blueface angelfish

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• 

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