Description

The Blue Pygmy Angelfish is also called the Cherubfish, Cherub Angelfish, or Atlantic Pygmy Angelfish. It is a brilliant sapphire-blue with orange-yellowish highlights to the face only. It is native to the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, north to North Carolina. It reaches a maximum length just over 3″ inches. Cherub Pygmy Angelfish are intelligent, active, and hardy as well. Look for a specimen that will take an aggressive stance, such as a raise dorsal fin, and pay rapt attention as you approach the tank. If it does dart into a cave, it should come right back out to size you up promptly. Their color should be rich, not faded, and they should be very interested in their surroundings and very difficult to catch.

The Blue Pygmy Angelfish requires a 55 gallon or larger tank with numerous hiding places and live rock for grazing on microalgae. It may nip at large-polyped stony corals and clam mantles. This wonderful dwarf angel has all the good looks of its larger cousins, making a great substitution for a large angelfish for those who don’t have 200 gallons of tank space. This Atlantic Pygmy Angelfish spends a good amount of time hiding from predators in the wild, so plenty of hiding spaces will make them happy. These fish favor an established reef environment with plenty of nooks and crannies to graze for food. These are very pugnacious little fish, so house Pygmy Angelfish with more aggressive tank mates.

The Blue Pygmy Angelfish is an aggressive little angelfish, so it is best to never have more than one male per tank, since they may fight to the death. A breeding pair may be kept, and the Pygmy Angelfish has been bred in an aquarium with success. When kept in an aquarium, Cherubfish are distributed throughout the tank. They prefer reef tanks to fish only tanks. But like other angel fish, they are not completely 100% reef-safe. Results vary among individual fish and tank qualities (size, feeding, tankmates, etc.), so caution is recommended when adding this fish to a coral tank. All are born female, then the larger fish becomes female. To make a pair is possible by buying a larger Cherub Angel and a smaller Cherub Angel, and within a few months they hopefully will assume their roles as male and female. This spit-fire Cherubfish can be very protective of its territory, so docile fish beware.