Cherub Angelfish : Facts On The Cherub Angelfish

Scientific Name : Centropyge Argi

Origin : Caribbean, Florida

Difficulty : Easy to Medium

Minimum Tank Size : 30 gallons

Temperament : Semi-Aggressive

Temperature : 72 - 82°F

Reef Safe : With caution

Maximum Size : 3 inches

Diet : Omnivore

The cutest member of the genus Centropyge (Dwarf angelfish family). Centropyge Argi is everything other marine angelfish in a really small package. This is a dwarf among dwarf angels. They are sold in sizes ranging from an inch to 3 inches. A 3 inch cherub angelfish is a fully grown adult and will not get any larger. As such, they are the smallest members of the genus along with the Centropyge Acathops, Centropyge Aurantonotus and Centropyge Flavicauda.

They also go by other names such as the Atlantic Pygmy Angelfish, Pygmy Angelfish or the Cherub Pygmy Angelfish. I'll be addressing them as cherub angelfish from now on as pygmy angelfish is a really inaccurate term since all members of the genus centropyge are pygmy angelfish. They are a deep royal blue throughout with a yellow face and neon blue linings on their dorsal and anal fins.

They aren't expensive angelfish by any means, coming in at $20 to $30 USD these tiny fella's are a very affordable saltwater angelfish for any saltwater aquarium. They are also a common offering on the market, and their price reflects this.

Despite their size they are a feisty little ball of aggression and can usually defend themselves against larger more aggressive fishes, but they must have space to retreat and hide. Do not add two Cherub angelfish into a small tank, one of them will most likely sustain serious injuries. I've seen a cherub angelfish harass a smaller one to death in a 30 gallon saltwater aquarium.

If you want a pair of then you have two options. Buy a mated pair or introduce both of them together (Only in a large tank) and hope they form a pair eventually.

Due to their small size the cherub angelfish can actually be housed in aquariums as small as 20 gallons.

Of course it is recommended that you get the biggest tank you can for your fish.

But smaller specimens under 1.5 inches should do fine in a 20 gallon.

In the wild, dwarf angelfish are all grazers. They constantly scan the rock for food items throughout the day, much like surgeonfish. They consume algae, tiny crustaceans and sometimes even detritus.

A balanced diet should be given in a saltwater aquarium. They should be fed a wide range of foods for variety. Feeding them a specific food for too long can be detrimental to their health. Although there have been people that have fed them new life spectrum pellets for months at a time with no ill effects. They were all very healthy in fact.

They should be fed a frozen food that has both meat and algae (Formula One, Formula Two), algae and nori sheets as well as a pellet from a reputable brand like New Life Spectrum.

The Pygmy Angel Formula by Ocean Nutrition is just about the perfect food for dwarf angels. In an effort to provide a balanced and nutritious diet, a wide variety of ingredients are used such as kelp, shrimp, vitamins and trace minerals, krill, squid, algae and many others. The cubes are frozen after these ingredients have been mixed into it. Unfortunately Pygmy Angel Formula does not come in flake form.

I don't like feeding brine shrimp as they don't offer much nutritionally. Adult frozen artemia do not offer much more to the fish than roughage, which is fibre. They can fibre just fine from krill or mysis shrimp, both superior foods.

If you must feed your dwarf angelfish artemia then go for enriched brine shrimp like "spirulina enriched brine shrimp" by Hikari. Enriched artemia that were fed a nutritious food prior to freezing are known as enriched brine shrimp. So they are more of carriers of nutrition.

Newly hatched artemia can also be offered, as long as their yolk sacs are not too depleted, they remain nutritious. Once their yolk sacs are depleted they turn into garbage again.

Breeding centropyge argi is difficult. Their larvae have not been successfully reared by hobbyists or even small scale breeders. Those that have succeeded normally run a big operation with substantial funding.

They are haremic in the wild with the male controlling one or multiple females. There are no differences between the male and female cherub angelfish except for size. Males are always larger than females. They normally breed after lights out, with the male courting the female until he nudges her up in the water column for a synchronized release of eggs and sperm.

The eggs contain a drop of oil in them that makes it bouyant. In the wild they float to the surface until hatching where they being feeding on plankton. We do not know when the survivors (at what age) begin migrating back down into the reef.

The biggest hurdle to rearing dwarf angelfish babies seem to be the food used. Which is a type of copepod naupliii. The food must be bred in sufficient numbers for such an endeavour.

Cherub Pygmy Angelfish - Centropyge Argi

Coral Beauty Angelfish - Centropyge Bispinosus

Eibli Angelfish - Centropyge Eibli

Fishers Angelfish - Centropyge Fisheri
Flameback Angelfish(African) - Centropyge Acanthops
Flameback Angelfish(Brazilian) - Centropyge Aurantonotus
Golden Angelfish - Centropyge Aurantia
Heralds Angelfish - Centropyge Heraldi
Lemonpeel Angelfish - Centropyge Flavissima
Multibarred Angelfish - Centropyge Multifasciata
Multicolor Angelfish - Centropyge Multicolor
Potters Angelfish - Centropyge Potteri