Description

🟦🟨 Bicolor Angelfish — Description & Care Guide

🐠 Description

The Bicolor Angelfish, also called the Two-Color Dwarf Angel, is one of the most recognizable dwarf angels due to its bold split coloring.

Key visual traits:

• Head & front half: Deep royal blue

• Rear half: Bright yellow

• Eyes: Blue mask around the eye, giving a defined facial look

• Size: Usually 5–6 inches as adults

• Body shape: Deep-bodied, oval, with fluttering pectoral fins typical of Centropyge angels

• Sexing: No easy visual difference; they are protogynous hermaphrodites (all start female)

Personality: Active, confident swimmer; can be nippy or territorial depending on tankmates and tank size.

🌊 Care Requirements

📏 Tank Size

• Minimum: 70 gallons

• Ideal: 90+ gallons with lots of rockwork and caves

• This species needs hiding spots and a grazing territory to thrive.

🧪 Water Parameters

Suitable reef-tank conditions:

• Temperature: 74–78°F

• Salinity: 1.024–1.026

• pH: 8.1–8.4

• Nitrates: < 20 ppm

• Phosphates: < 0.1 ppm

• Flow: Moderate, with places to duck into rockwork

🍽 Diet & Feeding

Bicolor Angels are omnivorous grazers. A varied diet helps reduce coral nipping.

Feed 2–3x daily:

• Spirulina-based pellets or flakes

• Nori/seaweed sheets

• LRS Reef or Herbivore blends

• Frozen mysis and brine

• Angelfish formulas with sponges (e.g., Ocean Nutrition Angelfish Formula)

• Reef Nutrition TDO or small pellets for daily staple

They constantly pick at rock surfaces, so a mature tank with microalgae and sponge growth is best.

👥 Behavior & Compatibility

• Semi-aggressive, especially toward other dwarf angels

• Best kept one per tank unless in a very large system

• May chase timid fish like gobies or firefish

• Usually okay with tangs, anthias, wrasses, and clowns

🪸 Reef Safety

Not reef-safe with certainty.
The Bicolor Angelfish is one of the more coral-nippy Centropyge species.

Likely to nip:

• LPS (especially fleshy ones like acans, trachys)

• Zoanthids

• Clams

• Sometimes SPS polyps

More successful in:

• Tanks with abundant food

• Large mature reefs where occasional nipping isn’t a problem

• Systems where the angel has plenty to graze on