Discussion of the Week ~Reef Safe Fish~

[mojoreef]

Alrighty then this weeks topic is Reef Safe Fish as voted by the people for the people. OK ......Fish..........Well ..............lets see some pics, some info on your experences, what type of fish can we keep in our reefs? Do we need to keep fish in our reefs?

For my solo input into this thread all I can say is dont keep Mono's in your reef when they want to be unicorn fish


MIke

[triggereel]

you need fish in your reef just like u need bugs and butterflies and snakes and frogs in your gardens. well maybe not of all them but u do need them

Mojo you had a really crazy fish

[jzdziarski]

I'd really like to find a way to house a large angelfish in a reef environment; they say they nip at some corals and clam mantles though. A blueface angelfish would be just beautiful in my tank. Anyone had any luck in doing something like this?

[triggereel]

Actually Rick my first question on this forum was about Angles being in a reef tank.
most said that some do and some dont you have to give it a try so in my fish only system i have started adding some mushrooms and so far so good next week i might try a leather, if the fish are bothering the corals i can always place them back in my reef
Right now i am housing a Queen Angel and a Bluethroat Triggerfish,with other tangs and eels, in my fish only and they have been ok, If you want i can keep you up to date on how well they are treating the corals I have added.
A buddy of mine does house a clown trigger in his reef, to my surprise his Trigger has yet to bother his soft corals.

[triggereel]

sorry i meant jzdziarski not rick sorry

I have heard that the Blueface Angel would be one of the better angels to try in a reef
-also i have heard that the Emperor Angel will do just fine in a SPS tank.

[jzdziarski]

I had a queen angel once in a non-coral tank, and it ended up eating most of my scallop, that's what had me concerned. Naturally before spending $100 I want to make sure that's not going to happen again. I'll do a little more research on the blueface (my favorite large angel).

Please keep me up-to-date on your angelfish; I'd be interested to know how he fairs with things like frogspawn, torch, colony polyps, and perhaps a scallop or clam if you get one.

[triggereel]

Iam sure I'll never add a scallop or clam to that tank. The fish in that setup would destroy them but, I will be adding some corals and keep you up to date

[AZ kid]

What was wrong with the mono? I was going to try mine in a reef but now I dont know ..

[Evergreen]

What i wonder is not how well a trigger gets along with corals, but how a trigger and those large angels get along with your "traditional" reef fish! Such as 4-5" watchman gobies, blennies, tangs, and maybe fairy basslet etc. or orchid dottyback

[mojoreef]

AZ the Mono did fine in the Reef for years, about 4 I believe? and never harmed a thing. Just for some reason this time when I was cleaning out the calurpa he zigged when he should have zagged and did a head on with a staghorn coral. Once that happened it split him open pretty good and he went crasy from thier.



MIke

[triggereel]

Evergreen the triggers and large angels are not in a tank with traditional reef fish, they would eat up gobies and blennies etc. I have a Reef tank and a fish only system(that iam starting to include corals). However I do have several tangs and even an eel in this system and everyone gets along just fine
I would not recommend anyone having any triggers or large angels in with blennies, gobies, etc. It may be done by someone, cause there is always the exception.(I doubt it )

[AZ kid]

Mike, sorry to hear that. maybe I'll give it a try...

[Alice]

Ahhh..."Reef Safe"..one of my favorite terms I've tried to come up with a better one: "More-often-than-not reef safe" , "Reef Safe as long as they aren't hungry", "Reef Safe-but with issues." None of those quite have that ring though, do they? LOL

It's all relative, these animals are more prone to be "reef safe" when we understand their needs, how they act in the wild and when we choose their tankmates with care. Hawkfish can be perfectly reef safe, they don't bother corals except for maybe to perch on one every so often, but they will eat your shrimp and even small fish.

[Spanky]

and even that changes!

Malcomb has acquired a taste for ricordea!

[Doug1]

I prefer the term "Usually reef-friendly"
Safety on a reef is an oxymoron, its all food on the reef, it al boils down to compromise, as always