any "reef safe" angels?

[DevilBoy]

Originally Posted by Geoff

the melanospilous is a great tank addition. i have 2 right now.

G~

Geoff,
Do you have a pictures of this Angel?? I am looking to get some type of Angel for my reef tank. But all the ones are non reef that i like. I do like the Flame but i am not gonna take chances with it. The Lamarcks is not a bad looking fish, but i must be careful i what type of fish i add to this system. Since all but 2 of the fish will be passive fish. Which will be 2 True Percs. The rest will be real shy, like flasher wrasse, fire fish. Those will be the main additions. But i am looking also to add a larger center piece fish that everyone will say wow look at that thing. Some people have told me a Tang maybe, but they are too agressive for my lil ol firefish and wrasses. So anyways is this Angel you are talking about agressive?? nips any corals?

[leveldrummer]

well, my angel is going back, forget what i said, i just watched him pick apart one of my favorite blastomussa's today, killed an entire head threw out the day, ill be trying to trap him tommorrow.

[1spotpooalot]

I have had a coral beauty for 2 years with no issues.

[fish.freak]

My Flame has been ok, it killed off a blue anthelia by eating algae from off its rock, but hasnt harmed too much else. I have been keeping a close eye on my torch though to make sure it doesent get messed up. I would probably choose the angel over any corals though, hope it doesnt come to that.

[fish.freak]

Ive had mine for 6 months since it was small.

[Adnuces]

I have a coral beauty in my 75g for about 4 months now and I have never seen it eat anything. It just hangs out in the dorner or around the bottom and doesn't do much of anything. When I am sure he is checking out, he hangs in there between the feather dusters......swimming around.......

I have a pygmy in my 20g that is constantly on the move.....eats voraciouisly and never picks at any corals.....loves mysis.....and anything else.....put nori or greenery in there and it ignores it. I even tried enticing it with some ogo....nogo.......

[Geoff]

i will get a pic when my lights come on. i could have sworn i had a pic, but could not find it.

i will try and get the one without popeye.

G~

[kalel1976]

The following is a breakdown of the different Angelfish Genus' and their "reef safeness" based on personal experience and research:

Genicanthus - 99.9% reef safe. There have been reported cases of Tangs nipping at corals so anything is possible.

Regal Angel (Pygoplites diacanthus) - Fish from the red sea are generally reef safe. Newly collected larger specimans 5"-6" tend to be a little bit risky when it comes to Zoa's, clams and fleshy LPS. Fish from the pacific generally will pick at the afformentioned corals no matter what size (except juve's).

Centropyge - This genus is a miced bag with some species being fairly harmless (Argi complex - Cherub, flameback, fireball, resplendant and goldens) and others being very destructive (Lemonbeel, Bicolor). All of the other pygmys fall somewhere in between. All of these fish pose some threat to the standard corals like Zoa's, fleshy LPS, and clams) but the more harmless ones noted above will generally do minimal damage if any to these corals. Centropyge like most angels are detritus eaters so they sometimes will nip at SPS but it rarely causes any damage.

Paracentropyge - Not much info is available regarding peppermint angels but given the cost I doubt they are a consideration. The other member of the genus (P. multifasciata) are generally reef safe with the ocassional nipping on Zoa's, fleshy LPS, and clams).

Chaetodontoplus - I have kept a conspiculatus and blue line angels from this genus and I never witnessed any nipping of any corals or clams. Based on other accounts that I have read, they do pick on corals from time to time so the standard fair of corals already listed above will be risky.


Apolemichthys - Deeper water fish so they will be less likely to pick at SPS but they will pick at Zoa's, clams, and LPS.

Pomacanthus - These Angels can be completely reef safe as juve's but can become very destructive to Zoa's, LPS, and clams as they grow into adults. Some people have been able to ween them on prepared foods if they are raised from juveniles but buying adult specimans is not recommended if you have a mixed reef. I currently have an subadult Asfur Angel that doesn't pick on anything but I am just waiting for it to start munching on my Tear Drop Clam.

Holacanthus - By far the most destructive of the angels. The juveniles can be somewhat harmless but the adults have been known to decimate mixed reef tanks making short work of the big three corals that have been repeated above. They will nip at SPS and tend to do more damage than most angels. I kept a small passer Angel a few years ago and it was by far the most destructive angel I have ever had.

I have found the following general rules of thumb about angels in reef tanks:

Keep the fish well fed and they will be less inclined to pick at your corals and clams.
When picking at SPS the fish is actually eating the coral's slime coat. When these corals become stressed they produce excess slime coats thus prompting the fish to pick. If you have a healthy tank and keep the fish well fed then your SPS should not be bothered (of course there are exceptions to the rule).

[scuba namena]

thanks for the info every one .
esp. for the first hand accounts + experiences.

[DevilBoy]

Originally Posted by Geoff

i will get a pic when my lights come on. i could have sworn i had a pic, but could not find it.

i will try and get the one without popeye.

G~

were you able to get a picture Geoff?

[stang5_o2002]

I've got a false lemon peel angel that is a model tank citizen. He never touches anything but the rock and his fish food. He is a little pushy when a new fish arrives, but only on the first day, then he totally ignores it.

[Geoff]

no. if you go to www.marinecenter.com they have a few good pics of Genicanthus. of course now the tank lights are off. i will try and remember tomorrow when i get home.

G~

[DevilBoy]

ok Geoff try to remember for me...

[Geoff]

OK, here is one of the two. this is the uber healthy one. the other is not super healthy, but is eating fine. the other one apparantly was not decompressed properly after being caught. one of the things you need to look out for when purchasing them. i was not able to pick mine, or i would not have picked the other one out. it has a bit of a problem holding position in the water column and has one pop-eye. it is slowly going down though. it does not seem to affect its eating though.



G~

[kalel1976]

Geoff,

If the other one is eating then it has a chance. When these fish have swim bladder damage they typically struggle competing for food with other tankmates and slowly waste away. If she recovers one of them will more than likely turn into a male.