emperor angel reef safe???

[Eschmidt]

Im looking for a large beautiful fish for my reef aquarium and since i am new at this hobby i dont knw if the emperor angel is reef safe. Any help will be appreciated or any other suggestions of fish

Thank you Eric

[Roy G. Biv]

Adults are definately not reef safe, as with most angels. Juviniles may pick as seen below.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t251/pmolan/clamangel.jpg

This pic is from another thread, entitled "Grip of Death" or similar.

[virginiadiver69]

I asked the same question a week ago and got the answer I suspected. :(
Also got the same pic included. Great visual. :)

[fe342185]

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/38008mini-IMG_0295.JPG


I have an adult one and he has eaten zoos and some leathers. Left all SPS, LPS , mushrooms, and star polyps alone. Also picks at a clam every now and then. He is too nice to get rid of though.

[KuanTi]

it depends on the fish too. i had one that didnt eat anything. just search the threads you'll see a lot.

[mattsilvester]

It really is a "suck it and see" scenario.
Your odds of sucess are increased by:
(1) providing a large tank with lots of LR.
(2) providing a plentiful and varied diet i.e. keep him well fed.
(3) providing nori on a constant basis so if he feels the need to graze, he can.
(4) buy a small juvanile (not tiny) 2.5 to 3" is ideal

However, inspite of your best efforts, he could turn around and eat everything....... then again you could get lucky and have him eat nothing, or target only one specific type of coral.

However, if I may make a suggestion. You mention you are new to the hobby, and from your signature I see you have a 90 gal tank. I would suggest that you wait a year or so until you have done alot of reading, and more importantly gained a bit of experience before taking on an emporer angel. They are not a "difficult" fish as such, it is just that they will not tolerate silly mistakes that new commers inevitably will make. Secondly, a 90 gal tank really is not big enoguh for an emporer angel - it will suffice for a snall juvanile for a year maybe, but once he starts changing colours at about 4" he'll need something about 6' long, and ultimately 8' plus as he matures. I have a 4" changling in my 240 (8x2x2) tank, and believe me, he really does need the space.
Just some thoughts................ if you pay heed of this advice, then it sort of supercedes the question of whether they are reef safe or not :)

HTH

Matt

[mattsilvester]

fe342185 - that is a pretty impressive tank / collection of fish you have there. I took a quick look in your gallery. Have they all been together long? Did you buy juv. fish and grow them on, or were they bought as adults?

Sorry this is off topic.........

Matt

[fe342185]

All angels were bought as adults but the emperor was the only one I kept. Once I started buying SPS frags the majestic and Blue face occasionally picked on them and since they were small frags they would either make them fall behind the rocks or kill them.

The tangs were also purchased as adults.

[HDAlien]

Mine destroyed every zoo it could find....

[mattsilvester]

I bet you had fun cathing them...... LOL