Angel fish question

[Tajjo]

I amlooking into buying a queen angel. Any how I heard there not reef safe, does this mean corals. I believe there not clam safe. I have a reef tank let me know if this is a bad idea or not.

[jdhuyvetter]

A full grown Queen will be about 18 inches and eat anything it pleases. Starting with sponges and any soft corals you have. At some point, it may go after LPS.

Is your tank big enough for a Queen?

[goldmaniac]

not with the 75 gallon display he's listing as his Current Tank. Maybe he has a 300+ gallon tank that he's not mentioning...

[Tajjo]

It's a 180 fowlr which eventually I would like to convert into a full blown reef. I have mostley sps and a few chalices. So if it will eventually nibble on my chalice I think I'd rather not get one. Probably just flame angels. There more reef safe right? Any other suggestions on any angelfish?

[jdhuyvetter]

Flames are iffy. I had one with SPS and chalices for over a year with no problems at all. For every success story like mine, you will probably find at least one reefer who had one that ate corals. I would definitely stay with the Centropyge group. My personal preferences in order of my favorites:

Flameback
Flame
Coral Beaty
Dwarf (C. argi)

Dwarf are probably the most reliable of the group (for not eating coral), but any given fish on any given day.......who knows.

One guarentee I can give you, a Coral Beauty will eat feather dusters and tube worms.

[wooden_reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15336929#post15336929 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jdhuyvetter
A full grown Queen will be about 18 inches and eat anything it pleases. Starting with sponges and any soft corals you have. At some point, it may go after LPS.

Is your tank big enough for a Queen?

I believe most small queen angels will grow to no more than 12 inches in captivity. A 125 gal is marginal for a few years and 220 final is enough.

The Queen angel is among those that grows rather fast and large, many angels that grows to 12 inches in the wild would only be say 8 inches in capitivity and slower growing than the queen. It will take a 4 inch majestic many many years to be 8 inches, for example.

The french angel is among the fastest growing.

[DamnPepShrimp]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15338223#post15338223 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wooden_reefer
I believe most small queen angels will grow to no more than 12 inches in captivity. A 125 gal is marginal for a few years and 220 final is enough.

The Queen angel is among those that grows rather fast and large, many angels that grows to 12 inches in the wild would only be say 8 inches in capitivity and slower growing than the queen. It will take a 4 inch majestic many many years to be 8 inches, for example.

The french angel is among the fastest growing.

I have to disagree. Queens if fed properly will get bigger than 12", I have seen a blue (same angel practically) that was 14" in captivity. It out grew the persons tank and it was traded into a LFS. I would not have a queen in a 220g for life, no way. Its a good start, but will need a much bigger tank. The french angel is no the fastest growing either. Every fish is different, also variables come from water quality, feedings, tank size/mates etc.

To the original poster, I have a queen and french (about 6") in my 210g and have shrooms and kenya tree in there, although the kenya is slowly disappearing. I wouldn't put a queen in a reef. Holocanthus angels are amoung the most destructive. I have a flame in my 120g reef and all is well so far with that. He might have been picking on an open brain, maybe my one clam. I feed heavily too. I got him from another member where the flame was picking on his reef, but he rarely fed his fish.

[goldmaniac]

an animal growing smaller when not in the wild (or when they are in a smaller cage) is a myth.

If proper nutrition and exercise is provided, any animal will grow to full size.

If an animal typically does not grow to full size in captivity, that means that it's needs are not being addressed to 100%.

This applies to angel fish, gold fish, pigs, gorillas, elephants, lions, whatever. It makes no sense that a smaller cage/tank would hinder growth EXCEPT when the animal's development is stunted, in which case the animal shouldn't be caged/boxed in the first place, if you can't provide for its needs.

That said, I think the 180 would be fine for an angel for quite a while until you decided it has outgrown the 180, which would obviously be before reaching Full Size.