reef safe flame angel.. would u buy?

[NKYdude]

Have a guy locally that has a 125 up and running for years. he's selling a flame angel out of his system. says it's reef safe, but i'm still worried.

i'll report back when i find out what kind of corals he's been keeping it with.

what should i look for when i go observe this fish? obviously nipping at corals, but anything else I should be aware of?

i have an sps dominated 55 and don't want him terrorizing anything.

[1DeR9_3Hy]

I just picked one up, and its in an all softie tank with a pair of occys, a damsel and a starry blenny.

So far it just picks at the rocks, and eats frozen foods...and completely ignores everything else in the tank.

[luther1200]

No, I had 1 for almost a year that didn't touch anything, then 1 day he started picking at my SPS, and LPS. And had very bad consequences.

[iwishtofish]

After a good while of behaving quite well, mine started picking at my pink zoas, keeping them from opening. After I added a diamond goby, the flame didn't mind letting him know who was in charge.

Beautiful fish without a doubt! A risk, in my opinion. Then again, what isn't! :)

[fstlane4me]

I just traded my flame a couple months ago.Pretty much the same story.It did fine for about six months and then started nipping at my GSP and some of my zoos.They are defenately a risk for a reek tank.

[FranktheTankTx]

The Flame Angel is NOT reef safe. Though you might find they're reef safe for a while - eventually almost all Flame Angels are not reef safe. As you can see from reading a few of these experiences.

[joel g]

I have tried twice it seems once they settle in they start picking at the corals

[sedor]

Its hit or miss, but as iwishtofish mentioned, what isn't? Sometimes even reef safe tangs start picking at coral just because. It will be very to hard to catch if it starts mowing through your corals, so just keep that in mind, but its honestly one of my favorite fish and I would try if I were you.

[reefaddictionrx]

Depends on the fish/environmental circumstances. I've had one that's never bothered corals, but a friend of mine had one that constantly nipped at his.

[thrillreefer]

Just removed my flame from my 30 gal. Had been a low-grade nipper for a while, with corals growth slowing somewhat but none dying...or so I thought. In just a few weeks without their predator, corals have rebounded much more than I expected. I'd try one again some day, but in a much larger reef.

IMO, someone keeping one for a while in their reef and claiming they are reef safe is probably your best shot out there. Might still have problems, seems like a better than average chance you'll be OK. Keep in mind the flame is going to be pretty hard to catch if things don't turn out well.

[JeF4y]

LOL.. I was you a while back, posting "are they reef safe?" and then chancing it.

Hindsight, I wish I hadn't added him to the tank. While he isn't damaging corals, he's irritating the hell out of them, and he's pretty brutal on my clowns. Trying to catch him? Yeah right... I spent a week trying to trap and/or net him and gave up knowing that I'll get him out when I tear the tank down to move this spring.

[amanda55]

i have had one in a reef tank and had no problems..but like others said it is a "hit or miss"
good luck!:fun2:

[amanda55]

that was the wrong smiley haha i thought it was just a happy face

[NirvanaFan]

I've had 2 that didn't bother any corals in my 75 gallon tank. The first was with me for about a year. I lost it when I moved from an apartment to my house. I've had my current one for almost 2 years. My current one is a model citizen. He doesn't touch any corals or fish.

[rgonzalez]

What corals to Flame Angels usually go after? LPS, Softies? Do they decimate, or just nip/aggrevate the coral?

[corbett_n]

my friends eats all his zoos