Reef Safe Anglefish

[danderson8019]

I was thinking of adding a flame angel to my reef. I mostly have sps, no lps and a few zoanthids. Is this a good idea? Are there any other anglefish I can add?

[Allmost]

Coral beauty is supposed to be the safest, I used to have one and it used to nip at the polyps of my SPS so I gave him away.

my budy has a CB and his does not touch corals, so I concluded that it depends on the individual fishes personality lol

[Alex T.]

I have a Passer Angelfish in my sps reef. On occasion he'll nip on some sps or clams, but nothing that has caused longterm damage. Like others have said before me, it's up to the individual fish. If you have a gambling spirit...go for it. If you'll immediately pull him for picking at anytime, avoid angelfish in your sps reef altogether.

[snarkes]

+2

I've had three angels (one flame and two cherub)... they all pecked at everything in my tank.. LPS, SPS, etc, so they were all banished.

[footballdude2k3]

this is a bad idea

[Liu14]

The Genicanthus species are reef safe.

Though not as brightly coloured, there are some that are attractive.

[powdr_dayz]

I have a coral beauty and have not had any problems in 3 months...

[jusn317]

Like stated if you want an angel that is completely reef safe go with one of the genicanthus species. Depending on size of your tank you could get a male/female pair. I have a male swallowtail and very nice looking fish.

[donkeys4hire]

I have a coral beauty. I haven't noticed even the slightest nip.

[builderguy]

I've had a coral beauty for three years with a lot of SPS...never a problem. But I had one before that that was terrible...had to give him away.

So, definitely depends on the individual fish.

[tipmoff]

I also have a coral beauty in a mixed reef for 18 months and have never had a problem.

[NaCL H2O StL]

I have had one of each (Flame & CB) at different times. I never saw them nipping at my corals but that doesn't mean they didn't either. I do remember that I was losing some of my zoas, but I thought it was to poor water quality. After reading this thread, I am certain if may have been a combination of both.

[adambirk]

i have a flame and he picks at most of my sps. i dont have any polyp extension durring the day but all corals still grow great and colors are great. he is in my 150 and catching him is next to impossible without tearing my tank apart so it is what it is. but i would take him out in a heart beat if i could get him. so you deffinently run the risk

[Chris27]

The Lamarck Angel is a good reef dweller - almost never poses a threat to corals. I have one and a coral beauty in my reef and don't have any issues with either though.

[ejk17]

The Lamarck Angel is a good reef dweller - almost never poses a threat to corals. I have one and a coral beauty in my reef and don't have any issues with either though.

Totally agree. I have a lamark and has not touched zoos or lps and sps only once for algae proly. Best bet!!!

[AngelAddict]

I have a Passer Angelfish in my sps reef.

That is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. Your going to wake up one day and your corals will be destroyed. My old passer are everything!!!

[danderson8019]

Which angel are in the genicanthus species?

[saf1]

Had a flame angel for a while. He started in on my elegance after a while so he had to go. I have heard that they are good and bad. I tried so added +1 to not reef friendly and it depends on the attitude of the fish.

[Liu14]

Which angel are in the genicanthus species?

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-02/hcs3/index.php

[D-Nak]

Rather than continuing on about individual angels that didn't bother corals, I think the OP's question was regarding which angels were reef-safe. To again reiterate what others have said, the only species of angels that are reef-safe is Genicanthus. the above article is a great summary of the species.

Fortunately, they are easier to find than a few years back, and I think many of them are quite striking. They may not be as brightly colored as pygmy angels (Centropyge), but you won't have to worry about them one day nipping on your coral.

[Conrad25]

I think the biggest thing about the angelfish with success is feeding. I feed my fish 2-3 times a day. My Koran Angel has not touched a single polyp of any LPS, Softies or the random SPS I have. I have a lot of selection he could go for if he chose. So I took a large chance. Also from what I have read before I did the leap of faith on my angel is that if they choose to pick, its usually only a specific type of zoa or coral. I love my angel and its one of the most beautiful vibrant fish I have. But like others say, its also all about their attitude.

Conrad

[reefworm]

Liu - excellent link
I agree that individual specimens may exhibit "good behavior" - quotes indicating that "good" does not equal "natural" behavior. These animals live that way on the reef, so the ones that are a PITA are just doing what they do. It's the individuals that don't harm corals that are the danger to my mind - in that they provide anecdotal evidence to support what we really wish and want - a dwarf angel that will leave corals alone. More power to those for whom it's worked, but that's not the norm. As to months of model behavior, that's no guarantee either. My CB was a stand up citizen for 8~9 months and then killed my open brain coral through constant harassment before I could get him out. That's not a knock on those of you for whom it's been ok, I'm just sayin'. I really think the decision is either reef or FOWLER. I think the ticking time-bomb metaphor AngelAddict uses is appropriate [and that from an Angel Addict! :)] FWIW

[Typlus5]

I have a Coral Beauty...no issues. Of course, since I said this now I'm sure if SPS buffet time:-)

[ALH]

Genicanthus are generally reef safe, but there are exceptions. I had one that thought zoanthids were mighty tasty

[Blown76mav]

I had a Koran and it was great until....one day I came home to find it making a meal on my Brain coral. Beautiful fish, I'm gonna miss it.

[WestTexasReefer]

I had a blueface for 2 years that never touched anything and then I came home from out of town for 2 days and he had destroyed 4 large brain corals. Beautiful fish but I had to remove him. I have a female bellus and a swallowtail angel now and in my opinion are just great looking fish.

[PGUY1]

Swallowtail here and it never bothers anything. The Genicanthus angels are planktavores and not sponge eaters so I never really see it nipping at anything. At night after lights out, with the moon lights, it will zip in and out of the rocks picking off pods if there are a lot out. It's pretty cool to watch.

[hamiltonguy]

Friend of mine has a lemonpeel angelfish, it nipped at any new coral he put in but nothing that caused any damage at all. Just made it so that polyps didn't extend.

[Zebodog]

I tried a flame angel.

Was a model citizen for the first week; I fed three times a day and there was nori in the tank for 80% of daylight hours.

Week 2 arrived and it was open season on my monti's, acans, duncan and heliopora. He was promptly evicted from the tank and is now happily living in a leather dominated tank. Beautiful fish though.

[Fish_wiz2]

Swallow tails, bellus, wannabe's, and regals have been safe with me. I decided to chance it and now have a Queen in my tank that only nips candycanes, anything else it ignores. Wiz ;)

[LifeAquatic]

I dont recommend any type of angel fish for an SPS or an LPS system. Just dont do it! You will thank yourself later when you dont have to trap that angel fish. My experience with angels werent the best. They will nip at corals, its just how they are. Do they do a lot of damage? Maybe not, but your corals wont fully expand. For ex. Acans will most likely never fully expand even if nipped once a day. Polyps on the SPS will not extend as much. So far Ive been through coral Beauty, flame, Emporer. Bought the emporer as a 1" baby. thought it was worth a shot.. He turned out to be the worst of them all. Flame angel 2nd and coral beauty doing least amount of damage.

[poolkeeper1]

I have a Cherub (Pigmy) Angel that has never once nipped at any SPS in a tank with over 100 colony's of SPS,Acans,Chalice's,Zoas,Duncans Etc. They are very pretty fish with striking color IMO
Bill

[Alex T.]

While there is much merit in going reef or fish only...there will always be those of us who push the envelope. Twenty years ago our entire reefkeeping hobby was deemed impossible. To say that an angelfish can't be kept in a reeftank with long term success is an absolute, and I've never been one to heed absolute advice/opinions.

As stated, I do have a Passer Angelfish in my sps clam reeftank. On occasion, he's nipped at some sps, but nothing that keeps the corals from growing. Polyp extension has not suffered either. I feed very heavily. In fact, some fish only tanks are not fed as heavily as my reef. At least 3 cubes of frozen, a large pinch of pellet and half a sheet of nori are the norm. I believe this is paramount in trying to experiment with angels in a reeftank. My fish are fat, happy and active. Keep them well fed and they're less likely to pick on corals...and tankmates. I've also found that gobs of water movement helps too. I have four Vortech MP40's on full blast and a powerful Iwaki return pump. Water movement turnover is almost 90 times tank volume. This keeps the Passer from spending too much time picking at a single specimen for too long.

Although there will always be exceptions to the rule, it can be done within reason. If your skimmer is capable of keeping up with a heavy feeding regimen, and you can keep chaotic flow throughout the tank..then I feel it's not just possible but very likely. Maybe I'm naive in believing that this can be a long term tank mate, but I don't feel I'll wake up to a sudden total destruction to my reef like AngelAddict predicts. It's a sacrifice in keeping up with feedings and water changes, but to me...there are no more brilliantly colored reef fishes than the angels. My reasons for pulling him one day will simply be his estimated adult size of over a foot. Until that day, I'm enjoying the ride. I agree that it's not for everyone, but it's not always a death sentence to your corals either.