Emperor Angelfish Reef Safe?

[virginiadiver69]

I saw a juvi listed at ReeferMadness as reef safe. I assumed most if not all angels where NOT. Is this correct?

[Aquarose]

They are not reef safe. They may be for a time, but will change.

[Gary Majchrzak]

with Angelfish it's not safe to assume anything...

[Roy G. Biv]

Juviniles are barely reef safe. Adults are not.

[virginiadiver69]

That's what I thought. Oh well.

[virginiadiver69]

Originally posted by Gary Majchrzak
with Angelfish it's not safe to assume anything...

I guess in this case my assumption was right.
Gary, Is that a angel I see in your avatar?

[Gary Majchrzak]

yep.


and look here:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/totm/index.php

[virginiadiver69]

What's been your experience? I read (skimmed) the link for the TOTM and saw aggressive feeding as his solution.
Where upstate are you? I am from Just north of Albany.

[Gary Majchrzak]

I'm just west of Rochester.
DrTango is near Buffalo. We both use autofeeders. Aggressive feeding will alleviate some problems, but it won't solve everything.
"Open brain" type corals are at high risk with an Emperor, although coral placement might also be a key factor.

[virginiadiver69]

Thanks for the info. I guess I will un-dogear that page of my marine fish handbook.

[Gary Majchrzak]

anyone considering introducing an Emperor Angelfish to a reef aquarium should do a thorough serach of RC (and other sources) for info on this species before purchasing one.
Every fish is different and this isn't an easy fish to remove from a reef aquarium.

[Aquarose]

They are so beautiful though!

[yoboyjdizz]

Originally posted by Aquarose
They are not reef safe. They may be for a time, but will change.

Any personall experience? Alot of people have been giving them a try in past year or two in reefs.. Find out what works and what dosent usually people are having success mostly in sps tanks. It depends on you what you value more the fish or coral, then decide what you want in your tank.

[Aquarose]

Yes, I have had them become a problem. But I can't speak of the SPS part.

[gregg@AMS]

the only angelfish i truly trust in a reef are Genicanthus species, and even those can become aggressive toward other other fish, and not just other plankitvorous fish. they'll go after tangs, butterflies, you name it.

the other genera of angels, the Holocanthus, Pomacanthus, Centropyge, Chaetodontoplus.....all could work in a reef, but all could just as easily NOT work in a reef, and as was already mentioned, once in, they are difficult to remove. and by the time you figure out that an angel is doing damge, it has probably already taken some corals or clams down.

Centropyge is the 2nd most trusted genus, but agian, its still pretty hit or miss. for my $$$, the Genicanthus are the way to go. G. bellus and G. watanabei are among the most beautiful fish available.

[jer77]

What about Regal Angels? I've heard many people have had success in keeping them in reefs.

[Gary Majchrzak]

Originally posted by jer77
What about Regal Angels? I've heard many people have had success in keeping them in reefs.

hey- this is an Emperor thread!
The Regal has it's own long thread already going...

[virginiadiver69]

YEAH! no hijacking! jk
If this hobby has taught me nothing else it has taught me to restrain my impulses. I am shooting for a non-dominated realistic looking mixed reef but unfortunately some of the prettiest specimens just can not go in my tank.
Why don't these fish understand that they are here for our pleasure and do as they are supposed to?

[marinelife]

With Angels it all depends on what is in the tank, Emperors rarely hurt SPS corals but eat/nip some clams and LPS corals. I have an emperor in my tank with no problems had one before with no problems either, juv to adult size. You just need to research the angel and see what corals it eats then do not stock your tank with them.
I do have clams and neither Emperor has bothered them.

My first Emperor I purchased in 2002 and just died earlier this year after moving to a larger tank from Marine Velvet, my new one was purchased in June 2007 as a Juv.

Not to HJ, a friend of mine has had a Regal in his reef, all it likes is Zoas, it does not eat or pick at his SPS or leathers

[Gary Majchrzak]

did you ever see your Emperor bother zoanthids, hydroids, sponges or aiptasia marinelife?

[marinelife]

aiptasia - took out all he could get too, when he died they came back, but the new one is working on them again.

I had no hydroids.
Never seen it eat sponge and I have alot, It could have nipped at it at night,

I had some Zoanthids and I never saw it go after them but I removed most before it got to adult size, I have some in there now and so far with the juv. they are ok and growing

[jer77]

Originally posted by Gary Majchrzak
hey- this is an Emperor thread!
The Regal has it's own long thread already going...

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack... Just was following up on what gregg@AMS was saying about other angels that may be reef-safe.

Since this is an emperor thread I'll say that I've had some experience in raising a very small juvi emperor to a sub-adult so far. As far as being reef-safe he's been a perfect inhabitant. In my 75g I have clams, LPS, SPS, zoanthids, softies and a few mushrooms and he hasn't even looked at them let along nipped them. So I really like him so far, enough to get a brand new 180g tank to put him in to grow up.

[zachtos]

I'm rebuilding a 240G SPS reef that recently died. I have a handful of fullgrown tangs in the display. I also have a 75G refugium that houses a juvenille emperoer angel. I was wondering if you think it would be OK to place him in the tank w/ the tangs, a few new flame angels and then ONLY stock the tank with SPS (millipora and montipora mostly). I also would have GSP on the back of the tank, but am not worried if they get eaten. All 20 of my zoa colonies are dead now.

*oh, and I have a rose bubble tipped anemone that MAY or MAY NOT survive, the tank is still suffering and cycling so I can't be sure. I can't afford to replace anything except a handful of the above mentioned corals.

[Gary Majchrzak]

why limit yourself to Montipora and Acropora or SPS for that matter? The Angelfish will eventually be dominent over the Tangs.

same imp as pictured earlier in this thread

[Paaty]

I bit the bullet and added a six inch adult last week and so far has not really bothered anything. My tank is pretty full, mainly sps but i also have a clam and an open brain and he has not touched them yet. I hope i will be able to say the same thing a month or year from now.