Angels in a reef

[Ruth]

Just curious about how many people have angel fish in thier reef tanks. I have a coral beauty in my 230g that so far has not bothered my coral that I have noticed. I am more curious about the full size angels. I am thinking of trying one (Goldflake) in my 190 which is mainly SPS - a few zoos and 2 anemones. Anyone have any experience?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I know a few reefers with Majestic angels in their reef systems & if its a big enough tank, little nips here & there won't do any of the corals too much harm seems to be the consensus.

Before I moved last summer, I had some softies in with a Queen & a Koran no problem. Heard that if you have brain corals, those are like a nice T-bone with all the trimmings to most angels.

Anthony

[Tom R]

Hi Ruth

Angels are my favorite fish.

I have 2 in my 125G a Pygmy Cherub and a 5 - 6" Majestic.
I have 3 in my 185G a Flame, a Pygmy White tail, and a 3 - 4" Majestic

As Angels are very inquisitive they seem peck at any new corals I put into my tanks for an hour or two but from that point on they seam to leave everything alone. Well maybe not the odd zoo.

Tom R

[mr_alberta]

Are you eyeing the one at JL's Ruth? Beautiful fish. Not very common either from what I've seen.

[dirtyreefer]

Goldflakes are supposed to be one of the "safer" angels in a reef, especially an SPS dominated reef. IME with angels, "meaty" corals such as brains, blastos, and acans are probably their biggest target as well as zoas.

As they all say, it all depends on the specimen. I would love to get a goldflake if I could only afford it.

[Ruth]

Yup eyeballing that one Harvey - I have wanted one for a long time as next to Tangs, Angels are my favorite fish. I am fortunate that I do have a backup plan if this one decides to munch down on my corals in that I can just move them to my 230g and go FOWLR if I have to in my 190g. Also only have 5 fish at the moment in my 190g so still lots of room. It also has lots of live rock (300+ lbs) and is skimmed with a BK400 skimmer so heavily skimmed and oxygenated (is that a word?).

[mr_alberta]

I love angels as well. So far I am batting 2 for 3 with angels. I've had a coral beauty, swallowtail (died :sad: ) and a Juvi-Emperor. The Emperor started out fine, but then started nipping one day. I do have a suspicion though that the coral it was nipping at was already on its way out, which perhaps enticed the nipping...

I would like to try another angel, but now that I have a couple of clams, I'm overly concerened since they aren't the easiest things to remove (the fish or the clams).

[Ruth]

Well I decided to try it and the fish will be here on Monday so I have my fingers crossed. Right now there are no clams in that tank although I would like to try a couple in there so I will probably make a place for the clams to attach to that will make them easy to remove them if I have to. No meaty corals in this tank - just SPS and a few hairy mushrooms and rics. The only thing that could be considered meaty I guess are the anemones but from what I can gather they do not normally bother those (Sebae and RBTA)

[Tom R]

Hi Ruth

I have clam's in my tanks with the angels. They have never bothered the clams. I let my clams attach to large oyster shells, that way you can move them any time you want. The oyster shell cover with coraline after a while.

Tom R

[Ruth]

I was thinking of doing the same thing Tom. Do you have anemones in your system? Have they ever bothered it?

[Tom R]

Ruth

I have only recently put an anemone into my tank and the angels have totally ignored it.

Tom R

[Chaloupa]

I had a Pygmy Cherub in my little reef...picked a bit at zoos etc but not too much (then "she" decided to see if she could fly...no lid on tank...you see where I'm going) Ruth, you have GOT to post a picture once it is settled in! So we can all drool! :lol:

[Tom R]

Hi Ruth

I was in J&L on Friday night and had a very good look at you Angel. This is one spectacular fish. You will be very happy with him in your tank. You will have to keep me posted on his acclimation to your system.

Tom R

[Ruth]

Yes I am very excited to get him. I have never paid this much for a fish before so am I gonna be choked if he doesn't make it - but they are supposed to be fairly hardy and J&L assured me it is eating and looks healthy. I guess that just the chance we take. I know on some of the other boards people report paying $5-6K for a fish - WOW and I'm nervous about paying $360.
If I can ever figure out how to get my camera to operate in manual mode I will take pictures - will probably take them anyway and post.

[Willow]

that golden angel looks pretty amazing also! 199 seems pretty steep for that fish tho, ive seen them around for less that 125.

[BlkWolfe]

Ruth, I've had my Regal for almost a year. She went through a clam and LPS picking phase for a little while, about 3 months in. Keeping nori in the tank, and 2-3 feedings a day quit her of it. Theres SPS, LPS, clams, and zoa's in the tank and everythings been safe.

Good grab on the goldflake, you beat me to it ;)

[Ruth]

Well Josh you will be the one giggling if this guy dies on me! I guess it pays to be an early riser. Glad to hear your Angel quit nibbling. I feed Nori to this tank at least 2 X per day already (1/2 sheet each feeding) so I may have to step it up. I don't have any LPS in the tank - just SPS and a few mushrooms, hitch hiker zoos, and rics. I am going to put a few clams in there which I will put on a base of some kind (shell) so they can be easily removed if they start getting nibbled. Fortunately I have my 230g and 44g cube that also have adequete lighting for a clam.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Ruth,

Later, when you get clams, maybe consider building an eggcrate cage to keep the angel from nibbling on it. After all, it seems that when a new specimen is added into a tank with an angel, that seems to be the time of greatest risk. This way, the clam can get used to the tank & the angel can get used to the clam, with a much lower risk factor.

Just a thought.

Anthony

[Ruth]

Thanks Anthony - good thought and I already have an eggcrate cage built although once the Angel is in the tank I don't think he will go willingly into the cage. I actually have the clams coming up at the same time as the Angel so they will go into the tank together. If he does start munching on them they will either come out and go into my other tank or :idea: I may just build a couple of small egg crate cages to go around the clams!

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Haha. I guess I wasn't that clear. The clams should go into the protective cage, so the angel can't nip them.

My bad.

Anthony

[naesco]

Invest in Angelfishes by Helmut Debelius and others. You can get the book from ocean aquatics.

There are many reef safe angelfishes. There are two pieces of advice.
1. Buy healthy juveniles only.
2. Feed them.

Your new angelfish likes fresh mussels so clams are out. Buy her a mussel and it might help her get used to your tank. Good Luck but if you have problems you can always send her my way

Wayne