Large angels in a reef. Your thoughts?
 

I'm always surprised to see how many people have larger angels in their reefs. I always had the thought that they were risky in a reef due to munching on things we'd otherwise pay good money to keep? SPS, clams .. LPS. ? Is that true or is it more of a case where they eat sponges, and whatever you feed them, and they leave the rest alone?

So.. I'm curious. If you have an angel (or angels) in your reef (excluding the Centropyge sp. pygmies that is), is there anything you've found that you can't keep in your reef as a result of having the angel(s)?

I have a regal angel that eats everything softies, lps, zoos, sps.

The only things I have found that can tolerate being munched on are sps

I have 3 angels in each of my display tanks. The largest in each of my tanks are Majestic Angels of between 4 - 5". I find that they all pick at things in the tank with the smaller angels doing the most continuous picking. Angels are very inquisitive and will immediately go over and pick at anything new put into their tank. My tanks are completely over grown with GPS, Xenia, Anthelia, Kenya Tree and Zoo's and if they are in fact eating any of the corals it is impossible to tell. Some of my friends that have had problems with angels in their reef tanks have had problems with the angels going after the more meaty Brain Corals.

tagging along.

The corals that seem the most tempting to angels are brain-type and sometimes Euphyllias. My Majestic & other angels seemed to nip at the puffy brain corals a lot.

Tom- does your majestic pick at your clams?

jw

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u...R/DSC_7077.jpg

No the Angel do not seem to bother the clams. I put the clams out of the main swimming lanes of the tank as the clams close every time a fish swims by and if they are in the main swimming lanes they are closing all the time. After a while the clams do not open all the ways and are just not happy.

Tom R

Tony
I just added 5 angels to my acro sps tank.
6.5" Majestic
5" Emperor
4" Regal
3" Goldflake
2.5" Flame

So far so good with the acros. I don't have lps or softies or clams in there.

I want a gold flake
(just subscribing to thread really)

Large Angels
 

I have a large queen angel in a reef tank and it eats green star and yellow polyps. I recently moved a Large Koran angel into the tank and it ate two of three green bubble corals and some Red mushrooms although the tank I moved it from had geen star polyps and yellow parazoanthus which it did not touch. It did like to pick at brain corals and palythos and zoanthids. I think the angels are individuals and each is not to be trusted in a reef.

reply
 

A great lesson in aquarium logistics. :biggrin:

all fish can be coral eaters it depends on the fish. i have a 2 angels and neither of them pick at coral ... but my yellow tang killed 2 clams on me ... my advice is watch your fish and if it is just grazing on coral not killing it then the coral will probobly do better... remember in the wild the fish that graze on coral keep the coral healthy...

JUST MY .O2 CENTS

angels
 

It's all a matter of chance. I had a coral beauty for about a year. I feed my fish once a day and last week I wake up, check out my tank and right in front of me is my coral beauty eating some zoanthids. That was the last day that fish spent in my tank. Someone with a fowlr tank took it off my hands. So some fish will be fine forever. Some will be fine for some amount of time and then for no particular reason change. It's a shame because I really liked that fish. That's my own experiance on this topic.

i have had a blueface juvi in my reef for about 2 years, not picking anything and than all of a sudden picking at my clams, then it has been living in my refugium ever since (poor thing)... i am at the progess of adding a ear-spot angel, multicolor and a potter angel all at once to see what will happen...

i am willing let go of any corals that they like to pick on though.

i think based on my opinion, the reef tank will be more vibrant if angelfishes are put in, you will lose the sponge/tunicate/macro inverts variety in the long run, but this is the sacrifice i am willing to make.

cheers!

oK update on my angels - my Flame, Regal and Goldflake seems to have started picking on the millis.

i am currently trying to catch the shoal tang to my sump, to give the new arrivals a little breathing room. i currently have a purple tang, ear-spot angel, potters angel and a multicolor angel waiting to be put in.

should i bet on the fact that the aggression of the shoal should be quite spread out and everybody should survive??

i set up a trap last night and all of my fish except the shoal are entering the trap to eat no problem... i am convince that by end of this month i will be able to catch him.

what is your opinion??

Any photos of your new additions?

Aussiefry...is your blueface angel still living in the sump?:cry: