Flame Angel Reef Safe?
 

I've always wanted one of these bad boys. I love the colour and livelyhood of them. The problem is if they are reef safe? I have an SPS dominated tank with a few LPS and 5 Crocea Clams.

I've been told that they are 50/50 chance of nipping at my corals. I've also read of quite a few accounts online that they haven't nipped at corals in quite a few tanks.

I'm asking for your opinions and experiences, so I can make my decision whether or not to risk getting one.

Most likely you will be OK, but there are exceptions. Each fish is an individual and you can't generalize that they will 100% be reef safe. That said, IME, flame angels and potters angels tend to be among the least likely to nip corals. I've had both and none ever touched SPS or clams. FWIW, my potters angel does nip at my gorgonians however to the point where they are declining. Eventually I will have to rehome her or lose the gorgs.

I don't like it.... my vote is NO!

So far, we have a tie.
1 FOR
1 AGAINST

I have owned two, my current one is not reef safe. Loves to nip everything. My previous one was SPS safe but clam and LPS unsafe.

As tony said, it's more to do with the individual fish rather than the type of fish in many cases. I have a Regal tang that is starting to develop a taste for clams. Plus, now that my Purple Tang has seen my Regal Tang nip at clams my Purple Tang is starting to get in on the clam nipping action :( Most people would consider both fish reef safe :-)

Not their fault, i blame on your clams beauty which attract them.

About flames angel i think it is a miss and hit so if you feel lucky go with it. I have mine and they nip here and there but i don't care

Mine is never touching anything, maybe I am just lucky.

I have a Flame and a Potter's, both are reef safe. But as others stated, it is a gamble, beautiful fish if you wish to take the chance.

this is a good point. they are beautifully delicious.

I have a coral beauty it's never touched anything but..... I think it's 50/50 at best depends on the individual fish

Haha you guys are making it TOUGH for me!

I was hoping for a clear and definite majority.

Normally I woudn't care one way or another, but these fish are soooooooo beautifully coloured, with lots of personality and livelyhood.

I blame it all on Carrera75 for tempting me with a non-nipping one! Haha! :twised:

http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=83362

I have a Flame Angel and he is not a coral nipper. However, can't say he is a favorite fish of mine. He was not on my top 5.

Looks nice, with the bright colors, but is not as friendly or has the character and personality of some of my other fish. He is an active swimmer, but does not come up to the front of the tank to greet me (or beg for food) like some of the other fish. To me he is just an ornament.

My dad has one and its never touched anything but he only has lps, softies, and a clam

Wanna sell him? Haha!

The bigger question for you is, Does he sit & stay when you tell him to? Haha! Sorry just couldn't resist.

Haha, no, not as well trained as some of my other fish.... And I'm almost tempted to sell him, too. But he wouldn't be easy to catch, so I think will just leave him be. Like I said, he's a nice ornament.

The best thing to do would be to setup a quarantine test tank with a few cheap sps and a clam. Better to sacrifice those than risk your whole tank of corals. The more you keep them well fed, the less chance of them nipping. I have wanted to add a flame angel as well but not sure if its worth the risk.

I would be more worry about your clams than your corals. Many fish (for some reason angelfish are notorious for that) are attracted to anything that comes out of excurrent siphon of a clam, be it poop, un-digestable food or zoox (sometime a clam can expel zoox for various reasons). When a fish picks at those things, they annoy the clam and the clam will close. Clams can be harassed to death by this action. This is the major reason I don't keep clams in my angel fish dominated reef tank.

Thanks for all the input from EVERYONE!

I think I'm going to avoid the Flame Angel......been doing some more reading and I don't think I want to risk what I have left.

I'll just load up on more SPS! Haha!

This would be the safest route. I had one that was a model citizen but I know of at least one that was good in one persons tank and after going to someone else he became a coral nipper so one can never be sure about them.

probably a good idea, and I dont mean this in the wrong way, but if you had decided the other way, I think with the tang your already overstocked. but thats just my opinion, I love flame angels and have thought about it for my new tank, but am not sure I'll be going down that road

No Tangs any more!

The Tangs I had, had an extreme case of Ich. I picked them up too soon, picked them up the day after they arrived from LA. Guess there was way too much stress from shipping, then his tank, and then my tank.

Anyhow, they wiped out pretty much my whole tank. I have 4 fish left, and if they don't make it, I'm going to let the tank be fallow for 9 weeks minimum before even considering re-stocking.

I can only blame myself for my impatience in not waiting for the newly shipped fish to settle down before picking them up.

Anything new is going into my newly setup QT before going into the DT.

ich can be brought on by stress too in tangs I hear, so it could have been from being in to small of a space, but likey also from the lack of time between shipping to selling.

Good luck with the tank though!

The Tangs had a bit of Ich when I picked them up.

I originally thought, "Blah, just a tiny bit of Ich, no big deal, been there done that"

I fed them garlic and selcon soaked Mysis and countless sheets of nori, they were all eating, so I thought they'd be fine.

The Ich was receeding, or so I thought it was, but the next wave was much worse than the first. I am thinking that it may not have been the first cycle of Ich that these Tangs had. But as time passed, it only got worse and worse, until virtually every fish in the tank had Ich, and then the dying started.

Long story short, don't rush to pick up newly shipped fish, let them settle down for at least a couple of weeks.

I use liveaquaria.com as a reference they have a compatability chart plus tons of reference on each fish and their pros and cons and requirements. But I am new to the game so ....

Flame angel
 

I have had mine for almost 1 year... Mine is reef safe... Or is she hasnt found any of mine zoas mushrooms clam tasty enough....