Playing with fire...

[The Grizz]

Once an Angel gets a taste for coral it will never let it be. It is a crap shoot most of the time with fish that are deemed not reef safe. I have a Coral Beauty that was in a FOWLR but is now in my reef and he has never touched a thing.

[sphelps]

You’re not seeing anything unusual. Triggers are typically safe with all corals, it’s the fact they will usually eat crustaceans like crabs and shrimp that makes then “non reef safe”. Full size angles will usually go after soft and LPS corals, however every fish is different and some have better luck than others. They often do better with harder corals as appose to softer ones. Also don’t be fooled thinking the angle has learned a lesson and will no longer pick at those corals, more than likely it’ll be back for more eventually. It doesn’t take much to upset a torch or frogspawn coral either, a couple bites can be enough to cause an infection which can spread to other corals. Also keep in mind the angle is just a juvenile, their coral eating behavior gets worse with age, some sources will even say they are reef safe as juveniles and not as adults so if it’s already eating coral, well…. have fun with that

As somebody new in the hobby I wouldn’t suggest tackling too many non reef safe fish in a reef tank. Best to stick with a basic reef with smaller fish like dwarf angles as appose to full size. A 60 gallon is too small and won’t give you the advantage of a FO tank, a small reef would be much nicer.

[phreezee]

I had a Picasso trigger with my clam for over a year without incident but it was only a matter of time. Put the trigger up for sale.

I just added a Juv Emperor the other day, so maybe this time the clam will be put up for sale when the day comes.

[kien]

Another reason why many triggers are considered "not reef safe" is because they can be quite aggressive towards other fish, especially the more docile reef fish. They are very aggressive eaters and can easily out compete these docile reef fish for food. Or one day they could just get fed up and decide to just eat your weaker fish.

[tytown]

I guess we'll see how the torch does over the next few weeks. If I see it get nipped once I'll post it on the buy/sells for free.
Thanks everyone!

[zum14]

Im kinda surprised this hasnt come up yet but maybe if your enjoying the corals, consider selling the fish? 60 gal is way too small for an emperor angel. They need more in the 300 gal range to be comfortable. Triggers get big too. Just another angle to look at if your likeing coral.

[Madreefer]

Originally Posted by zum14

Im kinda surprised this hasnt come up yet but maybe if your enjoying the corals, consider selling the fish? 60 gal is way too small for an emperor angel. They need more in the 300 gal range to be comfortable. Triggers get big too. Just another angle to look at if your likeing coral.

I thought the same thing but thought the tang police would be all over it. Was waiting to see if they would chase off another new member. Much better approach. I guess only tangs matter.