Angels in a reef tank

[dunning3075]

Ok well I am a long ways out from finishing my build but I am currently building a 120 gallon reef tank. I have went back and forth for awhile about what I want to stock it with.

I am facinated by angels. I however love coral. I have tried to search and figure out what coral angels eat and what angels I would have a better chance with. I dont want a dwarf. no coral beauties or flames. I want a larger angel.

I am perfectly fine not having zoas or pallys. I could do without some corals.

I would really like to figure out what angels are the easiest to keep in a reef and what corals Id have to do without. I love a regal angel. There are several I really like such as a queen, blue face, french or imporator.

My stock list other than this fish will be pretty small. I have a mated set of saddle back clowns and there sebae. I will also have a powder brown tang.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Just trying to get a game plan on how to build my tank for the fish I want to be my center peice

 

[agreeive?fish]

well i can only comment a little here

my regal angel (indo) is the only angel i have in my so called reef which consists of 2 colt corals.

the regal ignores the colts since the 1st second in the tank..the week before christmas 2010

 

[dogstar74]

Pretty much any soft tissue coral is fair game to be eaten. I would suggest a very mature reef tank with a lot of SPS. If you introduced the Angel too soon, then he may nip with curiosity too much for frags to survive, however if he didn't like the taste of a full grown staghorn, then chances are the small nip won't kill the whole colony.

 

[Mbachota]

I have a coral beauty with plenty of softies and no problem what so ever.

 

[dunning3075]

really like the regal angel

 

[cilyjr]

the japanese swallow tail angel is one of the safer choices for the large angel fish. there a few dwarf angels that people keep with a good deal of success. including the coral beauty and flame angel

 

[abark]

Pretty much any soft tissue coral is fair game to be eaten. I would suggest a very mature reef tank with a lot of SPS. If you introduced the Angel too soon, then he may nip with curiosity too much for frags to survive, however if he didn't like the taste of a full grown staghorn, then chances are the small nip won't kill the whole colony.

+1

really like the regal angel

What is your experience level? I only ask because the Regal is a notoriously difficult fish to keep.....long term. You have to measure success in years and not many make it that long. I got one about a month ago that was healthy and eating mysis....and it still took 2 weeks to get it to eat in my tank. I have been keeping fish for 20 years now and the Regal has been my biggest challenge. I have a mature SPS tank and I feel that was a big part of getting this fish adapted since I had a lot of sponge in my tank that it fed on for the first week.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=389107

That is the Regal primer thread....it is 117 pages long. I read the whole thing before I got my regal....lots of good info. Sadly, in the thread you will find more failures than successes. Also sadly, I now want more angels....they are not cheap.

 

[dunning3075]

I have 15 years in fish keeping. This will be my fourth sw tank. Not completely set on a regal just want a bigger angel as a centerpeice. something to build my tank around.

 

[Islander84]

How do the juvenile koran angels do in a sps tank

 

[abark]

I have 15 years in fish keeping. This will be my fourth sw tank. Not completely set on a regal just want a bigger angel as a centerpeice. something to build my tank around.

Ok, just checking....it would be a bit much for somebody just starting out. I had to feed live clams at first then freeze prepared food in the empty clam half-shell. Then I had to quit the live clams so it would get hungry enough to eat from the water column. It got a bit thin but it is eating with gusto now. It was by far the most I have had to do to get something to eat in captivity.

Tough fish indeed. Check the thread out.....about 6 years of experiences with this fish.

 

[scottv1025]

With past experience with angels . I would not even try any more angels