Bellus Angelfish Female

[Tang tank]

Has anyone kept this fish? How difficult is it? And is it reef safe?

 

[denash24]

In my experience it's easy to keep, this is considered "reef safe" but like all angels they're hit or miss. So before you get it make sure you're willing to live with it nipping at your LPS.

 

[Bret61081]

Ive never heard of them picking at Coral, the only Genicanthus Ive heard of nipping was a Lamarck. Where I used to work we had a pair in a full reef and they were model citizens. I have 2 female Watanabes in my tank and they too have never bothered anything

 

[Angel*Fish]

For starters it just doesn't seem right to put them in bright tanks and this is so often what's done since they are bought for their reputation of being reef safe. They are not for beginners, there are collection issues and are usually wanted for a brighter environment than where they come from - I would always pass on this fish. The female is the more colorful fish and may turn male unless you have a pair. They get rather large and need a large tank.

 

[denash24]

Ive never heard of them picking at Coral,

They absolutely do.
Obviously you might get lucky and get one that doesn't.

 

[JM68]

I have a female in my reef with both lps and sps and i have never seen her pick at anything. I've had her for almost a year now, a good friend of mine also has one in his reef and he is having the same experience i am. Model citizen, but sometime aggressive to other fish in the tank. My tank is lit with t5 and my buddy has halides neither fish seems to be affected by the light as they spend most of their time out and about. It did taker me a while to find a healthy specimen however. I have heard that the collection practices of these arent the best. Many others died during transit to my lfs or shortly after arriving i wouldnt buy one till it was in the store for at least a week showing no signs of decompression issues and eating well. My friend and i got both of our fish from the same shipment.

 

[Angel*Fish]

Everyone always says that - if they like the heat and the light so much, it seems like they'd just swim up to shallower waters in nature. If you get a deep water fish, in my opinion, you should respect that the animal evolved in that environment.

And you touched on what I said about the collection issues. Here we have yet another fish that is unsuccessfully collected and handled with apparently little consideration for how many fish perish to get the rare healthy one to the LFS.

 

[elegance coral]

My LFS has one of these fish in their display tank. It was seclusive at first, like many other species, but now it's out and about with all the other fish. It seems to be doing very well, and hasn't touched any coral.

Everyone always says that - if they like the heat and the light so much, it seems like they'd just swim up to shallower waters in nature. If you get a deep water fish, in my opinion, you should respect that the animal evolved in that environment.
.

Light is just one aspect of an animals environment. Many factors influence why an animal will live in one environment over another. Availability of food, safety from predators, space to live and reproduce, and the list goes on and on. We can't pic one aspect of an animals natural environment and assume that this is why they live where they do, or that it is needed for the animal to live a long healthy life in captivity. If people are keeping this animal in brightly lit aquariums, and they seem active and healthy, it suggests that light is not a crucial aspect of the animals well being. Every time we take an animal from the wild, and keep it in captivity, we change many aspects of its environment. Despite this fact, many animals in captivity live longer, grow larger, and become more physically fit, than their relatives in the wild.

 

[Angel*Fish]

Light is just one aspect of an animals environment. Many factors influence why an animal will live in one environment over another. Availability of food, safety from predators, space to live and reproduce, and the list goes on and on. We can't pic one aspect of an animals natural environment and assume that this is why they live where they do, or that it is needed for the animal to live a long healthy life in captivity. If people are keeping this animal in brightly lit aquariums, and they seem active and healthy, it suggests that light is not a crucial aspect of the animals well being. Every time we take an animal from the wild, and keep it in captivity, we change many aspects of its environment. Despite this fact, many animals in captivity live longer, grow larger, and become more physically fit, than their relatives in the wild.

I realize all that and I know my post was simplistic. I knew someone would come along and post your argument - and you put it nicely. But I can't help it - I just think it's kind of inconsiderate to the fish. And you don't really see a lot of success with these fish, do you? I think more respect for the environment fish come from is needed in this hobby.