Centropyge bicolor

[Tigerlusken]

I always wanted a dwarf angel some day, and now I got the chance to get one of my favourites, the bicolor angelfish. My LFS ordered some in several times before but they never made it through quarantine (LFS got own quarantine tanks they go in for 1 month before they sell them, to see that they eat well and are healthy). Yesterday I got the call that they do have one nice big one that made it through and I can pick it up tomorrow if I still wanted it.

Ive read about this wonderful fish for ages, and I know its very likely that he will at some point begin to nip at corals. For now I only got a few zoa colonies and nothing else so if he did nip it wouldnt be the end of the world. Originally I wanted a zoa only tank, as they are very colorful and not so difficult to keep for a beginner like me. So now I'm stuck between my zoa dream tank, and my favourite fish.

My tank is only around 40 gallons, I already have the following fish:
Kaudern's Cardinal x1
A. Ocellaris x1
P. Fridmani x1

So this would be my last fish as I dont want it to be crowded. Toughts?

What would you choose? Favourite fish or corals?
If I go with the dwarfangel, is there any corals you have successfully kept with your nipping bicolor?

Im hoping my chocies arent FOWLR with favourite fish, or zoa tank without favourite fish :sad2:

Any input appreciated

(Not sure if i posted this in the right place, if not please move it)

 

[Toddrtrex]

I can't tell you what to go with, corals or fish. However, out of all the dwarf angels there are only 2 that I will never, ever put into a tank with corals again, one is a Lemon Peel, and the other is Bi-color. They are just awful, and IMO/E, can not be trusted at all.

Mind you, this is coming from a person that currently has 5 dwarfs in 3 different reef tanks.

 

[rssjsb]

I totally get the attraction - this is a fish I'm also enamored of. I might be tempted to do without corals or experiment to see if I could find something noxious enough that it would be left alone.

However, I also have concerns about this fish in a 40-gallon tank long-term. I think these are one of the biggest of the "dwarfs."

 

[Tigerlusken]

However, I also have concerns about this fish in a 40-gallon tank long-term. I think these are one of the biggest of the "dwarfs."

Oh, I always assumed I could keep one dwarf angel in my tank. According to liveaquaria (im a beginner as mentioned earlier so I get most of my info about tanksize there) they want 30+ gallons so I tought I would be on the safe side with 40+ :uhoh2:

I dont want to get this fish if he cant be very happy in my 40g, fully grown that is. So if my tank is to small the choice might be alot easier to make!

There is other nice dwarf angels as well, but my LFS can only get 2-3 different types and even then its not guranteed they make it through quarantine. (The bicolor would cost me around 200$, not that many got saltwater tanks around here, so alot fewer options sadly)

Maybe someone got experience in keeping a bicolor in this size tank and can tell me about how its going?