Flame Angel compatible in Reef?

[tnguye02]

I have not witness my Flame Angel nipping at my Xenia or Green Star Polyps but since this fish has been in my 65G tank, these two most hardiest coral of mine have been dying. The Xenia is gone and the Green Star Polyps are 75% gone. And now my colony polyps are starting to lose its vitality.

My Hard Corals are doing fine, the fish must not like to nip at the hard corals. Any one have a flame angel in their reef tank?

 

[Dubbin1]

Many people have them and they are all hit and miss.

 

[wenright]

Not all Angels are "angels" in a reef tank. People have mixed luck with Flame Angels in a reef tank, either they are good or bad....I had a Flame Angel in my reef tank for two years that was a model citizen. It never picked on anything in my tank. It is a hit or miss situation.::smokin:

 

[rememberme]

Had one, it was fine!

 

[Reefcherie]

I've had one now for nearly 3 years. I wish he's prune the Xenia forest (it is a reef weed in my tank!) but he doesn't. I've never seen him nip at any corals - SPS, LPS or softies.

 

[divewsharks]

as mentioned it is a hit or miss proposition, my flame initially nipped at my sps, but now does not, and he has been in the tank for about 3yrs, he now however, is a bully to most other open water swimming fish.

 

[Absint Reefer]

mine never touched anything even my clam

 

[j83]

Had one for several months and he was a model citizen, one day out of nowhere he started to pick on my clam and xenia. He went back to the LFS . . .

 

[Jon Evans]

I heard that if there is a good, diverse supply of food that they will not resort to nipping at corals.

 

[bsw445]

I've had one in my reef along with a Regal Angel with no problems with clams, sps, lps, or softies. I keep them well fed, constant nori available in the tank for them to nip at and they love it. Not sure if distraction is the remedy or not

 

[KDodds]

Angels I've had success with so far:
Nox
African Flameback
Coral Beauty
Scribbled
Navarchus
Trimac

Angels I've tried that didn't "work":
None

Personally, if you don't see it ripping and tearing at your corals, I'd quickly start investigating other possibilities. It takes a whole lot to start decimating Xenia. But what you describe does not sound unfamiliar. In low flow tanks, LPS will often do well where Xenia and GSPs may not. As well, especially if it's a smaller tank, you have to consider any sweeper/nematocyst/mesenterial filament that the LPS might be using in "coral wars".

 

[ERICinFL]

Mine does fine too. Like Jon Evans said, I feed my fish about 3-4 different types of food. My Flame Angel eats all of them (he's got a big belly) so I guess he doesn't feel the need to nip at my corals.