Flame Angel getting picked on?

[JohnHenry]

Hi all,

I've had a flame angel in my 120 for a few weeks now. He's doing fine but is still a little shy, spending a lot of time in the rocks and coming out mainly for feeding time. But his tail fin, the blue part, is missing a bit. It looks like it has been bitten off!

Other fish include a saddleback clown, a percula, and a lawnmower blenny. I've never seen any of these fish bother the angel, never even just for show.

I also have a coral-banded shrimp....and one nasty-looking black crab, about the size of a quarter. I'm guessing that the crab is the culprit, as he lives in the rocks near where the angel likes to hide. Still trying to trap the little bugger, but have had no luck yet.

So, is it most likely that the crab is doing the nibbling?
The tail will grow back after the villian is removed, right?

Thanks,
Jh

 

[tangreef68]

i know that some crabs are slightly aggressive, but i have never heard of a crab attacking a fish. how big is the flame angel?

 

[sean48183]

I wouldn't worry about him. If he is coming out during eating means he's pretty healthy still. Those other fish won't bother him much. I would say in time he will be the dominant fish in your tank. And don't worry about his tail. I've got a aggresive tank and fishes tails get shredded sometimes but they always grow back. Sometimes within a week. One question: What are you feeding your angel? My rusty angel really flourished after I started feeding ocean nutrition frozen gel binded angel formula.