For those with Reef Safe Flame Angels...

[haynesw]

I have had 4 flame angels in my mixed reef recently (1 pair placed and then removed, and then a second pair placed). All 4 pretty much had the exact same behavior regarding coral nipping/sampling. All four tended to nip my SPS frags a few times a day - just passing nips, not persistent bitting. They are much more consistent/aggressive about eating algae on the glass and rocks. 1 of those 4 fish came out of a heavily coral-stocked mixed reef where he had been residing for years (tank was being broken down).

So, here is my question for those of you that have kept "reef safe" flame angels: Did they periodically nip your SPS? I ask this because I'm beginning to think that if I had more SPS the nipping would be better distributed and wouldn't really damage anything, whereas at the moment I only have small frags (so a few nips a day pretty much causes polyp retraction for just about the whole day). I guess I'm also sort of asking here for a clarification on what people regard as a "reef safe angel." Is it one that nips infrequently, or is it one that never nipped at all?

Thanks.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

I think its pretty common even for reef safe angels to nip here and there. If there isn't any damage, who cares.

 

[haynesw]

That's the answer I was expecting (from my brief experience). As I described, the nipping isn't aggressive or persistent - just kind of sampling while passing by...but its pretty much keeping the polyps of my SPS retracted for most of the day. Isn't it damaging for the coral to have their polyps retracted all day? I would expect they need their polyps extended throughout the day for capturing food and for photosynthesis.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

In nature, coral polyps are retracted all day because they are constantly getting passerby nips from all the fish. It only becomes a problem in home tanks when the same coral keeps getting tagged by the fish over and over due to being confined together in a small space like our tanks.

Don't get me wrong there are reef safe individuals that don't nip at all. But there are plenty of people who report nipping with no damage as well.

Check out my thread "The angel thread to end all angel threads." Almost 10% of flame angelfish owners report nipping, but no actual damage.

 

[haynesw]

Thanks a lot. Maybe I'll keep them in the tank and just wait to see if I get tissue recession.

 

[ca1ore]

I have had close to a dozen Flame Angels in my tanks over the years and they hav all been occasional nippers. If you have enough live rock in the tank damage is negligible.