Genicathus Bellus, he eats my corals!!!

[elekamit]

Hey guys!
I've got a trio of bellus (currently all females), I got them because I looooove angelfish and LPS and don't want to compromise either.

My bellus trio are amazing!, eating everything I throw in the tank and super fat, however they are eating my corals!!!!
They have finished off a colony of acan lords and are going after all of my trachys and blastos!

Is this a first?

 

[michael_cb_125]

Probably not a first, but not very common either.
As with all fish they are individuals and some behave differently than others.
I have had fairy wrasse and tangs that eat euphyllias.
Really, any fish is capable of consuming corals.

~Michael

 

[snorvich]

What do you feed? How frequently? How much?

 

[elekamit]

I feed frozen formula 1&2 by ocean nutrition.
Mysis, artemia, a variation of dry foods and a page of nuri every day.
They get fed massive feeds twice a day.

Am I doing something wrong?

 

[ken6217]

Guess the angels don't read the books about themselves. I have a French and Goldflake Angel in my reef and they don't touch a thing.
Ken

 

[anbosu]

If you are feeding a lot that is all you can do. Genicanthus are the most reef safe angel, but they can and still do eat corals when they feel like it.

 

[SDguy]

Were you target feeding the LPS? Could they possibly have started by picking the food out of the corals, and then got a taste for the corals themselves?

 

[snorvich]

^ this is a very good point. If you want to do that you need to protect them via a plastic feeding cup

 

[elekamit]

Well, when I did spot feed my corals it was at night when all the fish were asleep in the rockwork, none came out to eat. So rule out the possibility.

I guess nature has it's own course, There is no "Reef Safe"

 

[SDguy]

My female blackspot would pick at suncorals that I fed at 5am until they spit up their food so she could eat it. I would not rule that possibility. I never spot feed LPS in my tank any more.

Also, did one start, and the others learned, or did all three start eating corals at the same time?

 

[mrwilson]

That's some bad luck. (But I'd rather have a bellus angel trio than some acan colonies, personally.)

 

[Makenna]

Although uncommon for sure, I have had both a Bellus and a Lamark at times eat LPS, mainly Open Brains and Acans. In both cases the tank was fed heavy daily and they consumed food aggressively, they just had a hankerin for coral.

Both were removed and moved on.

Again, unlikely, but not unheard of.

 

[PGUY1]

I had the same problem with my female swallowtail. I had a beautiful, fist size group of big nuclear green palys with black pinstripes in them sitting in the sand. She would relentlessly pick at them until the mouths of all of them were gray. I pulled them out and gave them to a friend and she has never touched another coral since. It is just a matter of which is more important; fish or coral.