Well today I had to capture my 5 1/2" Lamarks Angel that I have had for 3 years as I discovered he has been nipping corals. I recently started to bring my reef back to life due to a year and a half off and now I think he was a major player in the loss of my other corals. Too bad he is a beautiful fish. Just wanted to share this as I know there is a debate on what angels are reef safe and now I have come to my own decision that none of them are : ) Cheers!
Lamarks Angel moving out! Coral muncher : )
- Thread starter Z1313
- Start date
gasman059
The OG mad scientist
Ditto!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:hammer:
LemonLemon
New member
i've had a friend who has a coral eating pair of watanabei and bellus too. not to mention they eat tridacnid clam mantles too...
he feeds 3 times daily which i find is sufficient. this is the 2nd time i've heard of genicanthus eating corals.
he feeds 3 times daily which i find is sufficient. this is the 2nd time i've heard of genicanthus eating corals.
I'm wondering whether thats true, too.
But I'm also wondering whether the fish are learning this behaviour from other tankmates, partly as a result of boredom and occasionally hunger.
I had a butterfly in a separate system with some LPS and I never saw it touch them. The corals weren't retracted either, which is what I'd expect if it had been secretively nipping. A month or two after it was moved to a tank with nipping Centropyge sp., it, too, started nipping. In particular it teamed up with a flame angel and they did the rounds of the tank together.
Can't help but wonder if some of these planktivores are doing the same thing.
But I'm also wondering whether the fish are learning this behaviour from other tankmates, partly as a result of boredom and occasionally hunger.
I had a butterfly in a separate system with some LPS and I never saw it touch them. The corals weren't retracted either, which is what I'd expect if it had been secretively nipping. A month or two after it was moved to a tank with nipping Centropyge sp., it, too, started nipping. In particular it teamed up with a flame angel and they did the rounds of the tank together.
Can't help but wonder if some of these planktivores are doing the same thing.
mark97r6
New member
I'm wondering whether thats true, too.
But I'm also wondering whether the fish are learning this behaviour from other tankmates, partly as a result of boredom and occasionally hunger.
I had a butterfly in a separate system with some LPS and I never saw it touch them. The corals weren't retracted either, which is what I'd expect if it had been secretively nipping. A month or two after it was moved to a tank with nipping Centropyge sp., it, too, started nipping. In particular it teamed up with a flame angel and they did the rounds of the tank together.
Can't help but wonder if some of these planktivores are doing the same thing.
100% agree. I had a copperband for 4yrs no probs with sps and lps, including trachys and acans. 3 weeks after adding a aiptasia eating filefish that turned out to be a niper they were both munching away and destroyed many colonies between them.
These angels are safe choices. They have the same dietery requirements as anthias. Though after trying them (either through mimicery or boredom) they may very well like them. The flake/frozen we get them eating doesnt mimic their natural diet all that well either.
I had a bellus pair for yrs with no probs and am planning to add a pair of blackspots to my latest tank, dont want any nipping though! Saying that i have heard of yellow tangs and clownfish nipping on more than one occasion. So is any fish 100% feef safe?
