large angels in a reef

[RyanEG]

What is everyones experience with keeping large angels in a reef setting? I know the books say its a nono but I also know that it has been done. What corals do they seem to devour and what do they seem to leave alone or take an occasional nip at? I've wanted one from the beginning and I think my bravery has increased enough to try it out.

 

[Conesus_Kid]

What type of angel are you considering?

I can only speak to my own experience, so take this with a grain of salt:

I would avoid any "meaty" or "fleshy" LPS corals.

If you do attempt this, you will need to keep the fish EXTREMELY well fed. I was able to pull it off with a majestic angel in the classroom aquarium when I was around to feed nori and PE mysis five days a week, in addition to the pellets that dumped three times a day via the autofeeder. Over the summer, when I couldn't spoil it every day with lots of foods, the angel went to town on Euphyllia and would nip SPS polyps.

Even if you are able to feed a lot and often (which have other implications for your system and the corals you keep), the fish may still destroy corals. There's definitely no guarantees here.

There's guys like Gary and RC user copps who have had great success with large angels in reefs, but it requires an amazing amount of dedication and the ability to "read" the fish as you experiment with what will and will not work.

Personally, I would never try it again with my tank at school since I can't be here 7 days a week year round.

Good luck!

 

[fishman_CT]

Angels in my experience are hit or miss. Some will nip at your corals from day one regardless of how much you feed it, and sometimes you can get one that won't nip your corals. I had an Emperor Angel for 4 years and he never nipped any corals, and then one day he started nipping them all!! I personally wouldn't trust an Angel in my tank, but that is formed from my own personal experience. Good luck!

Kevin

 

[Kent E]

Everyone I know of, with the exception of Gary M have sold their angels.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

imo/ime

imo/ime

keeping any Angelfish in a reef aquarium requires some research and prep homework. This thread would be the start of such research for you, Ryan.
I feel bad when people PM me for the "secrets" of keeping an Angelfish in a reef aquarium because there are none and a complete answer cannot be provided in a simple short PM. There is no "yes or no" answer.

The best advice I can give you is to research the compatibilty of the species involved. That would mean picking out a potential Angelfish species you would like to consider having and looking up it's scientific name. Use the scientific name in your research. Research the compatibility of species of corals and fishes. Research the environmnetal requirements of each species. Note that fish aggression towards corals increases as aquarium size decreases.

You might simply add the fish knowing you will probably lose some corals. You might lose some corals even if you do your homework because each fish is an individual and their "tastes" can change as they mature. In either case, be prepared to make sacrifices.

One key with any potential coral eating fish is to keep it well fed. Set up an auto feeder if you have to. It's not always the solution to keeping a coral destroyer but you certainly don't want to keep a coral munching fish hungry.
Good luck!

 

[armani4o3]

what corals do emp angels nip at i have hammer frog spawn dunkins and a welso brain the rest are sps was looking at getting a juvi emp

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

what corals do emp angels nip at

any corals they want to nip at

 

[fishman_CT]

Gary hit it right on!! Any coral they want. Mine was fine for a while and then seemed like overnight she just started nipping everything!! I bought mine as a juvi, and when he started nipping he was 95% of the way to being an adult. It could have been because she was maturing, or maybe because the real estate in the tank had diminished due to corals growing and such. IMO not a gd idea if you don't want your corals to get nipped/killed.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Angelfish require significant quantities of proper foods that they will most likely not find in a reef aquarium.
If you want to keep an Angelfish and keep it healthy you must take into consideration the foods it will require and the capacity of your aquarium's filter system.

 

[RyanEG]

I've been researching them off and on for over a year, I originally wanted at P. Paru(French angelfish) but after talking to the resident expert on another site I decided that they were just too aggressive and a little more advanced than what Im looking for. Im really leaning toward a Majestic (P. Navarchus) and am just weighing my options really. My "best reefing buddy" is a serious angel keeper and the "expert" I mentioned earlier is his mentor and good friend. We talk at length regularly about Angels but I just wanted to get some outside opinions. Basically I know the risks and am just trying to build courage...lol.

I have lost so many corals this past year that Im gunshy of any more loss. But I could easily transfer my few remaining LPS and my clam to my 10gal nano project and go FOWLR but I REALLY don't want to do that, I would feel like a failure if I did.

 

[roc4558]

My emperor likes acans , brains , all my candy corals some times my todds torch you know all the good stuff. He doesn't go near my clam which is weird . So needless to say i just bought a nano tank and its filled with all the stuff he nips.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I've been researching them off and on for over a year, I originally wanted at P. Paru(French angelfish) but after talking to the resident expert on another site I decided that they were just too aggressive and a little more advanced than what Im looking for. Im really leaning toward a Majestic (P. Navarchus) and am just weighing my options really. My "best reefing buddy" is a serious angel keeper and the "expert" I mentioned earlier is his mentor and good friend. We talk at length regularly about Angels but I just wanted to get some outside opinions. Basically I know the risks and am just trying to build courage...lol.

Is your "best reefing buddy" with the Angelfish from Syracuse?

Good decision to eliminate the French Angelfish from consideration. Those bad boys get way too big for most home reef aquariums!

Navarchus might be a good choice for a 180 reef.

 

[frofan]

Does anyone have any experience with Annularis Angels in a reef setting. They seem on par with an Emperor.

 

[RyanEG]

No Gary he lives in Boise, ID, our other friend lives in Salt Lake City. Alexander keeps a Koran in his reef and Marco has 3 angels in his 265, a blue face, a queen and a juvenile french.

 

[chrisqueenz]

Been following this thread because I have been thinking about adding a queen in my tank also. Ryan have you considered a Queen?

 

[RyanEG]

Queen are pretty aggressive...

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

No Gary he lives in Boise, ID, our other friend lives in Salt Lake City. Alexander keeps a Koran in his reef and Marco has 3 angels in his 265, a blue face, a queen and a juvenile french.

is there any chance you can get these guys to post in our URS forum here.... maybe post a picture of their reef aquariums?

 

[RyanEG]

Possibly I can get Alexander to post here, sadly I lost direct contact with Marco some time ago and am only able to pass messages through Alexander to him so I won't be able to get him here.

OBTW I completely chickened out with the angel....again! I made the 1.5hr drive from home to ARC specifically to buy the majestic, but after talking with Phil and Jon I decided not to get it. I ended up getting a bonded pair of Percs and a nice nepthia(palau I think! )

PM coming your way Gary

EDIT nevermind Gary, Marco's photobucket account has been disabled so I won't bother linking the thread elsewhere.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

jmo

jmo

nice pair of percs are as good as an Angelfish and certainly much more coral friendly.

Nephthya is a coral that many Angelfish love to pick on IME.

 

[Alexander180]

Re: large angels in a reef

hey guys, yes i have kept a Koran in my 180 for a little over 2 years now. I also had a 10 inch queen for anout 6 months. did i get rid of the queen for coral purposes? No. It was extremely aggressive. it was constantly tearing the crap out of my p. simicirculatus and vlamingi (the most peaceful fish ever!) with my koran I have successfully kept soft corals like sarcophytons, mushrooms, leathers, and sadly kenya trees! i wish it would have had a kenya specific appetite, but i think i have finally rid my tank of kenyas. I keep favia and montipora. i have some palys in there, no problem.

Im fairly confident that the softer lps would be a large risk, but my favia is perfectly fine. I once added a 100 head zoanthid colony... DESTROYED.

all in all there are some things you dont want to risk, but with the right selection of angels it seems like you can get a good variety if tankmates and corals. ill post some pics in a bit when I can get on my computer and not my droid.



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