Lemonpeel angel vs yellow angel experiences please

Sugar Magnolia

Mother of Dachshunds
Staff member
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Centropyge flavissima or Centropyge heraldi? I have a 30g nano reef with softies, LPS and a lonely SPS, along with a RBTA and misbar female perc and a fridmani dottyback. I know the pygmy angels are known to nip at LPS and clam mantles, but would like to hear from those who have kept either of these fish. I'm leaning towards the lemonpeel, but if the yellow angel is more docile I could go with that.

Thanks!
 
I've never had a lemonpeel, but I've had two Herald's angels. The 1st one I gave a away when I had to get out of the hobby and the second I gave away after a 2 week power outage wiped out practically everyone else (Hurricane Ike). He turned out to be one of the hardiest fish I had. The trick is to find a reliable source for them.

In my experience they were the most peaceful, non aggressive angels and I know this sounds crazy, but it was like they were the peacemakers of the tank. There were numerous times I thought I observed the Herald's angel break up skirmishes among other tank mates. They are by far my favorite angel of all.

As for corals - you can't expect any of the yellow angels to be totally reef safe. Yellows are going to be attracted to fleshy corals like open brains. However I never saw either nip at a coral. I wouldn't say they never sampled a bit of coral slime, but no problems with a coral or clam staying closed or being damaged. I had clams, sinularia, frogspawn, leathers, mushrooms, gorgonian, cups - I did NOT have brains, bubbles, fox etc

I just noticed you're going to put the fish in 30g? Herald's are fairly big dwarf angels and can get like 4+ inches long and the lemon peels get like 5 inches long. Scott Michael recommends no less than a 55g for lemonpeels. And in my opinion that's true for the Herald's also. Although for some reason he says 30 for the Herald's. That may be because Herald's are more peaceful. But just because lemon peels can be little jerks doesn't mean to me that they get a bigger tank!

I personally don't like any angels for a 30, but if you were to do it, an argi might be more comfortable in the tank and they may be a better bet for being reef safe. Certainly you ahve fish that wouldn't be bullied.

If you have brain type fleshy coral , I would not get a yellow angel.
 
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Thanks for the input Marie. I hadn't looked much farther than liveaquaria. Looking at my Marine Fishes (Scott Michael, pgs 215, 216) book now and minimum tank size listed for the lemonpeel is 20g, and the same for the herald's. I have plenty of lr for hiding. Seems to me, your experience with the herald's is promising. The lemonpeel, from what I am reading is more prone to nip at corals.
 
Thanks for the input Marie. I hadn't looked much farther than liveaquaria. Looking at my Marine Fishes (Scott Michael, pgs 215, 216) book now and minimum tank size listed for the lemonpeel is 20g, and the same for the herald's. I have plenty of lr for hiding. Seems to me, your experience with the herald's is promising. The lemonpeel, from what I am reading is more prone to nip at corals.
Minimum tank size varies in his books, which is one reason I'm inclined to go with my own opinion over his guidelines. In his book Butterflies and Angelfishes where he focuses on Centropyges and goes into the most detail on each fish, he says 30g and 55g. I wouldn't take the 20g seriously.
 
In the angelfish book, btw, he gives 30g as the smallest size for even the tiniest angels and then warns that such a small tank may be a bad idea because of aggression. Based on that it could be argued they should always be in a bigger tank.
 
I appreciate your feedback Marie. I'm inclined to agree with you on the tank size reccomendations. 20g seems a bit ridiculous for such active fish.
 
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