Multiple dwarf angels?

[TWallace]

I've always read that it's a bad idea to keep more than one dwarf angel in a tank unless it's a large tank (like 150+ gallons), but never tried it myself. I decided to test this in my 55g. I got a coral beauty a week ago and a flame angel yesterday. At first the coral beauty didn't like him, chased him a bit, but pretty much leaves him alone now. The coral beauty is a bit larger than the flame, so the flame doesn't even try to fight back. The flame will sometimes do a little dance by the coral beauty, bending his tail sideways towards his face and twitching, kinda like male clowns do to female clowns. I assume the flame is showing that it knows the coral beauty is dominant and wants no trouble. The coral beauty generally leaves the flame alone when this happens. It may help that my tank is loaded with rock (a little over 100 pounds in a 55g), so there's plenty of places to hide. Anyone have any successful experiences with multiple dwarf angels in smaller tanks? I'm not ready to call my experiment a success yet, but so far so good.

 

[Toddrtrex]

In my 58g I have both a Flame and a Lemonpeel. They have been together for about 1.5 yrs now. The Lemon is a bit bigger of the two and more "outgoing" but I have never had any issues between the two.

HTH

 

[Opiy]

This is a good question and hope more people post something because I was wanting 2 pygmes also.

 

[bandedangel]

I have numerous angels in my 240, both pygmes and large angels with absolute success and have had the same success with my old 85 gal. All algels are territorial and will abuse each other if not careful. What I do is when adding a new fish is catch the larger or older (trap) and float for a few days while the new one is getting use too it's new home. I also try and start with the smallest specimens first, and the next one a little larger. If you add a smaller one last, it's bound to get it's butt whoped !

 

[alanscott]

Do they bother your coral? I was thinking about gettin a flame angel, but worry about it bothering my zoas or other corals. Any one have success with them>

 

[bandedangel]

flame angel

flame angel

Some of them do tap at my corals but no damage ever. Flames won't bother your zoos or corals, however some centropyges might eat clams. I have heard of a few flames that have, but it's not likely. African Flamebacks are notorious for eating clams.

 

[JENnKerry]

I have a coral beauty and bi-color in my 55. They get along great.

 

[mnewsome]

I have a 75gal and tried to add a Lemon Peel w/my Coral Beauty. It was an ugly site! The Coral Beauty killed him within the hour, it was a brutal death. He beat him with his tail 'til there was no saving him. I was so disappointed. Dwarf Angels are my favorite subspecies next to gobies. I thought that my tank was large enough to have two, but I was proven wrong.

 

[TWallace]

Mnewsome, how much rock do you have in your tank? I'm curious if having lots of rock allows for multiple angels, or if it's just coincidence. So far my coral beauty and flame angel still get along great in my 55. There's been very little chasing going on, though the coral beauty is clearly the dominant fish.

 

[skidmarks]

I put a sailfin tang in with my coral beauty, the CB was larger and killed the sailfin - he wouldn't let the sailfin eat, chased him away from the seaweed no matter where I put the clip.

I don't know what other fish to try, I have the CB, a maroon clown and a snowflake eel in that tank. That may be the way it stays. I would love to get a Flame Angel, but I won't risk it.

 

[mnewsome]

I have plenty of LR in my tank, about 65-70lbs. There was a lot of places to hide. The CB just chased the lemon peel down and beat him to a pulp. The poor little guy didn't stand a chance. I did just buy a powder brown tang a couple wks ago and the CB is certainly not the dominant one.

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

I guess I won't be worried about adding 2 Argi's and a Potters to my 240 now