pygmy angel and reef tank - safe/experiences?

[gskidmor]

I'm thinking of getting a pygmy angelfish (Centropyge argi) - while I know that angels are safe with caution, how safe is the pygmy and what are others experience with this angel in a reef tank?

Planned coral inhabitants are LPS, SPS, and a softy or two

 

[cubsFAN]

i had centropyge acanthops. He mowed down acans. He found them to be delicious.

 

[gskidmor]

did he eat anything else, namely the prepared foods that you fed or did he just eat the corals until they were gone/he was gone?

 

[cubsFAN]

He ate everything I fed him. flake, pellets, and frozen.

I had him for a few years before I sold him along with my tank, but I heard he didn't survive the move. He was a great fish. Very active and not nearly as aggressive as I've heard others say.

He picked at a lot of different corals, but he only completely destroyed acans. He didn't pick at sps. I think they like the fleshy lps because I had a trachyphyllia he liked to pick at. It was never able to fully expand and by the time I gave it to a friend to save it, it was too late.

 

[snorvich]

A roll of the dice, but fleshy LPS are likely.

 

[johnike]

I have an Eibli that behaves wonderfully, but like Steve said it's a roll of the dice.

 

[gskidmor]

I think I'm gonna play it safe...it will be mostly fleshy LPS with a few SPS/softies.

 

[Cptn Spaulding]

I had one for about 8 months before he was being bullied by my complete beast of a six line, which I still have (this was about 4 years ago). My Atlantic blue pygmy nipped at GSP and a nepthea, that is all. I would not trust them with clams, and I have never heard of them tearing apart LPS like that until now. I guess some people are lucky and some aren't. He was a fantastic fish, too. Under bright lights he had a glowing blue halo around him. Gorgeous and active.

 

[nonimmigrant]

I've kept groups of multifasciatus, aurantius and nox w no problems.

 

[bamf25]

I have a coral beauty for about 6 months with a full mix of lps and sps, and no issues. But angels are always a gamble, many people try them likely 85% are successful (just a number), but you will get ones that destroy coral.

 

[gskidmor]

It's tough, I really like it and so do the kids, but man I worry...and if it turns out to be a problem fish, getting out could mean tearing things down

 

[cdr2us]

Hello, i've had a Pygmy (Cherub) Angelfish (Centropyge argi) for 1.5 years and all has been fine. I have zoas and some blastos and a nepthea, hasn't damaged any of them. He eats like a horse with frozen and pellets. Good luck if you decide to go with them.

 

[bullitr]

Jerry
The tricks with dwarf angel is keep them well feed I have 8 dwarf angel now not once eats corals because I feed them often.

 

[Dazed1]

My fishers angel tends to rarely nip on SPS. leaves the LPS alone. Very active and pretty. Sigh, angels are so pretty

 

[gskidmor]

Dazed1, I assumed this was the strategy, whether they knew it or not, that people used with angels that never touched their corals. I've heard this before too from a friend.

 

[scolley]

I keep serpent stars in my reef for their CUC value. And when I added a Coral Beauty to the mix, it ate the ends off their arms. Only a couple of inches (per arm) were lost. But I'm sure if I'd left it in the tank it would have done more damage to them.

Strange but true. And with the CB gone, all my serpents are happily regrown.

 

[gskidmor]

that is strange...and kinda funny...but strange!

 

[nonimmigrant]

I think that he whole "damage" factor is a function of 1) tank size, 2) coral type and population and 3) feeding regime. My SPS 225g has enough real estate that even with some nibbling here and there (yes I see this done everyday) no damage has come to my corals (LPS nor SPS). I feel that tank 5x day and there are plenty of live things in the rock to keep them busy. But I do not freak if I see one nibbling on an acropora colony - such activity is natural and I've found that hey are not typically biting the coral but something on it. Smaller headed corals like zoas can get eaten up, but my colonies seem to grow faster than any of my fish can cause damage to them, so I do not worry.

 

[SDguy]

I had a pair of argis. The male was totally fine, but the female ripped into my gorgs and acros. I removed them both.

 

[El richie]

It all depends on the fish. I have two multibarred angels in my setup and they will pic at sps but not enough to do any harm, they do leave my lps and clam alone. I feed them about 4 to 5 times a day a mix of pellets, flake, and frozen foods.