If you want a Rock Beauty start with a small
http://www.kpaquatics.com/product/rock-beauty-angel-small-2-2-5/
Stay away from meat corals, stay with softies, war corals, Frogspawn, and Sps like caps.
Yes, true, but I would say get a medium sized juvenile (3-4 inches). Some fish such as angels don't eat the first few days, and a juvi will hopefully have some meat on them. This would afford the fish some time to acclimate themselves to your tank without succumbing to malnutrition (starving). Also, I might suggest getting one from Divers Den, that way you can be sure it is eating and has been properly dewormed etc. If you have a reputable local store by the coast and you can witness it eating for few days, that works also.
I agree and I added mine first
Rock beauty is a mellow fish. Mine doesn't bother any other fish (mostly angelfish of different size and shape), and other fish don't bother her. I don't think it matters one way or the other when to introduce the fish.
Completely agree, mine does well and keeps to itself. My Rock Beauty angelfish was one of the last added, the fishes "current" temperament is mellow. It is the largest in the tank at 5 inches. It was bought the same time I purchased a Majestic Angel (4 inches). Neither pays any heed to the other. I keep coral such as frogspwan, different types of monti, rics, mushroom variety, a few SPS (birds nest), zoa's, variety of soft corral-toadstool, xenia, green star, and tree corals.
Remember, each fish will come with its own baggage. I can only vouch for the Rock Beauty I have, and thus far it seems to big (for my tank) teddy bear. I might suggest you have the corals you want in the tank first, rather than adding them after the fish. New corals may look appealing and tempt your fish into sampling it :fun2:
Some of the difficulty in care you hear about with a Rock Beauty is due to past collecting practices. I don't know if the "difficult" connotation on this fish still holds true? I have seen numerous people having excellent luck with the Rock Beauty, but they also have very established reef tanks (well over a year with lots of live rock). I also see that you are looking at the Rock Beauty, Flagfin, and the Black Velvet angelfish. While these fish are considered large angels, the are all on the smaller side of the "large angelfish." Each maxing out at 10 inches, and in an aquarium you can estimate 60-70% of max size for each fish (based on past data).
If you really like the Rock Beauty, then go for it in an established aquarium. Good luck!
