Room for one more ?

[..wp..]

Thinking about adding a small flame angel to my 90 mixed reef for a splash of red. Tank has been established in its current state for 5 years, all the fish are 5+ years since Ive had them. Last year I switched back from sps to softies as Im out of town a lot and didnt want as much maintenance. Current stock list:

1 Yellow Tang 3.5"
1 Regal Angel 4"
2 Pink Skunk Clowns 2"
2 Yellow Tail Blue Damsels 1"
1 Mandarin
1 High-Fin Perchlet 1"

Think the addition of a flame angel is ok? I dont want to upset the perfect balance.

Any other suggestions? Want to avoid wrasses...

 

[Master Kyle 297]

A flame wouldn't suit a regal angel, although I am experimenting with a bicolor and a flame angel. A longnose hawkfish would be a great addition. I have one and he has a great personality.

 

[Matthew91]

Too much bio load unless you have a great skimmer

 

[..wp..]

I was worried about increasing bio-load. I run a Tunze skimmer with a remote deep sand bed and I just recently installed an algae turf filter to see how well it'll work...recently being a few days ago. I wouldnt add another fish until I see how the ATF pans out...

 

[flameangel88]

You should be fine with adding a dwarf. I don't see any problem with a flame angel with a 4" regal.

You have the regal for 5+ years? Still only 4" sounds small to me.

 

[ENTMogul]

You should be fine with adding a dwarf. I don't see any problem with a flame angel with a 4" regal.

You have the regal for 5+ years? Still only 4" sounds small to me.

5 years in a 4 foot long tank (I assume 4 ft)... maybe stunted his growth a little?

Btw, good seeing you the other day Kevin

 

[flameangel88]

5 years in a 4 foot long tank (I assume 4 ft)... maybe stunted his growth a little?

Btw, good seeing you the other day Kevin

Great seeing you and enjoy the chat very much.

I usually use 70-80% of max size for captivity measure and even a 4' tank with mostly small fish doesn't sound overly crowded to me to stunt the growth that much. The yellow tang seem small as well.

OP: how often and how much do you feed? A tunze skimmer should be fine for a 90. I used to run the 9010 on a 180g before switching to a bigger skimmer as I was increasing bioload and feeding.

 

[Master Kyle 297]

I argee with ENTMogul on the growth thing. And like wouldn't it be a bad idea to add another angel to another angel's territory??

 

[..wp..]

Thanks for the replies...The regal was still in juvenile colors when I got it, just starting to change. Those are estimates also, I'm not exactly the most accurate at guessing there size. I feed new life spectrum and mysis daily, and usually rods reef or some other frozen about 4 or 5 times a week. As well as phyto2, but thats more for the corals.

 

[flameangel88]

I would agree if adding another large angel to the mix but the OP is thinking of adding a dwarf angel. If territory alone was an issue then you wouldn't see tanks with multiple angels.

here's my 75 a few years back and those were growing fast thus the upgrade

 

[Master Kyle 297]

You got to risk it, if you want the biscuit!

 

[albano]

You should be fine with adding a dwarf. I don't see any problem with a flame angel with a 4" regal.

You have the regal for 5+ years? Still only 4" sounds small to me.

+1, on everything said! My 'small' regal has grow an inch in 6 months... I feed 2-3 times a day.

 

[..wp..]

I never put much thought into my regal being the "runt of the regal world" I usually feed twice a day and also throw in some grape caulerpa from fuge that the regal and tang both love. Maybe Ill bump feedings up more and see if the regal grows any.

I know liveaquaria says max size 10". Do you think this depends on where they are collected from. I know years back I had a Red Sea Regal that was twice the size of mine (and a beutiful bright yellow). This particular one was collected from Vanuatu.

 

[..wp..]

I also forgot to mention when the regal was a juvenile when I first got it, it was on a steady diet of sps polyps....one of the reasons I switched back to softies.