The angel thread to end all angel threads: all owners of angelfish in reefs respond!!

[LobsterOfJustice]

The same thread is going in Reef Fishes. PLEASE POST IN ONLY ONE THREAD.

Alright,

I think we are all tired of seeing threads asking about the reefsafeness of angels.

If you own or have owned an angel in a reef in the past, post:

1. What kind of angel
2. Wether it was reef-safe
3. If it was not reef-safe, what did it eat?

I am going to make an excel spreadsheet with a simple yes and no column for reefsafeness of every angel. Then I can easily calculate the percent of a given species that are reefsafe. We can also see if there are any trends in #3 - for example "75% reef safe, except for zoanthids, only %20 safe" or something like that.

Of course this is not foolproof, depends on a lot of things, fish can change, etc, but it's better than nothing.

 

[eyesinthedrk]

Potters Angel (Centropyge potteri)
owned 8 months hasn't touched a coral yet,
note: no sps in the tank
lives exclusivly on my live rock

 

[pgammon]

Yellow Heraldi Angelfish (Centropyge heraldi)
I've had 18 months, seems reef safe
Seen picking at things, but hasn't caused any damage

 

[thecichlidpleco]

Cherub Angel (Centropyge argi)
About two years with few problems
Picked at some acans at first, but has adjusted

 

[sminker]

Koran and a Flame Angel.

Both eat flakes, frozen and Rods. Never touched a coral.

 

[saf1]

Flame angel here. Great fish - but would nip at my Elegance. Would also fight for the food I fed the elegance (silver sides). All in all, healthiest fish of that type I owned.

Pros:
Healthy
Ate all types of food: flake, mysis and brine shrimp
Color
Constant motion
Got along well with other tank mates

Cons:
Nipped at my Elegance

Because the Elegance was my main display item - it was very huge - I had to catch the angel and return it. Just to show my luck, my 6 line wrasse would also nip at the elegance. He too was soon caught and returned. Go figure.

 

[sld123]

yellow angel , been in my tank for over ayear and hasn't touched any of my corals but it did take care of a huge infestation of aiptasia for me.

 

[Shane Hoffman]

I have an imperator Adult colors about 7 inches long. Also I have a flame. Both are housed in a 150gal reef. Both are well fed, the imperator ignores the reef all together.....the flame will periodically pick at the base of y candycane......but never causes damage.

I love em both....

 

[fishyness]

flame here. Never has bothered anything

 

[barraganbp1]

Coral beauty angel
1 1/2 yrs
never touched any coral or inverts

 

[Metal7fold22]

had a flame angel and bi-color angel...both for about 1 year...flame was great never had a problem..never nipped at anything and never bothered any fish...the bi-color was alittle different...it would nip at corals that were dying...he wouldnt nip at the coral till it was dying...so he pretty much finished off a coral alittle faster than it needed...and also it didnt like my xenias..other than that they were great..i had a clam that they never bothered or anything...great colorful fish...some of the prettiest fish you can get are angels...so i guess you just gotta deal with them if they nip at certain things...lol

 

[A.VOID]

elibi angel
Started nipping at every SPS I had as soon as he was added.
He was removed within 48 hours.

Not worth the risk IMO.

 

[iamwhatiam52]

180 gal, LPS, SPS, polyps, xenia, gorgonian, small shrimp.

Pair of Cherubs (Centropyge argi) 4 years never touched anything.
Flame (Centropyge loriculus) 1year never touched anything.



Good luck distilling this data. I know there are no completely reef safe large angels except Genicanthus, but would love to see the relative safeness of others.

 

[luther1200]

I owned a Flame Angle.

It was not reef safe.

It ate my Stylophora, Favia, Acan, Micromussa, Superman Monti. The LPS was all able to recover after he died. But the SPS didn't make it.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Koran angel (( Pomacanthus koran )) -- kept with mushrooms, yellow polyps, and green star polyps -- didn't touch any.

Blue Face (( Euxiphipops/Pomacanthus xanthometapon )) -- kept with SPS, and clams -- didn't touch any. Will eat zoas in a second. Would go after Haddoni anemones if no clowns present -- to fend it off.

2 different pairs of Potter's (( Centropyge Potteri )) -- kept with SPS, acan, 1 open brain, long tentacle anemone ((Macrodactyla doreensis )), Haddoni carpet anemone -- all fine. One of the females of the first pair would "bother" my clam, but not too bad.

Flame angel (( Centropyge loriculus ))-- kept with SPS, clams, LTA, Haddoni, mushrooms, yellow polyps, GSP, and zoas --- hasn't touched any.

Flameback angel (( Centropyge aurantonotus )) --- kept with SPS, clams, zoas and LTA -- didn't touch any.

Lemonpeel (( Centropyge flavissimus )) --- kept with mushrooms, yellow polyps, and GSP -- didn't touch. Picked on SPS fairly bad.

Pygmy angel (( Centropyge argi )) --- kept with SPS, zoas and LTA --hasn't touched any.

 

[MrRyanT]

Coral Beauty in mixed reef, never touched any corals to my knowledge.

 

[gowingsgo]

Coral beauty angel 2-1/2 years has not touched anything picks at the live rock Great fish to watch. Mixed Reef Tank

 

[driftin]

Pair of Brazilian Flameback angels (Centropyge aurantonotus) in the tank for 6 months now.

Don't touch any of my corals at all (SPS, various LPS, zoas, RBTA, softies).

 

[hottuna]

Just because one particular type of angel doesnt nip at coral 'x' in your tank doesnt mean a thing...it goes by the fish...back in the day -Terry Siegel from aquarium frontiers was saying all kinds of angels were "reef safe" when others and myself tried the same species we had problems...so- as well intended as I know you are-nothing is guaranteed...

 

[Nereaga]

Pygmy angel- Centropyge argi

I have had for a year now.
Has not touched any corals, in a mixed reef tank.
Eats from LR and frozen food soaked in Selcon.

Nice thread!