what the hell was i thinking? angel in sps tank

[rtbm]

i posted this in the sps forum but thought this may be a bettrer place.

anyway

A while ago against my better judgment i picked up a smal coral beauty from my Lfs. Being leary of nipping i thought i'd throw it in my prop tank for a while and just watch and see if it went for polyps at all. well after about two months or so of model behavior i went ahead and put it in my display. another few months went by and everything seemed fine.

well the thing has turned on me. he has become a rather non descriminating nipper. I should have know better. I am wondering what anyone with nipping angels in there tanks does about it. Once they develope a flare for nipping do they ever let up or am i stuck with this guy and my retracted PE till i somehow get him out?

 

[nauticac4]

How much do you feed and how often? Maybe feed less more often or feed more altogether. That might mitigate some of the issue. Hungry fish seem to misbehave more that full fat fish.

 

[michealprater]

Is he doing damage to the coral? Mine nip, but never seem to harm anything. I see yellow tangs nip at sps all the time. In fact, any grazing fish will have incidental nipping. I think that a big deal is made out of nipping, when in a large aquarium with lots of sps, it doesnt really harm anything.

 

[footballdude2k3]

he knew, he wanted to bide his time so he got a better selection at the buffet

 

[ntropics]

I found that as long as I fed two to three times daily, I had no problem with any of my so called reef safe with caution fish eating my polyps. Then I went away on vacation, and they were only fed once per day. Within a matter of weeks, all of my polyps were gone. Now if I introduce any polyps, they are gone within a matter of minutes. I believe it's all about keeping the fish well fed, and fed frequently so that they never decide to taste those tasty morsels.

Bruce

 

[melanotaenia]

And one more thread emerges to prove my point to the people who continually post about dwarf angels and reef tanks. There is never a 100% guarantee that they are going to leave corals alone.

 

[michealprater]

And one more thread emerges to prove my point to the people who continually post about dwarf angels and reef tanks. There is never a 100% guarantee that they are going to leave corals alone.

A correct statement. But the damage caused by Centropyge is often overstated.

 

[reef_doug]

I've had to remove a coral beauty because of nipping but I have an adult Majestic who is a model citizen though.

Some people report better luck with Bellus and large angels.

 

[dflad]

And one more thread emerges to prove my point to the people who continually post about dwarf angels and reef tanks. There is never a 100% guarantee that they are going to leave corals alone.

I have 3 dwarf angels in my SPS only tank and they rarely nip at anything. I think most people freak out at the site of a fish nipping at a coral, but unless it is harassing a coral to death, there is very little harm in the behavior. Your PE might be lower, but it wont kill the coral that is for sure.

 

[rtbm]

I agree. he's not doing any real dammage but i do see a few bite marks on some of my montis. I have watched real close and can say that he's not actualy eating the polyps.

I feed alot. dry food mysis brine and cyclops 2-3 times a day. I dont believe he's hungry. Or hungrier than he was before. I did however do a little rearranging of my rock work because i had a larger rock shift a bit. The next morning i noticed my red planet had literaly zero PE. I am wondering if that had anything to do with it. For a couple days he seemed to only go for the planet but now no polyp is safe.

I thought I may try a trap and see if my patience will allow me to actually catch him.

has anyone used one of those acrylic traps with success? I thought instead of food I'd put a few frags in there and see if he goes for it. I know it sounds silly but it just might work.

thanks alot for all the input so far.

 

[ryanrid]

i use a plastic milk bottle for a trap where i cut a dorrway in the side push the door in on an angle and have food inside, when the fish goes in he cant get out then just sump him till you sell or whatever.

good luck.

 

[29reef]

I've had to remove a coral beauty because of nipping but I have an adult Majestic who is a model citizen though.

Some people report better luck with Bellus and large angels.

The bellus and other Genicanthus are a good bet to be reef safe IMO. Just be sure to make sure they don't get a swim bladder infection and slowly get them used to the light if possible.

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

My coral beauty, lamark, 3 pyramid butterflies, large orange spotted rabbit and my tangs all nip...I think it's what makes my sps grow so fast:lol:

 

[kilmca]

I've had to remove an Eibli and a Flame Angel from my tank. The Eibli was the worst one and only in the tank for 2 months or so. I made the trap you see in the pic and was able to catch him pretty easily after the trap was in the tank for a couple days. The Flame was in the tank a year before it turned on me and started nipping acans so it had to go next. I also have a Potters and i've never seen him nip going any corals and i've had him for over 3 years. I hope it continues cause i really like the Potters.

I've also caught a Blue Tang with this trap just a few days ago. It's getting harassed by my Clown Tang so I thought I would help him out and get him out of the tank.

 

[skibum9884]

don't know unless you try! and as others have mentioned, a lot of times it's not as bad as you might think.

 

[michealprater]

How does your fish prison work?

 

[kilmca]

How does your fish prison work?

there is a trap door on one end that i have to pull closed with fishing line when the fish goes in it. usually i leave the trap in the tank for a week to let the fish get used to it. then i add a coral that fish has been nipping or just a piece of nori and continue to let them go in. once i see they are comfortable going in i trap them.

 

[alcove]

my coral beauty never touched anything clams or corals you got the bad apple

 

[Sheol]

I see my C. bicolor nip at stuff, but not much damage. Plenty of junk algae still around from after January's crash. They are one of the LEAST Reef Safe angels.
BTW, on this issue, SIZE MATTERS! Smaller being better.


Matthew

 

[jmaneyapanda]

I've had to remove an Eibli and a Flame Angel from my tank. The Eibli was the worst one and only in the tank for 2 months or so. I made the trap you see in the pic and was able to catch him pretty easily after the trap was in the tank for a couple days. The Flame was in the tank a year before it turned on me and started nipping acans so it had to go next. I also have a Potters and i've never seen him nip going any corals and i've had him for over 3 years. I hope it continues cause i really like the Potters.

I've also caught a Blue Tang with this trap just a few days ago. It's getting harassed by my Clown Tang so I thought I would help him out and get him out of the tank.

You got an asterina problem, dude.