Which corals do your angels munch on?

[polypboy]

Much seems to be made of how reef safe or not various angels are. General opinion seems to be that if you had to swing one way or the other, most people would say that angels are not 'reef-safe'. If we take this as read, might be interesting to see which corals, if any, are 'angel-safe' so that those of us intent on keeping angels have some idea of what we can include and that won't get munched.

So come on, what do your pygmies or full blown angels chow down on?

 

[polypboy]

Sorry... first poll. Didn't realise you could only select one option. Please take the poll options as

'My angel MOSTLY nibbles..........'

D'Oh!

 

[ACBlinky]

I'd add Xenia to the list, it's something lots of angels find tasty -- my flagfin doesn't touch anything else, but he does nibble the ends off my Xenia on occasion.
My flame and flavicauda dwarfs don't touch anything (and I hope it stays that way), but some time ago I returned a halfblack that LOVED Euphyllia mucous and irritated a hammer nearly to death before I got him out of the tank.

 

[Angel*Fish]

I'm glad you started this thread and it is too bad it won't let us choose multiple answers - I've been thinking about doing a survey along these lines myself

I picked open brains because my Herald's angel picked my brain. But the CB, flames & cherub didn't touch it - had to take it out before I got the Singapore angel
The Singapore ocassionally nips at the clams - but it's not really a problem. I have seen him ponder nipping euphyllia 7 then decid against it - may be a matter of time

 

[polypboy]

Just to add my 2p's worth...... I have a Golden Angel and a Potter's in the same tank, containing zoo's, bubbles, closed brains, mushrooms and various euphyllids. The Potter's is good as gold and doesn't trouble anything. The Golden is also pretty good but does have a pop at a bubble on occasion.

Thanks for the replies so far.......

 

[RichConley]

Potters, Coral Beauty, never touched anything.

 

[pecaco34]

my multicolor angel loves anything fleshy. Blasto's, chalice corals, etc. While my Regal angel tends to leave corals alone expect for efflos.

 

[tank121]

I have been lucky so far my regal and majestic have not touched
anything. I have 7 clams, lots of sps, and one pipe organ coral.

 

[scarter]

bicolor, nips at the tenticals of the larger zoos, some of my "furry" polyps are now smooth as silk....

 

[polypboy]

bump

 

[jeramiej]

How many people do you think swear the angel is nipping their corals, when its just cleaning algae off them? I think many mistake cleaning for eating the corals. Anything can learn to like eating corals. I will also agree that their is a good chance the full size angels may find the corals a nice meaty meal. IME, most dwarf or smaller sized angels tend to leave corals alone. I spoke at length with a LFS on the matter, who stressed the same experiences. In our reef of hard to soft corals, we have had everything from Tangs, lookdowns, Imp Angels, CB Angels, and currently a very pretty Singapore, all leaving the corals alone.

Its a crap shoot, but I think how they were raised and if there is ample algae to feed on or the actual feeding pattern, will also attribute to coral interest. A starved fish will definately learn to find food. And if this was done before, at the LFS or supplier's, the fish arrived in your tank, you would have to try to re-train it..........good luck! I wouldn't eat Dog Food after you fed me a Filet Mignon either.

 

[Angel*Fish]

How many people do you think swear the angel is nipping their corals, when its just cleaning algae off them? I think many mistake cleaning for eating the corals.

I agree this fuels the issue - in addition to nibbling algae off a coral, many angels like the coral slime - which will often cause the coral to close up - I had an acropora that all the angels ignored until it began to die - then the Herald's angel found the rotting flesh a tasty meal

I also have a Singapore - I have read that with maturity nipping is inevitable in this genus - time will tell

 

[Angel*Fish]

One thing I wish people would stop saying is that there is a 50/50 chance and it's just a matter of luck. That is simply not true - certain angels are way less "safe" than others. And certain angel species have more of an affinity for certain corals. Certain angels also have natural dietary habit changes as they grow. And there are factors such as how well a fish is fed in a given tank & opportunity to feed on which corals in those circumstances.

We will increase our chances of combining the proper mix of corals and angels in our tanks by occasionally picking up a book and by compiling our experiences in discussions like these.

 

[Sheol]

So far.. NOTHING. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Matthew

 

[scarter]

I agree on the dying coral thing. My bocolor will completely consume a hammerhead or frogspawn that has started to die.

 

[RichConley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7809198#post7809198 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by scarter
I agree on the dying coral thing. My bocolor will completely consume a hammerhead or frogspawn that has started to die.

Yeah, I see this.

I had a couple of sps frags that the potters had no interest in. One of them fell into a hydnophora, and got burned, and as soon as I pulled it out, the potters was on it like white on rice.

 

[Rothie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7796350#post7796350 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Angel*Fish
One thing I wish people would stop saying is that there is a 50/50 chance and it's just a matter of luck. That is simply not true - certain angels are way less "safe" than others. And certain angel species have more of an affinity for certain corals. Certain angels also have natural dietary habit changes as they grow. And there are factors such as how well a fish is fed in a given tank & opportunity to feed on which corals in those circumstances.

We will increase our chances of combining the proper mix of corals and angels in our tanks by occasionally picking up a book and by compiling our experiences in discussions like these.

Well said,Marie.
At the moment,the only angel I have is C. eibli.He is in a 125G SPS only tank and has been a model citizen for the year I have had him.I have had Potters in the past in mixed tanks with clams with no bad behavior.
On a side note,I thought my CBB was after my LPS,but on closer inspection,he was simply looking for feather dusters.Close observation is necessary.

 

[marie]

My regal angel doesn't just nibble on zoanthids, she chows down :lol: . She also tried to take out my open brain until I removed it.

Now if only I could convince her to eat my brown button polyps (protopalythoa)

 

[fhayward]

Coral Nibbling Angels

Coral Nibbling Angels

I have a Golden and an Ebili in a 450 reef. The Golden was torturing an open brain until I moved the brain up one level; since then no more nibbling. The Ebii hasn't touched anything in two plus years - at least nothing that I can determine.