Flame Angel, thoughts?

[Crystal03JC]

We're been debating a Flame Angel since we first got into saltwater, just haven't had the courage to put one in our tanks because they may or may not eat our coral. Everytime we see one we want to get it, but if there's that chance it could go on a coral eating rampage we wouldn't be happy at all.. we love all of our beautiful coral. There was one at our LFS a while back and we were told someone had him in their tank for a few years, then one day it decided to have a taste for coral so they brought it in. We have seen alot of tanks online and know a few people who have them in their reefs and they've had no problems.

Such a beautiful fish!!!

Anyone have one in a reef? Have you had any issues with it eating your coral?

Anyone who doesn't have one.. would you get one and chance it?

Thanks. :smile:

 

[ShimmyUK]

This is one of my favourite fish

I had one in a reef a few years ago and it never touched any of my corals (softies/lps).

I have read many stories of them being fine for a while then suddenly nipping at corals. This is the only thing stopping me from getting one for my current tank.

 

[Crystal03JC]

This is one of my favourite fish

I had one in a reef a few years ago and it never touched any of my corals (softies/lps).

I have read many stories of them being fine for a while then suddenly nipping at corals. This is the only thing stopping me from getting one for my current tank.

It sucks because we really want one lol

 

[Tanuki]

I had a flame angel for about two years. I never saw it touch the corals. The problem I did have was that it was very territorial. I had the flame angel and a borbonius anthias in a 180, but the flame angel constantly went after the anthias because they both liked to be in similar areas of the tank. Eventually the angel killed the anthias.

 

[Rikerbear]

I am planning on one for my FOWLR build (if I ever get toi actually get started on it)
At most I will have some zoas and shrooms so am not to worried about it bothering anything
They have always been one of my favorite fishes

 

[Crystal03JC]

I had a flame angel for about two years. I never saw it touch the corals. The problem I did have was that it was very territorial. I had the flame angel and a borbonius anthias in a 180, but the flame angel constantly went after the anthias because they both liked to be in similar areas of the tank. Eventually the angel killed the anthias.

Oh no.. sorry to hear it killed one of your fish.

 

[Crystal03JC]

I am planning on one for my FOWLR build (if I ever get toi actually get started on it)
At most I will have some zoas and shrooms so am not to worried about it bothering anything
They have always been one of my favorite fishes

Awesome

 

[Perched Urchin]

I had one in my reef for 18 months with seemingly no issues. Never saw it nipping at anything. Then one day I watched it literally devour 2 polyps right out of the center of one of my acan colonies (which started a decline in the coral I could not get stopped). I am fairly good with my fish trap and was able to get it out before it did more damage.
I have tried other centropyge angels as well, and even when they aren't noticeably munching, I think they are. After I finally swore off them I found that my zoas started spreading more rapidly and my gorgonians' polyps extended more fully. Some people say heavy feeding will keep them from nipping, but I am a heavy feeder too. I think there is just a lot of luck involved and if you have them long enough, they will nip eventually. Some just crack faster (or worse) than others.
But they are beautiful, showy fish, so depending on what you have in your reef, maybe it's worth the measured risk.

 

[ChristopherKriens]

I had one for about 3 months and it started to nip the mantle of one of my larger clams. Caught it and sold it.. Otherwise a great fish- Very active and hardy.

 

[Mike&Terry]

We had our first Flame Angel for 7 years and it did nip at SPS and occasionally, clam mantles, but never bothered any softies including z's and p's. We've had our current Flame Angel for about a year and he also nips at SPS. Neither caused any real damage to our colonies and from our observation, the nipping tends to encourage new growth. We're also not hung up on SPS having huge polyp extension during the day.

If you feed your fish at least a couple of times a day, they are less likely to go on a coral munching binge. We also keep a Regal Angel and Tomentosus Filefish in our SPS dominant reef and have learned to accept that we cannot keep clams, zoanthids and certain types of fleshy LPS corals with them.

You may or may not end up with a coral/clam nipper, but it is more than likely that you will. If you have reservations and are not willing to tolerate nipping or having to remove certain types of corals, then you (and the fish) would be better served by choosing another type of fish.

 

[jreece11]

My dwarf angel Coral Beauty started eating coral after a year. Mind you, I didn't say "nipping." It feasted. No angels for me ever again unless I'm going FOWLR.

 

[bct15]

I will never put an angel in a reef again, my coral beauty went on a coral eating rampage after having it for over two years with only minor nipping. It was very very difficult to catch too.


Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[Russ]

My experience was pretty much the same as the others listed.

Mine was a model citizen for a little over a year, until one day I put a fresh cut acan in the tank. I went to wash my hands, and when I went back to look only a few minutes later, it was picking the last bit of flesh off the skeleton. Over the next several days, I caught it aggressively picking at all my LPS. It would also pluck full polyps off my gorgonian, just to spit them right out, then do it again as soon as the gorg opened again.

As if all that wasn't bad enough, it also became extremely aggressive toward all my other fish. I can't recall for certain, but I think it even killed one or chased it out of the tank. I caught it as soon as I could, and sold it to a guy with an aggressive FOWLR.

Not sure why, but it seemed that once it got it's first taste of coral, it turned into a monster. It was a beautiful fish, and one of my favorites, but never again.

 

[larangcon]

I have mine for over 3 years in my reef tank, not once I ever see the Flame bother any corals, very nice fish and my favorite, gets along with other fish in my tank.
When I bought mine it was pretty small and young, it was not full grown yet.

 

[porkfish66]

Never again. I've tried flame angels twice in reef tanks. The first one killed 2 clams and about $500 in LPS before I could get him out. A few years later I got brave (aka stoopid) and added a very cute 1" flame to another tank. Great at first, but a few months later he was picking at LPS. Got him out before he did much real harm.

 

[Liquid360]

I grew up around my fathers 500g reef. He had one his tank for 10+ years and never had a problem. Seeking answers within the species won't work. Certain individual specimens will be fine and others won't. I say if u love them give one a shot. If you catch him misbehaving exchange for another or get rid of them. Either way you'll never have anyone "in the know" guarantee your reefs safety. Here's my dads reef and u can see the flame...

 

[Betroc2]

I had one for about 2 yrs. Never had any trouble with it. I bought it small and keep it feed well. It was my favorite fish in the tank, then I had to move and sold my big tank. Now just have a nano 28 gal. I would say go for it and just keep an eye on it for a while. Good luck.:clap2:

 

[bct15]

It took my coral beauty about three days to do this to a large walindii colony, like I said earlier I had this fish for over two years before it went postal. He did it to several sps colonies. I still have the base and am trying to recover it.

Here it is before

You can see him lingering around this elegance too, he killed it shortly after this photo session. He even fought with the clownish to get to it

The angel has been out for about a week now, I'm already seeing a huge difference in all polyp extension.


Sent Via the R2R Forum APP

 

[Crystal03JC]

Okay after reading all these horror stories....I'm almost certain there will be no Flame Angel or any Angel in our future. A beautiful fish isn't worth having if it means our corals could be eaten. Thanks everyone for giving your input.

Sent Via the R2R Forum APP