I'm looking for suggestions/experience with any dwarf angels that might be safe with soft corals. Possibly a Coral Beauty? Current occupants of my 75 are a Longnose Butterfly, Royal Gramma, Yellow Wrasse, and Neon Goby (with purple mushrooms, yellow polyps, green button polyps and about 100 lbs of live rock). If no angels, than other suggestions are welcome too. Thanks...
Any dwarf angels safe with soft corals?
- Thread starter JohnH
- Start date
I have a coral beauty and she has never harmed anything in my tank.
Clams are pretty tastey from what I understand, and she has never even approached my Maxima.
I have a LOT of turf algae too though, so there is plenty to graze on.
You have a butterfly and you're worried about an angel?
I had always heard that they were definitely nippers. Tell me more about it. I have a 75 as well and was thinking of getting either a longnose or a pearlscale...
Clams are pretty tastey from what I understand, and she has never even approached my Maxima.
I have a LOT of turf algae too though, so there is plenty to graze on.
You have a butterfly and you're worried about an angel?
I had always heard that they were definitely nippers. Tell me more about it. I have a 75 as well and was thinking of getting either a longnose or a pearlscale...
Dwarf angels seem to be hit or miss with corals. I don't believe there is one definitive species that hasn't been known to nip on corals. Many folks have had dwarfs without incident (including myself) whereas others with the same species, killed off some of the corals.
I've had a coral beauty, lemonpeel, rusty, AND a flame angel in my 55 at various times and never saw any of them nip at corals (and all corals' growth went on undeterred, so I think they were OK). Only the flame angel shared the tank with my maxima and he never looked twice at it.
They are all hit and miss. For some people they are problems right away, for others the never become a problem, yet for others they are model tank members until they taste coral flesh one day.
The short answer is they are *all* a risk. If you don't mind taking the risk, go for it. If you do mind, don't.
RR
The short answer is they are *all* a risk. If you don't mind taking the risk, go for it. If you do mind, don't.
RR
Dewman, I've had no problems with the L/N Butterfly and my soft corals. He did eat tubeworms and mini feather dusters off the live rock (as expected). Scott Michael's book, "Marine Fishes, 500 Essential-to-know aquarium species" says they ignore corals in most cases, but have been reported to feed on stony and soft corals in the wild. I feed him mysis shrimp and other frozen foods.
The L/N also ate several small Aiptasia off my live rock, something I haven't seen reported anywhere else.
BTW, for the Pearlscale, the book reports they can be kept with "some of the more noxious soft corals."
The L/N also ate several small Aiptasia off my live rock, something I haven't seen reported anywhere else.
BTW, for the Pearlscale, the book reports they can be kept with "some of the more noxious soft corals."
Dewman, I've had no problems with the L/N Butterfly and my soft corals. He did eat tubeworms and mini feather dusters off the live rock (as expected). Scott Michael's book, "Marine Fishes, 500 Essential-to-know aquarium species" says they ignore corals in most cases, but have been reported to feed on stony and soft corals in the wild. I feed him mysis shrimp and other frozen foods.
The L/N also ate several small Aiptasia off my live rock, something I haven't seen reported anywhere else.
BTW, for the Pearlscale, the book reports they can be kept with "some of the more noxious soft corals."
The L/N also ate several small Aiptasia off my live rock, something I haven't seen reported anywhere else.
BTW, for the Pearlscale, the book reports they can be kept with "some of the more noxious soft corals."
Hello john firstly no dwarf can be 100% safe but most are? every fish no matter what it is, has it's own personality. I keep
1 flame angel
2 coral beauty
3 bi~color these can somtimes cause problems with clams?
4 fire ball ,which bit the pennant off 1 of my moorish idols last week!
They are all centrpyges but i also have a large blue queen and majestic which is totally reef safe, but the queen has started to nibble sarcophytons. as i said they all have there own personalities
1 flame angel
2 coral beauty
3 bi~color these can somtimes cause problems with clams?
4 fire ball ,which bit the pennant off 1 of my moorish idols last week!
They are all centrpyges but i also have a large blue queen and majestic which is totally reef safe, but the queen has started to nibble sarcophytons. as i said they all have there own personalities
John
I guess I'll be the counterpoint to thread so far. As others have said, no angel is to be considered safe around any corals. I, too, had a coral beauty that was a model citizen for well over a year, and then took a liking to the open brain. Killed it. Never bothered anything else, although he did take one or two nips at the E. ancora. Each fish is an individual, such that any advice you get about a species' behavior needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Nipping corals is what Centropyge do in the wild, so anytime they're placed in proximity to coral the possibility exists, even after long periods of time. You pays your money and you takes your chances. If you put a pygmy in, just be ready to pull it out one day in case it begins to be a problem. If it's healthy your LFS should buy it back. Don't blame you for considering getting one though - they're beautiful, active specimens. I guess the bottom line is that I would recommend against it. But if you go ahead, never let your guard down with it, and have contingency plans ready for removal. Best of luck with your decision.
-rw
I guess I'll be the counterpoint to thread so far. As others have said, no angel is to be considered safe around any corals. I, too, had a coral beauty that was a model citizen for well over a year, and then took a liking to the open brain. Killed it. Never bothered anything else, although he did take one or two nips at the E. ancora. Each fish is an individual, such that any advice you get about a species' behavior needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Nipping corals is what Centropyge do in the wild, so anytime they're placed in proximity to coral the possibility exists, even after long periods of time. You pays your money and you takes your chances. If you put a pygmy in, just be ready to pull it out one day in case it begins to be a problem. If it's healthy your LFS should buy it back. Don't blame you for considering getting one though - they're beautiful, active specimens. I guess the bottom line is that I would recommend against it. But if you go ahead, never let your guard down with it, and have contingency plans ready for removal. Best of luck with your decision.
-rw
None can be fully trusted. I had a bi-color angel (Man what a beautiful fish!) and was in denial for months. Rarely did I notice any nipping. I decided to take him back and the next day the tank looked incredible. All polyps looked bigger and there were featherdusters everywhere that I didn't realize were alive. Even my wife (who wouldn't notice if the kids put our dog in the fish tank) asked me what I had done to the tank because it looked so good.
You wouldn't believe the effort for me to catch the bugger. It was in a 55g tank and I had to remove ever piece of rock to get him out. It was a nightmare!
In a very large tank it may not be a problem. I will never again chance it. There are too many beautiful, reef safe fish out there to take the chance.
Ernie
You wouldn't believe the effort for me to catch the bugger. It was in a 55g tank and I had to remove ever piece of rock to get him out. It was a nightmare!
In a very large tank it may not be a problem. I will never again chance it. There are too many beautiful, reef safe fish out there to take the chance.
Ernie
Hello Smiffy
In my last tank my bio colour used to take the odd peck but in the new tank she seems to have settled down. In a friends tank recently a Coral Beauty desimated a Zoothanid population in about a day, since then hasn't touched anything. Here is Britain 1 dwarf angel seems to be more problematic more that others - the Lemon Peel as I have tried to prove myself. I took the chance with putting a juv Blue Queen into my 11ft reef and after having her for 16months she's only recently started to get a taste for Sarcophyton corals. Especially the trunks! I though with her being well fed that I could overcome her natural instincts, but not so. Although my Majestic of which I have had for nearly 2 years that I can truthfully say that I have never see her peck at anything apart from live rock. Also the other problem fish in my tank which likes polyps is a Thread Thin Butterfly (Auriga) but a little bid of preditation can also increase growth of certain corals, so I am not too worried. As I have said earlier in the post no Angels are 100% reef safe. You pay your money and you take your chance.
In my last tank my bio colour used to take the odd peck but in the new tank she seems to have settled down. In a friends tank recently a Coral Beauty desimated a Zoothanid population in about a day, since then hasn't touched anything. Here is Britain 1 dwarf angel seems to be more problematic more that others - the Lemon Peel as I have tried to prove myself. I took the chance with putting a juv Blue Queen into my 11ft reef and after having her for 16months she's only recently started to get a taste for Sarcophyton corals. Especially the trunks! I though with her being well fed that I could overcome her natural instincts, but not so. Although my Majestic of which I have had for nearly 2 years that I can truthfully say that I have never see her peck at anything apart from live rock. Also the other problem fish in my tank which likes polyps is a Thread Thin Butterfly (Auriga) but a little bid of preditation can also increase growth of certain corals, so I am not too worried. As I have said earlier in the post no Angels are 100% reef safe. You pay your money and you take your chance.
Also Garry, in a large enough tank the predation is spread around so that it might not adversely affect the corals. Also, if there is constant food that is preferred the fish will bother the corals less. This is more feasible in a larger tank.
I had a bi-color in a 55. One was enough to keep everything looking bad in such a small tank.
Ernie
I had a bi-color in a 55. One was enough to keep everything looking bad in such a small tank.
Ernie
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