Adding to the angelfish article in this month's AAM, lets see some pictures and hear experiences of people who have successfully kept large angels in your reef tank, as well as any tips or lessons learned.
Below is a picture of my blue angel, Holacanthus bermudensis (also possibly a H. ciliaris x H. bermudensis hybrid). I caught this fish almost 2 years ago while scuba diving off the coast of NC. At that time it was approximately 4" in diameter. I was hesitant to place it in my reef at first, however I figured I would take the chance given how beautiful it was and my love for Holacanthus angels.
At the same time I had been battling a terrible outbreak of Caulerpa in my aquarium spending approximately an hour or more each week pulling it out by hand. I had tryed several types of tangs, rabbitfish and a sea hare without any luck. To my amazement, after placing the angel in the tank within a couple of days it started to "go to town" on the caulerpa. Within a week it was completely gone aside from a little in the crevices that it couldn't get too.
Despit the obvious success in dealing with that issue, I continued to closely watch the angel, standing far away from the tank and watching for 15-20 minutes every day or so to make sure it was not grazing on my corals or clams. The first thing I noticed was it eating my zoanthids. It had no interest in Palythoas or Protopalythoas, but only Zoanthus and Parazoanthus. I had considered starting a seperate smaller tank just for zoanthids anyway, so I decided to go ahead with this plan. The next time I noticed it bothering anything is when I returned from a weekend away (without feeding the fish) and the angel had been nipping at a couple of LPS including a Scolymia and a Trachyphyllia. I removed these 2 corals and placed them in another tank. Since then, which was about a year ago, I have strived to always keep my angel well supplied with food including a large amout of Nori and macroalgae from my refugium. It no longer bothers any of my coral, however I also have never put the types of corals back that it tryed to eat before. Among the fleshy corals/inverts in the tank that might seem appetizing to an angel like this, I successfully keep Fungia, Lobophyllia, Euphyllia, various gorgonians, a gigas clam, GSP, Xenia, Clavularia, Anthelia, Echinophyllia, Hydnophora, Galaxia, Turbinaria, maze brains, etc. As the article mentioned, I have seen it take an occassional exploratory nip, but it is very rare and usually when it has not been fed in a day or so.
I also have recently set up another tank with a Koran angel, but even though it has been doing great for a few months now, without harming corals, I think it is still too early to judge what the long term success will be.
Below is a picture of my blue angel, Holacanthus bermudensis (also possibly a H. ciliaris x H. bermudensis hybrid). I caught this fish almost 2 years ago while scuba diving off the coast of NC. At that time it was approximately 4" in diameter. I was hesitant to place it in my reef at first, however I figured I would take the chance given how beautiful it was and my love for Holacanthus angels.
At the same time I had been battling a terrible outbreak of Caulerpa in my aquarium spending approximately an hour or more each week pulling it out by hand. I had tryed several types of tangs, rabbitfish and a sea hare without any luck. To my amazement, after placing the angel in the tank within a couple of days it started to "go to town" on the caulerpa. Within a week it was completely gone aside from a little in the crevices that it couldn't get too.
Despit the obvious success in dealing with that issue, I continued to closely watch the angel, standing far away from the tank and watching for 15-20 minutes every day or so to make sure it was not grazing on my corals or clams. The first thing I noticed was it eating my zoanthids. It had no interest in Palythoas or Protopalythoas, but only Zoanthus and Parazoanthus. I had considered starting a seperate smaller tank just for zoanthids anyway, so I decided to go ahead with this plan. The next time I noticed it bothering anything is when I returned from a weekend away (without feeding the fish) and the angel had been nipping at a couple of LPS including a Scolymia and a Trachyphyllia. I removed these 2 corals and placed them in another tank. Since then, which was about a year ago, I have strived to always keep my angel well supplied with food including a large amout of Nori and macroalgae from my refugium. It no longer bothers any of my coral, however I also have never put the types of corals back that it tryed to eat before. Among the fleshy corals/inverts in the tank that might seem appetizing to an angel like this, I successfully keep Fungia, Lobophyllia, Euphyllia, various gorgonians, a gigas clam, GSP, Xenia, Clavularia, Anthelia, Echinophyllia, Hydnophora, Galaxia, Turbinaria, maze brains, etc. As the article mentioned, I have seen it take an occassional exploratory nip, but it is very rare and usually when it has not been fed in a day or so.
I also have recently set up another tank with a Koran angel, but even though it has been doing great for a few months now, without harming corals, I think it is still too early to judge what the long term success will be.
