Flame angel

[greatwhite]

I am thinking about adding a flame angel to my reef.What are the chances of this fish eating my xenia and antheila?

 

[davelin315]

Mine doesn't eat my xenia or the couple of anthelia polyps I have. However, it will occasionally pick at them, and the other corals, but nothing different than any of the other fish in the tank, and it never does anyone any harm. However, even with centryopyge angels, you need to be careful, each one is different.

 

[martynhulyer]

Hi greatwhite.
I think you have less trouble with Flame Angels picking at corals if the Aquarium is well matured a year or so old.
The reason I feel is that there is more natural food in a mature system which keep the Flame Angel with areas of algae's and tiny critters to feed on regular as it patrols and grazes.
My flame angel use to pick at open brain corals in the first year of the aquarium when the aquarium matured over a year or so the flame angel has not picked at a coral.
I have had him/her for three years now.

Martyn

 

[Mabu]

Angels are hit-and-miss. My advice is, if you want this cool-looking fish in your aquarium, be prepared to lose some corals (or growth), or tear everything apart trying to remove him later if he turns out to be one of the types that picks at coral. I think half of the people have problems, half don't. Roll the dice.

 

[esmithiii]

My experiences w/ a dwarf angel was bad. I had a bicolor angel which was beautiful but definitely not reef safe inspite of what everyone told me. I was in denial for 6 months but was shocked to see my whole tank improve the day after I removed him! Everything looked amazing the very next day. My wife even noticed and said "what did you do? The tank looks incredible!" All my corals opened like never before. The constant picking which I barely noticed kept the corals constantly irritated. My advice is to pick something safe unless you are willing to tear down your reef in a couple of months.

E

 

[max spl]

i've had my flame angel in my reef for a little over a year. it's only now that it has developed a taste for corals..ugh...

it's now kill a couple of heads off my nice looking lobophyllia and has also killed a couple of sps colonies

i've spent the last couple of weeks trying to catch him from my 150g, but that bugger is just too quick... never again.

 

[Mike&Pam]

We have both a flame angel and a coral beauty in our 90 gal reef. The beauty never gives us any problems, but the flame likes to pick at our open rose brain. This of course causes it to close up. However, if we move the brain to the highest point in the tank, he doesn't seem to find it there. Unfortunately this is our least favorite place for the brain. But in all, I guess he's worth it.