Flame angel Poll, please respond if you've kept this species

[Anonymous]

Just trying to gather some empirical data from some of you. The options are endless, so I just provided what I figured were the most likely. Please comment if you have other input.
Thanks for responding.


Jim

 

[Anonymous]

I bought one after a friend had kept one for over a year without any problems. Mine bit everything in site. It sucked. It took me 3 weeks to get it out. I had to cover my clams to keep him off them.

Some folks say it is a 50 50 chance of getting a good one or a biter. I wouldn't get one unless your prepared to do whatever it takes to get it back out.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Well, I can relate almost an equal number of stories both good and bad. I'm trying to get some updated info to see if the trend is still the same as in the past. More people are concious of feeding their animals a varied diet, so I'm wondering if more people are having luck keeping this species from eating their corals.
Thanks for the reply!


Jim

 

[iomegas_reef]

Angels=not reef safe. I think you all know this. ESPECIALLY flame angels. Sure there might be that one or two that go along, but overall angels are a bad edition to any reef tank. Actually I think I saw a species of angel that are reef safe, but they arent that great looking.

 

[LFS42]

I've kept one in with softies and a few lps for over 1 year

no problems yet

 

[Anonymous]

iomegas_reef,
Ha! You are very wrong! There is more than one species of angel that more often than not, are reef safe. Genicanthus sp. being the most reliable in this regard. After that, you have Centropyge argi which is the closest thing to a 100% reef safe dwarf angel. (I have them in all my reefs, a great reef fish!) Next to that you C. acanthops which amost always behaves. The coral beauty does well for many people as well.
There are even large angels that can be kept in reef tanks with caution, these include P. navarchus, P. imperator. Many people keep regal angels as well. I myself have a young imperator in my SPS tank, and he bothers nothing. Nothing is all time, and there are always exceptions.
As far as flame angels go, far more than "one or two" turn out to be reef safe. I myself know 3 people who are keeping them without any problems. My LFS has 4 in a large reef which don't bother anything as well. I have one in my 150 which isn't bothering my SPS.
I've been keeping angels for almost 20 years, what I'm trying to glean is some information from other keepers to see if their findings are similar to my own with this species.
Honestly, nothing personal, but I find posts like yours annoying and a bit hard to suffer. Authoritative, yet completely false, with no empirical data or knowledge behind it. I'm looking for experiences here, not guidance - bad guidance at that! :roll:


Regards
Jim

 

[Joey French]

ouch.....

 

[Anonymous]

Mine picked on two open brains pretty infrequently. I have to disagree that C. argi is almost 100% reef safe though. Mine picked on LPS, clams, and open brains, albeit very infrequently. It would never cause them to close up. We also have a C. bicolor, which is notoriously not reefsafe, in a 180g with no stonies that is a model citizen.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Matt! Thanks for the reply. Much appreciated.
C. argi is ALMOST 100% reef safe. As I said, there are always exceptions. One of mine picks at the clams once in a great while, not enough to stress anything or cause it to close up. This still amounts to reef safe. As an educated guess, (this is based on years of observing different specimens, both mine and those belonging to others in many tanks) I'd say that maybe 5% or fewer of argi angels end up causing problems and have to be removed.
That's pretty good odds.
Interesting note on the bicolor. Good luck!

Cheers
Jim

 

[Anonymous]

OK, then by that definition I guess mine was reefsafe... I never would have considered removing him.

The bicolor has been in that tank for at least 7 years, with no apparent problems.

Good luck with your poll!
Matt

 

[Anonymous]

Indeed, one has to wonder what (if any) role genetics might play in the individual personalities of this family of fish as a whole. I've just received a query from someone who's keeping a Genicanthid (sorry, can't remember what species) in his reef and has added a Regal. When it comes to certain picky/difficult animals (such as Regals and C. bicolor) I am of the opinion that they'll have their best chance at not just surviving, but thriving, in such a setup.

As for your poll, it's practically a coin toss, Jim. <shrugs> I would suggest that, if you wish to try this, do what a woman in Texas has emailed us to say she's done with something called a "molly miller" and several damsels she wants OUT -- she has actually trained them to FEED from the net, and one day the net goes SWOOP!

 

[LauraH]

It's been a long time since I've kept one, but the one I had did pick on open brains, clams, and the odd nip at various LPS. He was a model citizen for a long time before he started doing, and he was getting progressively worse until I lost him after a hurricane in 95'.

I would love to get another one of these beauties, but I won't put one in a tank containing corals. It's possible that I wasn't providing it something it needed in it's diet as I fed more sparingly back then, but I don't know for sure.

 

[Anonymous]

LOL! Thanks Seamaiden. Always a pleasure reading a post of yours.
I actually already have a flame in my reef. I also have a plan to get him out if he causes any trouble. There is a "cave" that he likes to hide in. Well that "cave"is an acryic tube that I can cap off any time I want. :twisted:

Thanks for your post Laura. I believe diet has a lot to do with it. If they get what they need, they are less likely to go shopping. Also, many of the people that keep them without any problems keep them with SPS corals.

Jim

 

[Inno]

Hmmm, seems you forgot to add in your poll: Remarkable, has never picked at any corals!...by that you can guess, I have never had one that picked on any corals

 

[Anonymous]

Oops! I meant to. I'll see if I can fix it.

 

[Terry B]

I think part of the secret is feeding the fish a wide variety of foods so they are less likely to have the need to pick at inverts. I have had my flame now for 5 and half years and it has never caused a problem with the inverts.
Terry B

 

[danmhippo]

It too has been a while since I kept any angels in my tanks. But IME, flames picked on clams and open brains. I've heard they are actually picking on the slimes, but never want to know if that's indeed true.

 

[dizzy]

I've got a trio of flame anegels in in tank with some sps and soft corals and the flames do not cause a problem. I think the secret to mixing angels and corals is fairly simple. Just go with sps and soft coral and leave the lps corals out of that tank. Open brains in particular don't seem to work well with many angels.

 

[Anonymous]

Open brains seem to be the one thing that is guaranteed to get nibbled on most of the time. SPS corals seem to be the one thing that is ALMOST always safe, even with some of the Pomocanthids.
Thanks for the feedback so far everyone.

Jim

 

[Anonymous]

I added two flames to my reef and one immediatly went on to eating my sps. I didn't have TIME to feed a variety of foods, because it was like within ten minutes out of the bag.

I fed my tank HEAVily for the next few days while I built a fish trap (meanwhile my poor montis and acros looked worse and worse) but the feeding didn't help. During this time the other flame learned this behavior, through observation I suppose.

They didn't eat my lobophyllia, or my clam, I was rather suprised by that, just sps.