I am interested in having just a few hardy corals in my 75 gallon tank. However there are certain fish I want that I know are not considered reef safe, flame angel and an auriga butterfly. Would these fish be safe with mushrooms, green star polyps, and maybe 1 or 2 other corals. If not these are there any corals that would be safe with these fish?
Reef safe?
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thincat
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research your fish and find out where it feeds. This will tell you allot as to what you can keep in your tank. Only problem is that in the wild a fish might swim a few hundred yards and munch on a coral here or there. In a confinded AQ he does not have those conditions and may go through all your corals no matter what you keep.
Jimbo7
Aquarium Advice Addict
TC is right. Unfortunately flame angels are prone to eat a lot of soft corals. I would keep looking at different fish, there are a lot of really nice looking reef safe fish out there.
mdaniel2882
Aquarium Advice FINatic
After touching nothing for 6 months my flame went through ALL my zoa in about 2 weeks but never touched my shrooms. I must be a glutten for punishment cause there was a BEAUTIFUL potter's I just had to have...he is more reef safe than a flame if there is such a thing as "more reef safe"
mdaniel2882
Aquarium Advice FINatic
he is supposed to be one of the most reef safe angels. It is sort of hit and miss. my flame didn't touch my shrooms but if he developed a taste I don't think he could keep up with their growth. but I didn't think he could eat all my zoa's in 2 weeks either.
Fishguy2727
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The only angels that are truly reef safe are the Genicanthus spp. With some others it is very hit and miss. One flame may never bother a thing, another will wipe out your tank worse than a trigger.
thincat
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Yeap, check out where and what it feeds on.....
ryshark
Aquarium Advice Addict
I agree. The Angels in the Genicanthus family are reef safe. These angels feed out of the water column like anthias. Which refers to what TC keeps mentioning.
I would not trust a flame angel and definitely would not trust an auriga butterfly.
Tank2379
Aquarium Advice Addict
Althought most are against Angels in there tank- I know of a few people that actually have had success in keeping Large and Small Angels in there Reef Systems and had success- IMO I feel you can keep them if they are well feed or 3 x a day but it depends on your system and your bioload to feed 3 times a day- I know most Angels are happy and leave corals alone with they are properly feed. I will in the near future try this out on keeping them- I know Sanjay has some Large Angels in his reef system without any problems at all... I will contact him to see what his methods are in keeping them from eating corals.
I've never had a problem keeping angels in large or nano reef tanks, except for a few stubborn pickers, but even then the amount of damage was minimal. Tank is correct in that fish will subside what we call "bad behavior" when they have more food offered to them throughout the day. IME fish can become bored so offering varied foods peaks their activity level and redirects their destructiveness. As long as the food is eaten there shouldn't be any waste. Either way there is an inherant risk in most fish available for purchase in feeding on our "reef."
A reef isn't a reef without an angelfish
A reef isn't a reef without an angelfish
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