Reef compatible angelfish

[TheChad]

Originally Posted by slitherbomb

So far, all of the ones that I've seen are too big for a 40g unfortunately.

+1 a 40g tank is MUCH too small for ANY Angel fish except for the Dwarf Angel fish.

I've had a Coral Beauty and a Flame Angel, both Dwarf Angel fish and neither of them picked at any of my corals.

I've seen large 200+ gallon LFS tanks with large angel fish that didn't pick at the corals either, I think it has alot to do with making sure the fish are well fed. If they arn't hungry they wont go "Looking" to make a meal out of your corals.

But then again, there are 2 to fish that are the same, so it's a crap shoot really.

-TheChad

[Fishguy2727]

It isn't just keeping them fed or not having stressed SPS. Some individuals won't bother them. Some will no matter what and how much you feed and how well the corals are doing. It is a risk to put angels like flames and coral beauties in a reef setup. I have had way too many clients and customers have major issues with them to say they are reef safe, they are risky at best. Good luck.

[slitherbomb]

Originally Posted by Fishguy2727

It isn't just keeping them fed or not having stressed SPS. Some individuals won't bother them. Some will no matter what and how much you feed and how well the corals are doing. It is a risk to put angels like flames and coral beauties in a reef setup. I have had way too many clients and customers have major issues with them to say they are reef safe, they are risky at best. Good luck.

I may not put one in, if I find something that can replace the look of an angelfish. I just haven't found something that looks like one yet.

[TheChad]

Everything is a risk. Even creatures that say they are "Reef Safe" can pick at corals.

It's mother nature, nothing is black & white. But "Reef Safe" is a VERY generic term. Out of the 100's or 1000's of different kinds of corals out there, said creature may not pick at but a hand full of them which you may or may not have.

So It's VERY hard to say "Yes this creature will be fine in your tank".

The best thing to do is stay away from EVERYTHING that isn't 100% safe, but then again some of the most beautiful reef tank's out there wouln't exsist if that was followed.

Size of the tank also make a huge difference. I've seen huge reef tanks with lots of creatures/stuff that are known to not be compatible, but in a large enough environment they don't seem to affect each other.

-TheChad

[FTMMWS]

Every fish is different..my angel ate everything i ever tried, except my rics and shrooms...its a 50/50 chance
Not too many angel look-a-likes either ..angels definitely have their own look and stand out


EDIT: yeah ,what "the chad" said

[slitherbomb]

Yeah I agree. Everyone said that my snowflake eel was not reef compatible, but not because he will eat my coral, but because he would eat my shrimp and crab. Turns out, it doesn't bother ANYTHING in my tank, and has even let my cleaner shrimps clean it's skin. Nothing is 100% and someone else's snowflake may eat everything that they have. I've also heard of tangs eating coral too.

[TLTGF]

I added a Flame to my 54 gal on Saturday, and today I added my 1st coral - a medium sized two-headed hammer, and fingers are crossed while I'm at work...