Angels and SPS

JGoslee

Moderator
View Badges
Joined
Jul 9, 2006
Messages
3,498
Reaction score
16
Location
Philadelphia, Pa
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Anyone keeping angels with SPS? I have a 5" blueface angel in a holding tank that I will be adding to the new SPS reef I'm currently setting up. Hopefully she won't tear up the corals. She likes zoas and palys but doesn't touch LPS corals so I'm optimistic.
 
I have kept a few of the dwarf angels, and I have tried a Majestic in the past, I think it will come down to the individual fish. I know that doesn't help much....

I have a Coral Beauty in my tank right now, and I know several people that keep Emperor Angles in SPS tanks, so... Good Luck!
 
I have kept a few of the dwarf angels, and I have tried a Majestic in the past, I think it will come down to the individual fish. I know that doesn't help much....
She's been in a tank with zoas, palys, acans and favias. She ate all the zoas/palys and left the others alone. This tank will only have just acros which she hasn't been around yet.

I have a Coral Beauty in my tank right now, and I know several people that keep Emperor Angles in SPS tanks, so... Good Luck!
I've seen a few tanks on RC with emperors and dwarfs just no blue face.
Has your coral beauty ever picked at your corals?


Keep him fat and you will have a better chance.
Yeah I've been feeding her a ton. I've kept her in a 30gal quarantine tank all summer long just fattening her up!
 
The coral beauty has only been with me a week, and I have not seen any picking. This fish came from a friend that was taking down a 120 with SPS and LPS corals, so I was confident that she would be okay.

The large angels seem to be much more likely to pick at corals. Now that I think about it, my friend Jarrod has a blueface in his tank. I'll send him a message and see if he will be willing to share his experience here.
 
I have an adult emperor in my mixed reef with very little problems,I just always have a nori sheet in there for it to pick at.
 
I have an Asfur Angel, they are one of the few "Reef Safe" Angels.. Can be a little pricey depending on where you get it.
 
I have 3 different types of dwarf angels in my SPS tank with no problems. I do feed my tank lot to make sure they do not get tempted with the corals. My mag foxface does more damage then the angels:(
 
I have 3 different types of dwarf angels in my SPS tank with no problems. I do feed my tank lot to make sure they do not get tempted with the corals. My mag foxface does more damage then the angels:(

really? I have a Lrg Mag & haven't had any problems..

Every fish is different though.
 
I had a flame angela for years with no problems.... I added a new colony that i guess he liked and from that day forward he picked at everything until i got him out.
 
I now have a half black, cherub, and coral beauty that are no problem with any corals that I have (SPS, LPS, pipe organs, GSP, and a few zoas). In the past I've had nox, flame, another coral beauty, and flameback that never bothered anything either.

The one that did cause a problem was a lemonpeel. He started nipping polyps 2 minutes after being introduced to the tank. To my surprise, my wife caught it with a net in 10 minutes without tearing down any corals!

I've had a foxface that nipped at the pipe organs and that kept them from opening fully. He "came up missing" one day and the corals recovered just fine.

A couple of months ago I got a Klein's Butterfly hoping it would eat some of the tulip anenomes that I had in one tank. He nipped at the acropora polyps to the point that the polyp extension was very little. I got a big net with frozen brine shimp in it and caught it in about 30 minutes. He's in jail in the sump now waiting for someone else to adopt him.

From what I can gather most of the dwarf angels are OK but a few individuals can cause problems. Also, most of the larger angels will nip corals while a few individuals will leave them alone.

Good Luck!
 
Earlier today I added a few SPS and LPS frags to the tank so I'll know in the next couple of days if she's going to be ok with them.
 
I have an emperor in my reef and he doesn't pick at anything. Just be sure to feed them often. I feed 3-4 times a day.
 
Well it didn't work. I added a few aussie acan colonies, a prism favia and some ORA sps frags to the tank on Thursday and all the acans are picked down to the skeleton and the favia is missing about half the polyps. This is my favorite fish so it looks like I'll be setting up another tank for this guy.

Here's a pic of the jerk.
6.jpg
 
I had a flame angela for years with no problems.... I added a new colony that i guess he liked and from that day forward he picked at everything until i got him out.

I added my coral beauty to a mixed reef. Fed his 3 times a day, and tried so hard to make sure he was immaculent (sp?). He started picking near the 6 month mark, and from then on loved small polyped zoanthids, yellow polyps, and SPS (he was part of the reason why I kept failing at SPS I think).

Its a crapshoot, 50/50. Take the chance, and have a backup plan just in case. Hate to see a beautiful fish end up in a bad place cuz he picks.
 
For Angels......hit and miss. It depends on ultimatly the individual tank, how well fed the Angel is, temperment, and proclivity towards polyps as part of its diet.

I have seen some Dwarfs just go to town on a reef, requiring a partial teardown.....and others being model citizens. Currently I have a Potters Angel and have had a Coral Beauty in the past. No complaints.....

I have not seen many large Angels introduced, but if the reef was big enough and the colonies large enough a little nibble here and there shouldn't be much of a concern. In fact, there is a school of thought that fragging spurs on growth through a survival instinct, if memory serves.......this could very well have the same effect.

Perhaps in a few years when people say "My SPS aren't growing!!" People will respond "Buy an Angel and let 'er go at 'em"??????
 
IMO it harder to keep large angels with LPS. It get too tempting for them. Not saying it hasn't been done, but your odds are better with SPS. Plus Blueface's seem to be more prone to picking from what I have read.
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
Back
Top