Are Apolemichthys angels reef safe at all?

[Zionas]

Looking into a smaller Apolemichthys, specifically the Indian Yellowtail AKA Xanthurus Cream. How reef safe are they (or not)? And what about their hardiness? Are they hard to find?

LA says 8” for them and FishBase says 6”. Maybe 8” is the largest one ever caught but their “standard length” is 6”?

 

[nereefpat]

Bump for any Apolemichthys angel keepers.

They aren't plankton eaters, like Genicanthus, so I would imagine a bit of a gamble.

 

[Zionas]

Yeah would appreciate experiences.

 

[Zionas]

Bump. Would appreciate experiences with this genus. I think I’m going the softies route for this tank.

 

[Msmith2813]

Bump for this guy above. I would like to know also haha

 

[mfollen]

My friend kept a cream angels in a soft & LPS tank years ago. Meaty LPS were casualties.

Very underrated fish.

 

[Zionas]

What about the softies?

 

[mfollen]

Didn’t keep zoas. Other softies were safe.

I guess it is in the average to above average risk range for angels, not many reefers with experience to report.

If you have a good fish trap, and depending on your corals and risk tolerance, you’ll never know till you roll the dice as every angel is different. So long as you accept the short term damage potential.

What’s likely is the angel either takes to one or two specific coral types, or goes to town. Very possible it works, you just would need to live without the coral it likes.

 

[rkpetersen]

What’s likely is the angel either takes to one or two specific coral types, or goes to town. Very possible it works, you just would need to live without the coral it likes.

I wanted a Pyramid Butterflyfish. Now my xenia is gone, everything else untouched. Worth it. Angels and butterflies are always a gamble though.

 

[mfollen]

Wow that worked out well haha

Yea you never know, it could be a big success. Usually sampling will happen. The deciding moment is what happens after that. I’ve had to remove multiple angels that after a week of good behavior find a delicious new food. I also have angelfish that sampled, and would rather eat other matter.

What will increase your chances is established liverock. Angels will look for food, and having more biodiversity on your rocks will provide them more options than just coral and algae.

 

[Zionas]

I wonder how your Pyramid has done for you in terms of hardiness and disease. Would you say it’s easy to keep?

 

[rkpetersen]

I wonder how your Pyramid has done for you in terms of hardiness and disease. Would you say it’s easy to keep?

Yes, I would. It sailed through quarantine, and took to the display easily. No conflicts with other fish at all (no other butterflies present.) Before, I had quite a few stands of two different species of xenia. They were actually a bit of a nuisance with how fast they grew, but I tolerated them because they were easy enough to remove by prying off rocks, serving as another nitrogen export. The Pyramid took to them both right away, as I had read that it might. Gradually, over a few months, almost all the xenia disappeared. First chewed down to tiny nubbins, and then even those disappeared. The only stand of xenia left is at the far upper back glass, behind a stylophora. The Pyramid can't reach it!

I've had it for about a year now. It's fat and happy, eating the same food as everyone else. Hasn't touched another coral, and I guess it probably won't do so at this point, unless I add some entirely new coral type that it hasn't seen before.

It's at the lower right in the Fore Reef picture in my sig.