Best Dwarf/Pygmy Angelfish?

jcbasile · Oct 29, 2020

So I want to add a smaller angelfish to my mixed 45gallon reef tank. I have considered cherubs, flame angelfish and coral beautys but have all heard they may nip at corals which I want to avoid. I know that is hit or miss depending on the fish but I have two questions.

1. Which of the smaller angelfish are the best in your opinion (personality, aggression, etc.)?
2. What is the best way to minimize coral aggression or nipping?

Haydn · Oct 29, 2020

You will get as many different answers to question 1 as there are dwarf angelfish- each person will have their favorite.

The best way to avoid coral predation is either only stock with 'nasty' tasting corals- Duncans, Euphllias, tough softies, etc. Or avoid dwarf angels.

jcbasile · Oct 29, 2020

Well put in the first half haha, I agree. I guess I just wanted to hear some experiences with different ones. That is mostly how my tank is setup, but it does have a zoa garden and some mushrooms which is what I worry about.

sfin52 · Oct 29, 2020

Dwarf angels add a lot of color and movement. Flames in small systems tend to get nasty. Personal experiences.

45g I would look at pygmy or coral beauty. My coral beauty never touched a coral. I had a buddy who had to remove his because it ate his coral.

Never had personal experience with pygmy

My cb was in a 75 and now have one in a 55 fowlr.
FA was in 55 and had to remove nasty little bugger.

Haydn · Oct 29, 2020

I have kept a number of the dwarf angelfish and besides Lemonpeels and the Bicolour none of them has ever bothered zoa's or mushrooms

jcbasile · Oct 29, 2020

sfin52 said:
Dwarf angels add a lot of color and movement. Flames in small systems tend to get nasty. Personal experiences.

45g I would look at pygmy or coral beauty. My coral beauty never touched a coral. I had a buddy who had to remove his because it ate his coral.

Never had personal experience with pygmy

My cb was in a 75 and now have one in a 55 fowlr.
FA was in 55 and had to remove nasty little bugger.

So far I was either going to go pygmy or coral beauty. I like flame angels but heard the same thing from a lot of other people

Haydn · Oct 29, 2020

If you want something unusual how about a C. heraldi the ones I have kept never got aggressive with anything and they were fairly safe with SPS but not with fleshy LPS.

Hugh Mann · Oct 29, 2020

Whatever you do, don't get a lemonpeel. Their bright yellow and blue is an awesome splash of colour, but they are huge, incredible jerks. I had one and it bullied everything, even a moray eel 15x it's size. Watched it numerous times kick my Tomini off nori so it could eat.

+1 coral beauty.

shred5 · Oct 29, 2020

Least aggressive and most likely not to touch a coral is the Cherub.
They can have some aggression though to some fish but I have never had one touch a coral. I have 3 right now and have had dozens in the past.
I have had most of the others and they all have nipped corals here and there and some worse than others.

jcbasile · Oct 29, 2020

shred5 said:
Least aggressive and most likely not to touch a coral is the Cherub.
They can have aggression though to some fish but I have never had one touch a coral. I have 3 right now and have had dozens in the past.
I have had most of the others and they all have nipped corals here and there and some worse than others.

Hmm I only have a pretty docile clownfish, a bangai cardinalfish, goby/shrimp pair and wanted to add a royal gramma eventually but I think the Cherub are beautiful fish

shred5 · Oct 29, 2020

jcbasile said:
Hmm I only have a pretty docile clownfish, a bangai cardinalfish, goby/shrimp pair and wanted to add a royal gramma eventually but I think the Cherub are beautiful fish

As far as aggression all Dwarf angels can have them and some more than others. I find the Flames, coral beauty etc far more aggressive than a cherub. I would put the Cherub towards the bottom for a dwarf angel. Each individual is different too..

The smaller the tank the more chances of it too..

sfin52 · Oct 29, 2020

shred5 said:
As far as aggression all Dwarf angels can have them and some more than others. I find the Flames, coral beauty etc far more aggressive than a cherub. I would put the Cherub towards the bottom for a dwarf angel. Each individual is different too..

The smaller the tank the more chances of it too..

Fully agree size of tank plays a big part

jcbasile · Oct 29, 2020

sfin52 said:
Fully agree size of tank plays a big part

Its a jbj 45gallon AIO but that isn't the true water volume

argiBK · Oct 29, 2020

I've got 3 dwarfs in my system. A Flame, Coral Beauty and Potter's. They've all been solid and haven't bothered any corals, though I don't keep any meaty LPS or clams. The Potter's will pick algae around my SPS frags, but the Acro's remain fully extended and healthy.

Aside from initial pecking order squabbles, they've managed to settle into a natural heirarchy in the system as well. The Potter's has taken to my Copperband butterfly (they were added at the same time) and all angels pretty much ignore the rest of the fish in the community.

For your tank size, I'd definitely go with one of the smaller Centropyges. Argi's seem to have the best personality and are quite confident once they get settled in!

Angel_Anthias lover · Oct 29, 2020

Im not sure if this is in your considerations, but a starcki damsel has the temperament and size of a dwarf angel, looks like the afrcian flame back, and doesnt eat corals. Might be a good alternative if youre interested.

Thats my one

PicassoClown04 · Oct 29, 2020

I’ve had great experiences with flamebacks and cherubs in zoa/softy dominant tanks as well as sps. They’re gorgeous and so cute!

Nathan Milender · Oct 29, 2020

45 is a small tank. I keep a flame in a 125 and have no issues other then the constant regulation on all the other fish.

jcbasile · Oct 29, 2020

Angel_Anthias lover said:
Im not sure if this is in your considerations, but a starcki damsel has the temperament and size of a dwarf angel, looks like the afrcian flame back, and doesnt eat corals. Might be a good alternative if youre interested.

Thats my one

That was not in my considerations but that is a gorgeous fish and I will look into it! Does it have less of a bad wrap compared to other damsels?

Angel_Anthias lover · Oct 29, 2020

jcbasile said:
That was not in my considerations but that is a gorgeous fish and I will look into it! Does it have less of a bad wrap compared to other damsels?

Yea, its in the genus chrysiptera which is a pretty peaceful genus in the damsel family, its never caused any issues for me, he can be kinda agressive to new additions, but has never killed anything, and it normally dies down after a day or 2. And he leaves everything else alone, so pretty peaceful, in my experience

OrionN · Oct 29, 2020

I keep Flame, Coral Beauty, Cherub, Fireball (Brazilian Flameback), and African Flameback before. All are OK. I do think that feeding them heavy does prevent/eliminate coral picking. I never have enough problem with mine picking coral and required removal from the tank.
45 gal, especially the cube type tank is a little too small for all but the smallest of Dwarf Angels.
I would recommend either Cherub, Fireball or Flameback. Other pygmy angels does not look as nice as these three species.
My African Flameback harem, currently three in a 65 gal tank.
I have a thread on them here, including video of the tank.

My Centropyge acanthops harem, African Flameback Dwarf Angel

I have to reset up my office 65 gal tank this year. It sprung a leak after 7 years or so. After much deliberation, I settle with a list of fishes as below: Tomini Tang Copper Banded Butterfly Harem of 3 African Flameback dwarf angels A pair of clown fish, Black snowflakes, breed by a friend of...

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