Choosing large angels

[GoldeneyeRet]

I am planning for my upgrade and want feedback on which large angels I should choose. Tank will be 8 ft sps dominated Reef . I understand and accept the risk to corals. No genicanthus. Temperament is a concern as I will have a lot of peaceful fish.

I want a regal and another large angel. Was considering P. navarchus (majestic) or P. xanthometopon (blue faced). Any thoughts about these or any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank s r2r!

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

I should have included goldflake and scribbled as options I was considering for the second angel.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I like all those options for angels. They are some of the more peaceful large angel species.

 

[JTreef]

I second that. Very nice list. I have a juvenile regal in quarantine right now.

 

[ca1ore]

IME, the regal is the most reef safe. I'm a big fan of the majestic and emperor. Though the latter can get a bit grumpy. About to put one in my 8' reef.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

I always read emperors are "grumpy".

What does that mean? Are they too aggressive for a peaceful community tank? Aggressive to all fish or just angels? I'm looking at tangs too and considering a pbt or achilles, are they worse than those, or compatable with those?

Thanks

 

[Mfreddy]

I always read emperors are "grumpy".

What does that mean? Are they too aggressive for a peaceful community tank? Aggressive to all fish or just angels? I'm looking at tangs too and considering a pbt or achilles, are they worse than those, or compatable with those?

Thanks

They want everyone to know they’re in charge. Mine went after my dogface puffer, and he went round and round with a 7” Niger trigger. I had to get rid of him.

 

[ca1ore]

I've kept an emperor on two prior occasions. Both times they were fine with tangs, and observably less aggressive than my purple or Achilles (and less evil than the Sohal lol). Were ok with other Angels as long as introduced last. Fine with damsels, anthias, wrasses, etc. I did always go with a smaller specimen. The one I have in QT is about 5" but already with its adult coloration.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

That sounds like another good option, thanks for the advice. They certainly are stunning enough to make an impression!

 

[FarmerTy]

Emperors are definitely grumpy but so full of character with their audible grunts. Think of an old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn. The kids will give him a wide berth but he'll never really be any harm, at least in my tank.

Majestic is gorgeous but cryptic at times. Likes to stay hidden more than the other angels.

I'm QTing a scribbled right now. Gorgeous fish...never got that off the pictures online but in person, what a stunner. I have no idea his temperament or coral eating tendencies but as long as he doesn't go after my goni collection, he can stay.

Regals are the best as far as temperament and peacefulness. I think they need to be added first. Super shy and not the greatest with competing for food until comfortable. The problem is getting them to eat. Everyone I've gotten has taken up to 6 months before they will eat a full complement of foods. I can usually get them eating one go-to food like pellets or mysis but then it won't recognize anything else as food until 6 months later and then I find they'll eat everything from that point.

Bluefaces are stunning, never had one but from reputation, I trust them least of all with aggressiveness and with corals.

 

[Brautumn]

We have a bali aquarich juvenile annularis and will be our largest angel in the tank once mature. Great personality and flies up to the glass to see us. She is with a flame, coral beauty and we will be adding a flagfin angel also. The angels and our other fish didn't bother when we added her but the juvenile purple tang chased her for a couple days and gave up. We decided against the emporer because they can possibly get aggressive once mature. Also looked at the blue face.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Great feedback!

It's never just an obvious answer, is it lol

 

[lion king]

I have a majestic and flagfin in a 210, they don't bother each other at all. My majestic is out all the time, seems to grow slowly, is a great fish. I had a goldflake die in qt, didn't want to spend another 45o, so went with flagfin 2nd time around. The flagfin has become the show fish in the tank.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Is that flagfin kept with sps? Seems like they pose a greater risk to sps, but idk.

 

[lion king]

Is that flagfin kept with sps? Seems like they pose a greater risk to sps, but idk.

This is a fowlr, for the most part none of these angels will be long term success in a reef. You may find some that have had success, but many times it is short lived and usually when the fish is less mature.

 

[FarmerTy]

This is a fowlr, for the most part none of these angels will be long term success in a reef. You may find some that have had success, but many times it is short lived and usually when the fish is less mature.

Do you just mean the angels you keep in your FOWLR?

Did you run a reef tank before? Which angels did you have issues keeping long-term in a reef tank? What corals did you keep with them? Which angels caused the issues and what were they doing?

 

[lion king]

Do you just mean the angels you keep in your FOWLR?

Did you run a reef tank before? Which angels did you have issues keeping long-term in a reef tank? What corals did you keep with them? Which angels caused the issues and what were they doing?

I have a reef and have kept multiple reefs. I don't keep angels in my reef, nor to I keep triggers(which seems to be another trend). I visit multiple lfs frequently over decades and talk to many reefers. So many instances I can't begin to count, where the angels in their reefs turn to demons. Every angel mentioned in this thread. It easy to see positive post from a newly acquire addition, you'll find the long term very few.

 

[FarmerTy]

I have a reef and have kept multiple reefs. I don't keep angels in my reef, nor to I keep triggers(which seems to be another trend). I visit multiple lfs frequently over decades and talk to many reefers. So many instances I can't begin to count, where the angels in their reefs turn to demons. Every angel mentioned in this thread. It easy to see positive post from a newly acquire addition, you'll find the long term very few.

So not direct experience, but from experiences of other reefers you interact with.

How come you haven't tried any of your angels in your reef tanks? Have you had bad results in the past?

 

[Highgrade]

From my experience you shouldn't have any problems with Angels in a SPS dominant reef. Only thing bad I have experienced with larger Angels is they some times will bump into Acros breaking off pieces or they might make you a frag or two from time to time by nipping the tips of acros. Like my emperor does with some smooth skin acros (which are more delicate anyhow). Also you'll see less polyp extension due to the occasionally nip. With Angels and Acros growth patterns become tighter and more dense with the polyps extending mainly in the inner branches.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

Thanks for all the discussion, it's great!

Angels in a reef are certainly a risk, no doubt about it. How much risk one will tolerate and what lengths one will go to in order to mitigate that risk are choices every reefkeeper makes. What livestock has priority is also an individual choice.

I have kept reef safe only fish in my reef for over 25 years. I am tired of them. I find I now prefer the fish, but dont want a fowlr tank, so I am willing to accept risk of coral eating angels. I am willing to keep only corals these fish will more likely leave alone. I am willing to remove a fish that goes rogue or any coral that ends up on the menu.

There are a lot of long term success stories with angels to go with the failures. A common thread in the success stories is keeping corals that are less likely to be eaten by the fish choosen along with a willingness to remove an individual fish (or coral) that doesn't read the forums to learn what eats what.

A common thread in the failures is keeping an angel with riskier corals such as a favorite acan or a scoly. In that case, the coral has priority and when the fish turns, it is a failure. This feels more like forcing a fish into a system to me, and is a sure fire way to fail.

All just my perspective and opinion, of course.

Still trying to decide on that second angel!