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!
