Coral beauty tank size

velvetelvis · Dec 25, 2018

My first post. Hi! *waves*

I keep hearing conflicting things about tank sizes for coral beauties. I messaged Biota, whose CBs I'm looking at, and they say that a CB (added as a baby--even 2) would be fine in my tank. The owner of my LFS, who's very honest and won't hesitate to tell people no if she thinks something won't work, thinks a CB would be fine in my tank. Other sources say at least 30 gallons. Others say 70.

How big do these guys typically get in captivity?

For the record, my tank is 50G, 24" x 24" x 20". Lots of rockwork. The angel(s) would be the only fish in the tank.

I'd love an angelfish, but I'm sticking to captive-bred livestock, so that rules out any other species like cherubs or flamebacks.

EmdeReef · Dec 25, 2018

Welcome to R2R!

50 should be ok as long as there aren’t other angels it would fight with. They usually reach 3” IME but can grow to ~4.

Jesterrace · Dec 25, 2018

The problem I see is that Dwarf Angels really prefer to have at least a 4 foot long running space to be happy long term. There are some who have success with them in tanks as small as a 32 gallon Biocube, but I would say 4 foot long or larger for best chances of long term success. I have a regular Coral Beauty in my 90 gallon and it definitely makes use of the horizontal space. *EDIT* I just saw that it would be the only fish in your tank. He should be fine in that case since he won't have any other fish to fight with. Just be aware that if you change your mind and want to add other fish you will probably need to remove it (they can be really mean to new additions once established in smaller tanks). Here is a review of mine:

AbnormalReefer · Dec 25, 2018

I’ve kept a coral beauty in a 20 gallon before. It was happy; no nipping of corals, frantic pacing, or any other unusual behaviors. But then again, I kept 5 fish, an ocellaris clown pair, a bangaii cardinal, the coral beauty, and a watchman goby in that tiny tank, so take my advice with a grain of sand.

PS - In summary, I do not recommend it; but it can be done.