Emperor in in a 70gal reef tank.

Christopher Tracy · May 8, 2016

A little advise....... I recently purchased a juvenile Emperor Angel for my 70 gal reef tank. I bought him with the ide that I would be transferring him into a larger 140 gal tank within the year. My local fish guy expert has told me that I should get him out of my tank asap as he will eat up my corals. He has been in the tank a for about a week and he has been pretty good I see no signs of him bothering my corals. I did noticed he ate some sponge off one of my feather dusters(not a bad thing in my mind).

What do you guys think?

dmh41532 · May 8, 2016

My understanding is that these angels will eat coral.

jdl513 · May 8, 2016

Zoas, fleshy LPS, anemones most likely on the menu. SPS. leathers, mushrooms should be okay. That said each is an individual.

sawdonkey · May 8, 2016

jdl513 said:
Zoas, fleshy LPS, anemones most likely on the menu. SPS. leathers, mushrooms should be okay. That said each is an individual.

I agree with this and have an 8 incher in my tank. He will eat the flesh off a chalice, nip the tips off of a nem, and mow down a gsp lawn. He never touches shroom, torches, or hammers. He does however trim the tips off of my acros, but doesn't really eat them.

Your fish will be much too large for your tank in no time.

Salty1962 · May 9, 2016

sawdonkey said:
I agree with this and have an 8 incher in my tank. He will eat the flesh off a chalice, nip the tips off of a nem, and mow down a gsp lawn. He never touches shroom, torches, or hammers. He does however trim the tips off of my acros, but doesn't really eat them.

Your fish will be much too large for your tank in no time.

Very nice tank!

eatbreakfast · May 9, 2016

A lot of corals will be in their diet. At this size a 70 will be fine, but it will quickly outgrow the tank.

Christopher Tracy · May 9, 2016

jdl513 said:
Zoas, fleshy LPS, anemones most likely on the menu. SPS. leathers, mushrooms should be okay. That said each is an individual.

Anemones????? I have a beautiful one that just recently started hiding in the back of the tank. Could it be hiding from the Emperor?

Christopher Tracy · May 10, 2016

Well I got rid of my Emperor. I also got rid of the aggressive monster domino. Now I find to reef friendly fish. Any suggestions? Something as beautiful as the Emperor.

Christopher Tracy · May 10, 2016

Well I got rid of my Emperor. I also got rid of the aggressive monster domino. Now I find to reef friendly fish. Any suggestions? Something as beautiful as the Emperor.

elishapep · May 10, 2016

If you want to stay with the Angels .. The dwarf s are your best bet however a regal is a nice large angel Great color and generally reef safe .. I say that with caution as angels can be hit or miss ..

David Jones · May 10, 2016

sawdonkey said:
I agree with this and have an 8 incher in my tank. He will eat the flesh off a chalice, nip the tips off of a nem, and mow down a gsp lawn. He never touches shroom, torches, or hammers. He does however trim the tips off of my acros, but doesn't really eat them.

Your fish will be much too large for your tank in no time.

If he is ok with switch out those same species of fish for smaller juvenile versions , would that be ok because i was thinking about doing the same thing

David Jones · May 10, 2016

Very nice tank by the way i love your selection of fish

eatbreakfast · May 11, 2016

Christopher Tracy said:
Well I got rid of my Emperor. I also got rid of the aggressive monster domino. Now I find to reef friendly fish. Any suggestions? Something as beautiful as the Emperor.

Flasher and many species of fairy wrasses would be great for that tank. Small species of Halichoeres wrasses, dartfish, purple tilefish, midas blenny, grammistes blenny,royal gramma are all a few options.

Dwarf angels are hit and miss as far as nipping corals. Regal angels definitely eat corals. Fleshy LPS, chalices, and zoas are particularly susceptible.

dmh41532 · May 11, 2016

We have a coral beauty on our 65, knock on wood, it shows no interest in coral. I also feed it several times through out the day.

Christopher Tracy · May 11, 2016

dmh41532 said:
We have a coral beauty on our 65, knock on wood, it shows no interest in coral. I also feed it several times through out the day.

I had a awesome Coral Beauty for about 9 months.....I think my Domino Damsel was bullying her and he started to hide in the back...soon after she died.

Run4Fun · May 11, 2016

I've heard great things about the Spotbreast Angel. Supposedly reef safe and peaceful. I don't have one, but it's on my list.

eatbreakfast · May 11, 2016

Run4Fun said:
I've heard great things about the Spotbreast Angel. Supposedly reef safe and peaceful. I don't have one, but it's on my list.

The entire genus is reefsafe.

Christopher Tracy · May 13, 2016

I decided to go with a Flame Dwarf Angel. I have been in love with this fish since I entered this hobby. I have read that they are hit and miss when it comes to nipping at corals. I am hoping the key is keeping him well fed
.

Christopher Tracy · May 14, 2016

adding a Mandarin tonight

Bdog4u2 · May 15, 2016

I kept my mandarin in a breeder net the first few weeks to train it to eat out of a feeding station i made i got it to eat gut loaded brine shrimp and cyclops and it was fat after a year but my six line got bigger and murdered it.