Flame Angels! to get or to skip...

[TheWhiteFord]

First I must say, Every fish is different. In my option it is taking a chance. My first flame angel didn't touch any of my coral. My second one picked on all of my sps and nearly killed my Jr. Rainbow Monti. It is a hit or miss, good luck

 

[Whipples]

Thanks everyone for chiming in. Seems like it could be a gamble either way? The wrasse or the angel. I was thinking the more potent sting of a euphyllia would be enough of a deterrent compared to acans/other softies, but I didn't think they would go after SPS. More to think.

As always, thanks everyone for your input and stories!

 

[Hipertec]

I have a flame angel in my softies and LPS 50G Cube for about 4 months and no problem at all. Just keep your fishes well fed.
Are you guys buying the BOGO Algaebarn 5280 and OceanMagik packs? I wanted to reseed my pods in my refugium so wondering if this is a good deal?

 

[Whipples]

I did the BOGO kit, comes in on Saturday. I will post an update if y'all are interested?

 

[4FordFamily]

I think they're worth all of the risk for their personality and beauty. But I also keep only cheap coral.

 

[Whipples]

Do you have some pics of yours 4Ford?

 

[ebeez]

I have a flame angel as well... no aggression to speak of. I only have 1 purple candelabra and it does not go near it.

 

[Elleuckyreefs]

There will ALWAYS be a chance that a dwarf angel will nip. They are constantly picking at the rock and will eventually nip something tasty. For the most part they are eating the slime that the coral or clam is extruding and that can stress it out until it's demise. Every flame I've ever tried has gone straight for the fuzzy sps like birdsnests, milles, and poccilipora then eventually my clams. If your tank size will allow it look into geniacanthus angel species. Mostly plankton eaters so reef safe.

 

[Whipples]

Great suggestion Elleuckyreefs unfortunately my tank isn't quite big enough. I run a 40 breeder which was where the appeal for a flame angel came from. Thank you though.

 

[edosan]

Is a beautilfull fish but I regret to put it in my DT, so far no harm done but polyp contraction due nipping searching for copepods probably. I am thinking an efective way to cach it soon.

It all depends of what is your priority, fishes or corals. For me, there is nothing like full polyp extention on sps, so flame angel must go (to another tank)

 

[waxhawreefer]

I have both a coral beauty and flame angel in my 55, both fine too beautiful not to have, only the strong can survive in my tank, only feed twice a day at night- no problems!!

 

[cnorris06]

Hi Folks,

So I've been doing a fair amount of reading on flame angels and I know at this point that they are considered "with caution" for a tank with corals. The majority of the threads I came across seemed to indicate the fleshier corals like acans, mushrooms, etc., were the most likely victims of flame angel nipping.

With that said, I am planning on a euphyllia dominated tank (torches and hammers) and was curious if any of you had experience with flame angels and these kinds of corals and if they were problematic?

Thanks!

I've had my flame angel for almost 2 years in a tank a tank with other semi aggressive fish and have had no problems whatsoever. I've have torch, green hammer, Duncan, 3 small colonies of zoa and many more fleshy corals and she's not bothered them once. I feed her a little twice a day, pellets in the morning and something frozen in the afternoon so she never really gets to the point to where she's hungry for corals.

 

[Bdog4u2]

Try a Six Line Wrasse! Cheap, small (little bio-load), easy to keep, and beneficial to reef tanks for pest control with LOTS of energy.

It line wrasses can be terrors and I mean terrors. I'd get a melanurus wrasse they are more peaceful. coral beauty angelfish re less prone to nipping corals and if you look around our can find some nice ones. mine has hardly any orange and even after 10 years she still glows.

 

[Beekeep]

I have had my flame angel in my reef tank for over 2 years. I have never seen him touch a coral and I am a lps guy. When it Comes to aggressiveness he is boss of the tank! but I have never had a fish get bullied to death so I think he basically keeps everyone in there place including my powder blue. I recently added a baby black cap about 1 inch long and he quickly let her know what the program was. She found her self a nice little cave and he lets her have her space.
This is my experience with only this one particular fish.

 

[Whipples]

Thanks again for all the stories folks. It really seems like a gamble, but i like seeing that it paid off for some. Like I said I am looking for some sort of active/colorful addition since my clowns just chill in the back under the overflow. I suppose that is where they are being hosted, no issues getting them to eat (total pigs!) and they swim all up and down that corner area, just never more than 6" in either direction of the overflow box.

 

[gus_sb]

Hola, yo tengo un ángel flama desde hace Seis años en mi reef y no he tenido problema con mis corales, es un poco territorial pero se acostumbra a los nuevos inquilinos que he ingresado a mi tanke, para mi es un pez muy hermoso y uno de los pocos angeles que pueden estar en un reef, saludos desde Puebla, Mexico

 

[reiters]

I added a flame angel to my 180g and he started by decimating my green and purple stylos then moved to destroying my softball sized pink acro. There was no chance of catching him. Everything was well fed but he kept munching. About 2 days after he finished off all my SPS I found him belly up at the bottom. On the other hand, I have had a coral beauty for much longer and he almost looks offended when he accidentally nips a coral. He loves to pick at the rocks but if he gets a coral, he bolts away.

 

[PJ2]

I recently got a coral beauty in my reef tank. He's pretty tame for the most part but he does go for the algae on the red gargonians which doesn't allow them to fully extend their polyps. At least he keeps em' clean.

 

[Whipples]

I have a fortunate situation where algae is not prolific in my tank. Would that impact the health of a dwarf angel in general, assuming I feed it 2-3x per day?

 

[ReefersDirect Verified Sponsor]

Most Flames will eventually develop a taste for your most expensive corals(never the cheap ones LOL) they're gorgeous fish but if you intend to keep a really nice reef I just wouldn't chance it.
Removing a fish that knows the ins and outs of your aquarium is not a fun time, regardless of how much experience you have.
Depending on the size of your aquarium, why don't you try a Bellus angel? I've had several throughout the years and they have always been model citizens. When they transition to males they look much more interesting.