seeking advice on adding a second flame angel to aquarium

[Peter Houde]

Yes, folks, I have read the posts about adding a second angel in this forum, but I'm still curious for opinions based on experience in situations more similar to my own. Let me say from the onset that I am far from determined to risk upsetting my relatively peaceful community - a one spot foxface, a powder brown tang, a "hippo" Paracanthurus tang, a pair of truly enormous and ancient clowns, two yellowtail damselfish (my 15+ yr old just died about two weeks ago), one bicolored dottyback, and one flame angel.

My flame angel is about 1 3/4 inches long. I introduced it into my 125 gallon (2'Wx1.5'Dx6'wide) aquarium 5 months ago. Plenty of coralline algae-encrusted live rock and coral skeletons to disappear into. It's really something to watch the facility with which it darts and weaves through the narrow crevices and branches. In fact, I feared I'd lost my bicolored dottyback when it disappeared for two or more days recently, but I guess it was just hunting in the depths of the rock work. But that's just it, I'd like to see more of the red end of the spectrum of color more consistently, so I've been considering adding something. Everything I've considered is either too big, too aggressive, jumps from tanks, requires more of a sand bed for burrowing than I have to offer (I've got two or more inches of crushed coral, but there's not a lot of open real estate), will eat small motile invertebrates, etc. The options are limited, and in fact there may not be one.

I'd never even considered a second flame angel until I read that it could be done, at least sometimes. After all, a few people have even bred them. I'm not hell-bent on trying this. In fact, I'm very leery of the idea. I'd probably have a difficult time finding someone or somewhere to orphan a fish if I had to remove it (especially one that had been beaten up) - if I could even catch it, which is unlikely. I don't ever want to go through that ordeal again.

So...tell me to forget it. Or, give me some advice. If I were to add another, then maybe should it be just a bit larger than the one I've got (?) Would it be better to add two (?) That was even further from my mind, except that someone on R2R suggested an odd number was better.

I've made a lot of mistakes over the 25+ years that I've had this aquarium. Slowly, I've learned to make fewer. I'd much rather make no more, though I'm sure I will. I'm reaching out to all those of you who can lend advice based on your own years of experience.

Thanks in advance, Peter

 

[KrisReef]

 

[Peter Houde]

So, snake eyes is an unlucky roll?

 

[KrisReef]

They either pair up or you carp out when you toss these dice.
You have to take the roll to find out the outcome.

 

[davidcalgary29]

I don't see a problem with your plan as long as you've got somewhere to put the second flame if they don't pair up.

If you want a flash of red in your tank without the worry, though, I'd get a female Lubbock's fairy wrasse. They're lovely fish that won't cause any aggression issues, and will likely turn male in time.

 

[magic23]

Shouldn't be a problem as long as the one you want to add is smaller than the established one. I did it twice.

 

[Zionas]

Normally I’d say a 1.75” Flame is still pretty small and therefore likely still a female, so adding a second one given enough space and hiding spots may well turn into a pair. However, since your tank is only 2’ long, I don’t think it’s enough for two.

 

[Peter Houde]

I don't see a problem with your plan as long as you've got somewhere to put the second flame if they don't pair up.

If you want a flash of red in your tank without the worry, though, I'd get a female Lubbock's fairy wrasse. They're lovely fish that won't cause any aggression issues, and will likely turn male in time.

The fairy wrasse is a beautiful fish, to be sure. I'd have to reinstall a lid on the tank since they're reputably jumpers. It's been convenient not having a lid on one side so I can replenish nori twice a day without taking off the canopy and lights (hard to explain, but I have a very large wood carving on top of it all). That could be overcome if I customized the lid with a sealable port.Do you think the similarity of color, shape, and size would draw the ire of the dottyback?

 

[davidcalgary29]

The fairy wrasse is a beautiful fish, to be sure. I'd have to reinstall a lid on the tank since they're reputably jumpers. It's been convenient not having a lid on one side so I can replenish nori twice a day without taking off the canopy and lights (hard to explain, but I have a very large wood carving on top of it all). That could be overcome if I customized the lid with a sealable port.Do you think the similarity of color, shape, and size would draw the ire of the dottyback?

Anything can draw the ire of a bicolor dottyback. The Lubbock's fairy wrasse doesn't really look like it at all, but those particular dottybacks can be unpredictably aggressive.

 

[Timfish]

a second problem that I've seen with a pair of dwarf angels is they can get very aggressive when they start breeding and may try to take out all the other tankmates.