Would you risk it?
- Thread starter Miami Reef
- Start date
- Tagged users None
MURedhawk
Community Member
Flame angel, Coral beauty, Bellus Angel pair, one spot Fox Face over the years and no problems with corals - LPS mostly with some soft corals.
I have always wanted to try a small puffer, but have been afraid that they would eat corals.
Anyone have puffers that have done well?
I have always wanted to try a small puffer, but have been afraid that they would eat corals.
Anyone have puffers that have done well?
BigRedReefer MT
Active Member
My majestic angel avoids my lps and sps corals like they are the plague. He is an upstanding citizen. That said, I feed a home brew of oysters, clams, mussels, shrimp, scallops, mysis , brine, blood worms and a mix of green and red algae.
SighKenny
Active Member
the sad part is youre right lol they literally can and potentially will eat soft and hard corals
U
User1
Guest
I interview them. No seriously, I do...
Just kidding. Have a plan. Then have a back up plan. Plan includes the ecosystem you are trying to create. Read up and learn about the stocking plans be it corals, clean up crew, fish, etc. Now you have an idea of what may happen if you introduce anything from the list. To put this into perspective although on a different scale I do interview the breeders when I buy my German Shepherds just like they interview me. We both need to understand the drive in the dog and the home it is going into.
We can't interview the fish so we read and ask questions and watch videos and maybe watch in the wild if we are scuba divers, etc. Then we ask ourself what is the plan, do we have a plan B back out, etc. Then go from there.
I have a Coral Beauty. Picked it up very small. Overall been a pretty solid fish as it grew up in my 40 breeder. Last year I upgraded and it moved to a 210. Still a pretty solid fish compared to some of the horror stories I've read about them. Similar to an Azure and Talbot damsel I've kept. Anyway this Coral Beauty has a thing for Zoa's. I thought maybe it was the color. Nope. Tried another frag and it went through those. I'm thinking ok, pretty sure it has a thing for them. Let it be for a couple months and now added in a Scopus and Lavender tang.
Added another Zoa frag, larger colony this time and guess what. Darn Coral Beauty went to it like a moth to a flame. Not only that he called over his two buddies - Scopus and Lavender - and they all proceeded to eat said Zoa's like they are skittles.
Worth the risk - yes. If that is all it touches well worth the color, size, and flash of light it generates. I'm not a huge Zoa fan anyway but it does mean I have to adjust some rocks I planned to have covered with them. I'll continue to try but more or less have given up.
Not sure if this helps but sometimes "would you risk it" is all we have to go on because we really can't ask them.
Just kidding. Have a plan. Then have a back up plan. Plan includes the ecosystem you are trying to create. Read up and learn about the stocking plans be it corals, clean up crew, fish, etc. Now you have an idea of what may happen if you introduce anything from the list. To put this into perspective although on a different scale I do interview the breeders when I buy my German Shepherds just like they interview me. We both need to understand the drive in the dog and the home it is going into.
We can't interview the fish so we read and ask questions and watch videos and maybe watch in the wild if we are scuba divers, etc. Then we ask ourself what is the plan, do we have a plan B back out, etc. Then go from there.
I have a Coral Beauty. Picked it up very small. Overall been a pretty solid fish as it grew up in my 40 breeder. Last year I upgraded and it moved to a 210. Still a pretty solid fish compared to some of the horror stories I've read about them. Similar to an Azure and Talbot damsel I've kept. Anyway this Coral Beauty has a thing for Zoa's. I thought maybe it was the color. Nope. Tried another frag and it went through those. I'm thinking ok, pretty sure it has a thing for them. Let it be for a couple months and now added in a Scopus and Lavender tang.
Added another Zoa frag, larger colony this time and guess what. Darn Coral Beauty went to it like a moth to a flame. Not only that he called over his two buddies - Scopus and Lavender - and they all proceeded to eat said Zoa's like they are skittles.
Worth the risk - yes. If that is all it touches well worth the color, size, and flash of light it generates. I'm not a huge Zoa fan anyway but it does mean I have to adjust some rocks I planned to have covered with them. I'll continue to try but more or less have given up.
Not sure if this helps but sometimes "would you risk it" is all we have to go on because we really can't ask them.
Reefer40b
Valuable Member
This is so true my purple tang eats xenia and my yellow tang for whatever reason loves to eat the tops of my foxflame off. I have a copperband that occasionally eats a head of acan and I have a goldflake angel that chows down on some zoas, pretty expected though on this one.. All these fish are fed well and my purple tang has to be 3/4" thick!
Reefpuck
Well-Known Member
Every angelfish is different...no straight forward answer.
If you're buying $500 indo torches and $200/polyp zoas...probably not a good idea. But if you're buying run of the mill basic LPS/softies...take a chance and see how it goes. You might regret putting an angel in your tank...but then again at least you'll know.
If you're buying $500 indo torches and $200/polyp zoas...probably not a good idea. But if you're buying run of the mill basic LPS/softies...take a chance and see how it goes. You might regret putting an angel in your tank...but then again at least you'll know.
RtomKinMad
Well-Known Member
For what it is worth, I have a coral beauty in my LPS and softie tank and it doesn’t keep anything but my LFS owner will not sell me acans because he said the angel will eat those! We have had the coral beauty for 5 years. We also added an annularis three years ago and it also does not eat the corals. We have a Valentini puffer and red corris wrasse is the same tank and they just eats snails. We did have some SPS and that was safe from the angels. I would try it but I do not spend as much on coral as I do on fish so my experience is limited but I do keep angels. We had a swallowtail in our smaller reef also does not eat color. Good luck to you and hope you try one!
Wow, that's crazy. The purple we had was a model citizen for over 10 years. Goes to show any fish can turn on a coral. Had one flame angel go nuts in the reef while 2 others and a coral beauty were just fine.
OP
OP
Miami Reef
10K Club Member
So many great responses! Thanks!
as I expected, there seems to be some people that has great experiences, and some with not.
for now, I’m going to chose to avoid them. I don’t buy expensive corals, just the cheaper ones because my I personally find they look great, and because my tank is so large, that it would take so much $ to fully stock it. It’s still bare in some places even with all that I’ve stocked.
anyway, my main reason for NOT getting them is because once I add a fish in the tank, it’s there for life. The tank is a deep 300 gallon with a huge rock work. There’s no way to remove the fish without removing all the rocks, corals, and almost all the water too.
Thanks for the replies!
as I expected, there seems to be some people that has great experiences, and some with not.
for now, I’m going to chose to avoid them. I don’t buy expensive corals, just the cheaper ones because my I personally find they look great, and because my tank is so large, that it would take so much $ to fully stock it. It’s still bare in some places even with all that I’ve stocked.
anyway, my main reason for NOT getting them is because once I add a fish in the tank, it’s there for life. The tank is a deep 300 gallon with a huge rock work. There’s no way to remove the fish without removing all the rocks, corals, and almost all the water too.
Thanks for the replies!
doodledreads
Well-Known Member
Its not always a given, we do not know everything about these fish and it is true that they are individuals. I used to hate onions when I was a kid and avoided them like they are the plague, until I had the blooming onion.
Even a fish we consider perfectly reef safe - a tail spot blenny went to town on a xmas montipora, scrapped all its green skin in my tank, probably because there was not much algae in the tank.
Even a fish we consider perfectly reef safe - a tail spot blenny went to town on a xmas montipora, scrapped all its green skin in my tank, probably because there was not much algae in the tank.
mattzang
2500 Club Member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2017
- Messages
- 3,518
- Reaction score
- 2,854
It all depends on what you value and what your focus is. I'm more of a fish guy and love the colors and activity that my Coral Beauty brings to the tank. Part of it is that I am also a person who only buys cheap single or maybe double head frags and lets them grow out over time which keeps the costs down considerably so it's less of a risk. All depends on your circumstances though. My Coral Beauty has been a near model citizen.
This is me risking it for a Yellow Belly Regal Angel: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/new-to-me-yellow-belly-regal-angel-and-have-questions.649417/
Since I got it eating LRS Fish Frenzy, I have not seen him do damage to the zoas. In fact, most of the larger colonies of zoas that he munched on for the first week or so, are coming back. Too bad my WWC Superstar at $30-50/polyp only had 3 polyps which he completely cleaned out. Have not seen him nip on the torches since the first day and that has recovered.
I would say go for it and keep it fed.
Since I got it eating LRS Fish Frenzy, I have not seen him do damage to the zoas. In fact, most of the larger colonies of zoas that he munched on for the first week or so, are coming back. Too bad my WWC Superstar at $30-50/polyp only had 3 polyps which he completely cleaned out. Have not seen him nip on the torches since the first day and that has recovered.
I would say go for it and keep it fed.
OP
OP
Miami Reef
10K Club Member
You guys changed my mind! I’m going to get traps in case it doesn’t work.
but let me ask you something. Are the risks with flame angels and regal angels the same? I personally want the regal, but if there’s more of a risk with them then I’ll go with the flame. I only have soft and lps corals.
but let me ask you something. Are the risks with flame angels and regal angels the same? I personally want the regal, but if there’s more of a risk with them then I’ll go with the flame. I only have soft and lps corals.
