Did I make a mistake buying this fish?

[OrionN]

I keep Flame angels harem and never have problem with them picking at coral significantly. Everything grow well and nothing died because of them. They are so beautiful and active. I never consider keeping a reasonably larger tank 65 gal plus tank without them.

 

[Jholli90]

So I’m 2 months away from setting up my DT but my QT is ready so I figured I’d start the livestock processing early. My plan is a mixed reef that’s LPS dominant. I went the the best LFS around and they sold me an Eibli Angel. He’s beautiful but after reading(which I should have done first) it seems like he’s the wrong fish for my tank. Did I buy the wrong fish? They said he’d be fine but I’ve got a feeling he won’t. My 2 year old son already named him, T. That’s pronounced Tah like the sound the letter T makes, ha!

He is an angel, so it will be prone to nip at the coral, 50/50 shot. I had a swallowtail angel, which is supposed to be the only reef safe angel. I loved it. Very active, peaceful and beautiful. Also, with any angel or tang, you want to add them last Because they will become a tank bully, and may harass or kill anything you put in after it.

 

[OrionN]

I think most people are so pessimistic regarding angles in a reef tank regarding their aggressiveness and tendency to pick on corals. It really depends on a variety of things, most important of which are tank size, how well you feed them, what corals and specifically which species of angels.
How big is your tank? Make sure you feed them well.
Eibli Angel are really just a middling, not anywhere near as bad as some of the angels like a Nox, the worst IME.
Good luck with him. You are stuck. With your son already named him, there is no way you can send him back.

 

[erk]

I think the question you have to ask yourself is what is more important to you. If the angel starts to nip at corals, will you remove the fish or the corals?

I have a coral beauty in my tank. Been with me a year, I think. I lose track of these things. If the coral beauty starts to mow down the corals, I'll just get rid of the corals and try to find corals it wont eat. Same for the matted file fish. Same for every fish in my tank. My fish are more important to me than the corals. I also tend to avoid corals and inverts that I know could end up on the menu. This is why I haven't kept a clam or meaty coral. Not worth the risk killing an animal just because of an obsession to collect corals.

 

[Sailfinguy21]

Wvery fish is different. I have a really big fat coral beauty and adult size bi color angel in my 135 and i have 3 bubble corala. A torch.. frogspawns.. and other sps and so forth about 40 corals and they dont even look at the corals.

I also have a clam as well. They dont even look at it. Keep your fish fed well and i dont think itll happen.

Before a friend watching my then 55g hexagon reef killed my flame angel.. i had that flame angel for like 4 months in my reef with 20 different corals.. lps sps leather.. the flame angel didnt touch anything.


In fact the only nipping fish i have is a velvet damsel.. that ******* will go to any new frsg i get or if i move an existing frag.. hell go to it and nip at it a few times.. but then hell leave it alone.


Now one fish i have seen devour corals was a butterfly fish.. i forgot which kind it was not the yellow or copper band but one that looked like a copperband. That thing completetly destroyed a 50$ frag of a green planet acropora

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

Depends on what corals and inverts you plan on keeping. I have had a coral beauty and flame angel and they never bothered any of my corals or snails. If you do plan on keeping it i would suggest feeding meaty foods just to be on the safe side.

That's encouraging! Thanks!

Beautiful fish.
Dwarf angels are always a gamble.
Some leave all corals alone, others are constantly nipping.
Even within the same species.
I had a Coral Beauty that I had to take back because it was constantly picking at LPS and clams.
I have a different one in another tank that never bothers any corals at all.

Thanks, I really dig him. Hopefully I'll be one of the lucky few.

I had a similar angel. - it depends. In my case it was the flat corals - like scolys - and it was only one - they are individual. I did not see it as an "LPS mower downer". Hope it works out ok. (My guess is that it may very well)

I no where near the point of picking out corals so I'll keep that into consideration.

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

I would keep it and stick some corals in your quarantine tank with it and see if its gonna be a problem or not. If it goes right for the corals relentlessly then it will be much easier to catch, if it ignores them then it will work out fine in the dt. I have a Clown, Sargassum and Assasi triggers in my dt stocked full of all kinds of corals and have no issues with the triggers munching corals.

This is an awesome idea, I love this forum! Can I put an LPS in my QT without any kind of elevated calcium levels? This will be my first mixed reef so coral care is very new to me. Thanks!

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

Beautiful fish. You can always do a FOWLR and if the tanks is large enough get a few more angels and butterflies :) I personally feel like kids tend to enjoy the fish more then the corals.

My previous "larger" tank was a FOWLR and 20 years ago. I'm ready for the mixed reef now.

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

I have the same 3 angels with the same results. One thing I noticed is that if I buy Corals with heavy green color that attracts them more than the other colors.

That's really interesting. I'll be watching is there are certain colors that that get menu priority if any at all.

I think the question you have to ask yourself is what is more important to you. If the angel starts to nip at corals, will you remove the fish or the corals?

I have a coral beauty in my tank. Been with me a year, I think. I lose track of these things. If the coral beauty starts to mow down the corals, I'll just get rid of the corals and try to find corals it wont eat. Same for the matted file fish. Same for every fish in my tank. My fish are more important to me than the corals. I also tend to avoid corals and inverts that I know could end up on the menu. This is why I haven't kept a clam or meaty coral. Not worth the risk killing an animal just because of an obsession to collect corals.

The fish will be the subject of my tank and the corals will be more of the backdrop. So I think this might be the approach that I'll take. Thanks!

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

I think most people are so pessimistic regarding angles in a reef tank regarding their aggressiveness and tendency to pick on corals. It really depends on a variety of things, most important of which are tank size, how well you feed them, what corals and specifically which species of angels.
How big is your tank? Make sure you feed them well.
Eibli Angel are really just a middling, not anywhere near as bad as some of the angels like a Nox, the worst IME.
Good luck with him. You are stuck. With your son already named him, there is no way you can send him back.

He'll be going into a 90 gallon. One a fish is named a sound, he can never go back, ha!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Dwarfs are reef safe caution although I have never had a dwarf other than Potters angel that bothered coral.

 

[mort]

This is an awesome idea, I love this forum! Can I put an LPS in my QT without any kind of elevated calcium levels? This will be my first mixed reef so coral care is very new to me. Thanks!

The calcium levels don't need to be elevated, just normal sea levels, as you are temporarily housing the coral. Whilst I agree this could be useful I would also suggest that it might not tell you much as a single coral in a bare qt is naturally going to get picked on more than if it was part of a larger reef system.
When we add new corals to our tanks then the inhabitants investigate them, for angels this is similar to a puppy who test with their teeth. If we add a coral to a tank already full of corals or rockwork then it's less likely to get picked on. This is why general advise is to add the angel after the tank is stocked, so it's going into a unknown environment rather than thinking the new coral you added is a snack. I believe this is why some people have such bad experiences with angels because they add them at the wrong time, as well as the differing opinions on how much nipping is a problem.

 

[roberthu526]

Just don’t keep any acan or candy cane or any of the flashy corals and you will be fine. I have a full tank of angels with hammers, frogspawn and Duncan’s and they do just fine

 

[jsvand5]

If you are going LPS dominate I wouldn’t try it. LPS are definitely the least safe type of coral with angels IME.

 

[Scotty Buttons]

This usually goes without saying, but if you've used any copper or medications in your QT don't put any coral in there. Good luck with the angel he is pretty.

 

[Steve Fast]

you have a wonderful opportunity to condition it to eat while in QT. If you feed it good meaty foods such as chopped scallops, shrimp, and clams, it will be accustom to them. So then when your DT is ready, it may not be interested in anything else. My Eibli and 6 other species are so gluttonous on scallops, shrimp, clams on the half shell and nori, I've never witnessed them going after coral...

 

[artieg1]

Voice of experience here. Maybe you get lucky. Maybe if your tank is STUFFED TO THE GILLS with coral, a little eibli angel won't make a dent. But yeah, it is almost certainly going to spend 14 hours a day tasting everything in the tank.

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

you have a wonderful opportunity to condition it to eat while in QT. If you feed it good meaty foods such as chopped scallops, shrimp, and clams, it will be accustom to them. So then when your DT is ready, it may not be interested in anything else. My Eibli and 6 other species are so gluttonous on scallops, shrimp, clams on the half shell and nori, I've never witnessed them going after coral...

Which foods do you like? I’ve had him since Saturday night and he’s looking super healthy and eating a ton of frozen food. I ordered Hikari Marine A Pellets that should be arriving soon. I’ll post which frozen food when I get back to my shop tomorrow.

Thanks!

 

[Yvonne Wong]

I had a beautiful flame angel that nip at my chalices, had to tear the tank down to catch it. I wouldn’t risk it if you want LPS.

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

I've been feeding him San Francisco Bay Brand Multi-Pack. So far he really digs it.