Genicanthus Angels: The True Reef-Safe Angels, Part 1

Amps Reef Life · Dec 26, 2018

Awesome Write-up and thank you for sharing. Great photos too! I have always loved this fish.

Fishnut · Dec 27, 2018

Thank you for the fine article and photos. Looking forward to part 2. I have been keeping marine fish for 50 years and never tried these angels. Thanks to your article I am going to make room for one in my tank.

Neptune 555 · Jan 4, 2019

Thank you for the article! I am investigating what angel to place in my 180 gallon reef upgrade. When I am looking at angels how can I be sure they are in the right family to be the most reef friendly? On LiveAquaria The emperor angel is easy to identify as correct b/c it says family Pomacathus. BUT the Queen Angel is listed in family Holacanthus. I ask b/c as I go to the LFS I want to be sure I get the right angel.

Can I assume that all angels in family Pamacanthus or Holacanthus is reef safe/safer.

Thanks!
Neptune

fabutahoun · Jan 4, 2019

Neptune 555 said:
Thank you for the article! I am investigating what angel to place in my 180 gallon reef upgrade. When I am looking at angels how can I be sure they are in the right family to be the most reef friendly? On LiveAquaria The emperor angel is easy to identify as correct b/c it says family Pomacathus. BUT the Queen Angel is listed in family Holacanthus. I ask b/c as I go to the LFS I want to be sure I get the right angel.

Can I assume that all angels in family Pamacanthus or Holacanthus is reef safe/safer.

Thanks!
Neptune

Angelfish family have 8 genera:
Apolemichthys, Centropyge, Chaetodontoplus, Holacanthus, Paracentropyge, Pomacanthus, Pygoplites and Genicanthus, only Genicanthus angels -which are mention in this article- are reef safe . however you can keep some of the other angels in a reef but with caution and care. usually they will eat some corals and leave the others, or nip on everything. and some individuals will behave and other will me a total nightmare.

If you are going to add an angel other than Genicanthus you should be careful and research and see how it is behaving in aquariums kept by other reefers.

Neptune 555 · Jan 4, 2019

In your article, you mention in your 180 you have 3 swallow tails and an emperor angelfish with tangs... How is the behavior of the emperor angelfish to coral / invertebrates / other fish? How big and old is your emperor angel? I am really interested in adding an emperor angelfish in my upgraded new 180 tank when ready... my tank is more dedicated to fish then coral but I do want soft coral as I love the flow.... I also have blue / yellow tang.

thanks!!

fabutahoun · Jan 4, 2019

My emperor is more than 2 years old , it eats zoas and acans but leave everything else. I got it as a small juvenile. you can check my other article for more details

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/emperor-angel-journey-from-juvenile-to-adult.509/

CMO · Jan 26, 2019

So what generally determines which fish will turn male? I thought I had read that typically the most dominant fish would become the male but I'm experiencing the exact opposite. My Wantanabie angle originally introduced male has turned female and my Bellus female is now turning male. Interestingly, my Wantanabie is much larger and by far the most dominant fish in my entire system while the Bellus is among the most passive. Does this make sense or is sex change more random with genicanthus?

fabutahoun · Jan 26, 2019

CMO said:
So what generally determines which fish will turn male? I thought I had read that typically the most dominant fish would become the male but I'm experiencing the exact opposite. My Wantanabie angle originally introduced male has turned female and my Bellus female is now turning male. Interestingly, my Wantanabie is much larger and by far the most dominant fish in my entire system while the Bellus is among the most passive. Does this make sense or is sex change more random with genicanthus?

It is reported by many that male Genicanthus can change back to female in case of introducing another male or a dominant large female, but This case is interesting, usually the larger and more dominant fish will be the male.

Comparing maximum sizes for both fish, Wantanabie is the smallest memeber of the genus. And bellus will have a little lrager maximum size. So maybe this related somehow.

Nathanemmerich · Apr 12, 2019

I read this article and bought a Lamarck angel. It is not reef safe at all. It ate a ton of lps. Sits there munching the tissue off the skeleton.

fabutahoun · Apr 12, 2019

Nathanemmerich said:
I read this article and bought a Lamarck angel. It is not reef safe at all. It ate a ton of lps. Sits there munching the tissue off the skeleton.

Sorry To hear that, I kept Lamarck angel for years , and I know many reefers who are keeping them without any issues. I had an incident a while ago, where a gorilla crab was killing a coral , and the Lamarck was picking the dead tissue. when I removed the crab and there where no dead tissue anymore the Lamarck stopped.

Are You sure that there is nothing else killing or stressing your coral? if you are sure its the Lamarck then remove the fish.

Nathanemmerich · Apr 12, 2019

fabutahoun said:
Sorry To hear that, I kept Lamarck angel for years , and I know many reefers who are keeping them without any issues. I had an incident a while ago, where a gorilla crab was killing a coral , and the Lamarck was picking the dead tissue. when I removed the crab and there where no dead tissue anymore the Lamarck stopped.

Are You sure that there is nothing else killing or stressing your coral? if you are sure its the Lamarck then remove the fish.

I’m am certain it’s the Lamarck. I can watch him doing it. I’m picking up a fish trap this weekend.

wesman42 · Apr 12, 2019

Nathanemmerich said:
I’m am certain it’s the Lamarck. I can watch him doing it. I’m picking up a fish trap this weekend.

Best of luck!

Nathanemmerich · Apr 13, 2019

wesman42 said:
Best of luck!

Thanks. I caught her by filling a water jug with her favorite coral frags. When she went in to eat them I closed the lid.

My advice, think twice on these angels if you have cyphastrea.

PhilT · Mar 5, 2020

I have a female wattenabei now. Got maybe 6 months ago, she was about size of a quarter. Now about 2.5”. Doesn’t bother any wrasse, copperband or anyone else.

wondering if I ever find a male, how is the chance she will accept him without major fighting? I assume the male will be bigger. Tank is a 425 reefer, lots of rock.

fabutahoun · Mar 6, 2020

PhilT said:
I have a female wattenabei now. Got maybe 6 months ago, she was about size of a quarter. Now about 2.5”. Doesn’t bother any wrasse, copperband or anyone else.

wondering if I ever find a male, how is the chance she will accept him without major fighting? I assume the male will be bigger. Tank is a 425 reefer, lots of rock.

If the female you already have is still small, most likely there will be no issues. The possibility of fights increases when the female gets larger and starts to turn to a male.

PhilT · Mar 6, 2020

Would another female fight? Or would getting a small female help trigger the other to turn male?

fabutahoun · Mar 6, 2020

PhilT said:
Would another female fight? Or would getting a small female help trigger the other to turn male?

Expect a little fight at start. You can try and see what will happen if the old female turn to male. sometimes it turn some times it doesn't.

I'v seen some females quickly turn to males after introduction of another female. however In my home tank its exactly the opposite.

Social acclimation box for few days is not a bad Idea when adding fish to your tank.