Help Picking Hardiest Dwarf Angel

[Ciepierball]

Been in the saltwater hobby now for just over two years, and before that kept and bred discus. I have a 70G, and over the past two years I have tried three different flame angels, and each one of them last for about a week and die. This is what is odd...

First, the rest of my fish are healthy and happy, and most are 2 years old. My water parameters are great, temp had been stable, and live rock had plenty of algae. This isnt a problem.

Second, I am feeding appropriately. I have Rods food for herbivores, put out seaweed every 3 days, and sprinkle in mysis and flakes every so often for variety. And appropriate quantity is given.

Lastly, it wasnt getting bullied. He was the king of the left side of the tank, and swam around well with my foxface and kole tang. I watch my tank enough to know he wasnt getting smacked around.

Read that these angels can be iffy when it comes to hardiness. With that being said, from experience, which are the hardiest?

 

[EmdeReef]

Welcome to R2R!

What other fish do you have in the tank? Do you quarantine new fish? Were there cuts or wounds or anything unusual on the dead fish?

Flame angels are usually pretty hardy. Coral beauty may be a bit easier to keep.

However, I would suggest waiting on adding new fish until we can figure out what happened with the 3 you tried.

 

[russell13]

I’ve never had a problem with flame angels. But if I had to pick the easiest one I would have to go with the coral beauty.

 

[Highgrade]

Get a Biota Captive bred Coral beauty

 

[Areeflover]

I believe it's not you at all but how they are captured. There is actually many cases just like yours, now I actually went through the same issue. I quarantined it in copper and mine survived that 1 week period try that .

 

[Hemmdog]

Welcome to reef2reef! I’ve had good luck with my Flame angel, but like stated above you can try a coral beauty, they do take up a little larger foot print though(needs more swimming space).

 

[Ciepierball]

Welcome to R2R!

What other fish do you have in the tank? Do you quarantine new fish? Were there cuts or wounds or anything unusual on the dead fish?

Flame angels are usually pretty hardy. Coral beauty may be a bit easier to keep.

However, I would suggest waiting on adding new fish until we can figure out what happened with the 3 you tried.

These are the other fish I have in the tank:

1 - Foxface (is the alpha but not aggressive)
1 - Kole Tang
1 - Six line (keeps to himself)
1 - purple dottyback
1 - yellow tale damsel (only fights with dotty)
2 - cardinals
2 - small clowns

60lbs live rock, 70 gallons

I do quarantine when I get my fish, as well as acclimate. Again, never lost fish besides flames.

 

[Ciepierball]

I’ve never had a problem with flame angels. But if I had to pick the easiest one I would have to go with the coral beauty.

Thank you. Coral beauties to me look too freshwater, which is why I've never been a huge fan.

 

[Ciepierball]

I believe it's not you at all but how they are captured. There is actually many cases just like yours, now I actually went through the same issue. I quarantined it in copper and mine survived that 1 week period try that .

I think I'm officially done with flames though. Three strikes and you're out!!!

 

[mattzang]

the cherubs and flamebacks are pretty hardy I think. I kinda disregarded the cherub because I thought it looked rather bland until I saw one in person at an LFS. Very pretty blue, but I wonder how it'd go with your sixline and purple dottyback, those fish are not kind to newcomers

 

[BadFish619]

Coral beauty, or I've had good luck with the keyhole as well

 

[Areeflover]

the cherubs and flamebacks are pretty hardy I think. I kinda disregarded the cherub because I thought it looked rather bland until I saw one in person at an LFS. Very pretty blue, but I wonder how it'd go with your sixline and purple dottyback, those fish are not kind to newcomers

Matt is absolutely right about the cherub. No picture will ever do them justice when the light hits them the right way a blue circle around there eyes and the very edge of their fins absolutely glow this stunning stunning color..

 

[alton]

If you want a Flame Angel wait till Live Aquaria has the Vanuata ones in stock.

 

[skiwez]

I've had the same experience as the OP. I think it boils down to collection location. I've given up on flames. Also went through 3. They seemed fine usually lasted about 2 to 3 months and died with any warning or indication of disease.

 

[nereefpat]

Half -blacks are another species that are really hardy.

Stay away from bicolor, potter's, lemonpeel.

 

[Jesterrace]

Thank you. Coral beauties to me look too freshwater, which is why I've never been a huge fan.

Too freshwater? Coral Beauty Dwarf Angels may not stand out from a distance the way Flame Angels do, but they actually have more color when you see them under the right light. Mine can appear sapphire blue, purple and majenta on the head depending on how the light catches it. It has the Yellow and Black tiger stripes in the middle as well. When I first got mine from the LFS I agree it didn't look like much, but when I got it home and under my Hydras, I was amazed at how much color it actually had. Pictures IMHO do not do CBs justice, neither do cheap lights. CBs are arguably the hardiest of the dwarf angels and they are more affordable. Ones brought in from Fiji tend to do a bit better since they have better collection practices and they tend to have more color variety. Here is what my CB looks like:



As for the durability of Dwarf Angels, one of the common mistakes that folks who get them make is they try to feed them an all meaty diet. Most Dwarf and Pygmy Angels start off by algae grazing and as such it's best to start them out with some seaweed/nori and let them graze on algae in your tank and then you can start trying to transition them more to an omnivore diet. They are algae grazers in the wild with meat on the side so to speak.

 

[ca1ore]

Flames are not nearly as hardy as they used to be - almost certainly a function of collection and the supply chain. Some good advice in this thread - divers den, algae in the diet. Also buy one off a fellow reefer as it comes up for sale.

 

[Gobi-Wan]

Just a thought here... did you get all your flame angels from the same source? I have been told by a friend with 30 years in the business, that cyanide-caught fish often live perfectly happy and healthy for a week or so after purchase, and then suddenly go under a rock and die. Aparently it can cause acute swim bladder failure. As I said, just food for thought.

 

[Tft12]

I read lots of posts from people that are unhappy with LiveAquaria, but as far as dwarf angels go, over the last few years I think I've purchased 13 and lost 2 (but one of those losses was due to a very big husbandry mistake that I made). My Potter's were definitely difficult to get eating but all the rest I would describe as hardy/easy to keep. The ones that were easy are Multicolor, Coral Beauty, Flame, Lemon Peel, and Eibli.

 

[JAWS 32]

Too freshwater? Coral Beauty Dwarf Angels may not stand out from a distance the way Flame Angels do, but they actually have more color when you see them under the right light. Mine can appear sapphire blue, purple and majenta on the head depending on how the light catches it. It has the Yellow and Black tiger stripes in the middle as well. When I first got mine from the LFS I agree it didn't look like much, but when I got it home and under my Hydras, I was amazed at how much color it actually had. Pictures IMHO do not do CBs justice, neither do cheap lights. CBs are arguably the hardiest of the dwarf angels and they are more affordable. Ones brought in from Fiji tend to do a bit better since they have better collection practices and they tend to have more color variety. Here is what my CB looks like:



As for the durability of Dwarf Angels, one of the common mistakes that folks who get them make is they try to feed them an all meaty diet. Most Dwarf and Pygmy Angels start off by algae grazing and as such it's best to start them out with some seaweed/nori and let them graze on algae in your tank and then you can start trying to transition them more to an omnivore diet. They are algae grazers in the wild with meat on the side so to speak.

+1
People probably pass them up alot cause the are a common angel, but their unique beauty and boundless energy make them a terrific addition IMO