I'm sure I already know the answer but...stopping a coral nipper?

maugustine

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I have a beautiful flameback angel in my mixed reef that I love. He's my favorite fish. I've had him for a year. Last summer (after having him several months) we went on vacation for a few days and he was forced to eat pellets instead of the normal frozen food. During that time, he developed a taste for my trachy. Over a few weeks, he destroyed it. I was sad, because it was one of my favorite corals, but I knew it was a risk getting him and he didn't seem to bother anything else (at least not significantly) and he's been fine since. Until this last few days, that is. He has started nipping my zoas. My tank is filled with them and they're a favorite. I don't think he's 'eaten' any of them, but he does enough nipping that many of them are staying closed. I love my zoas and have quite a collection. He isn't bothering anything else that I've seen - montis, chalice, hammer, duncan, galexea, kenya tree.

I am assuming that once he starts this, there really isn't anything I can do other than remove him. I hate to get rid of him but is that my only choice? I don't have another tank to put him in (I do have a tank for QT that I could set up, but it's only 9 gallons.
My cherub Angel decided after 1.5 years to kill my trachy two weeks ago also.. it only took her 3 days to kill the biggest coral I had
 

Rtaylor

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You could try increasing feeding. Maybe if he is more ‘full’ he’ll leave the coral alone….maybe not. Might be worth a shot.
 

ElussssvReefSD

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You said that it's your favorite fish... it'd be a shame if you got rid of the little guy over natural behavior. In addition to feeding more, maybe try a different type of coral to see if you can find some that'll be left alone so that you can both keep your fav fish AND have cool looking coral?
 

jaganshi066

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I have a beautiful flameback angel in my mixed reef that I love. He's my favorite fish. I've had him for a year. Last summer (after having him several months) we went on vacation for a few days and he was forced to eat pellets instead of the normal frozen food. During that time, he developed a taste for my trachy. Over a few weeks, he destroyed it. I was sad, because it was one of my favorite corals, but I knew it was a risk getting him and he didn't seem to bother anything else (at least not significantly) and he's been fine since. Until this last few days, that is. He has started nipping my zoas. My tank is filled with them and they're a favorite. I don't think he's 'eaten' any of them, but he does enough nipping that many of them are staying closed. I love my zoas and have quite a collection. He isn't bothering anything else that I've seen - montis, chalice, hammer, duncan, galexea, kenya tree.

I am assuming that once he starts this, there really isn't anything I can do other than remove him. I hate to get rid of him but is that my only choice? I don't have another tank to put him in (I do have a tank for QT that I could set up, but it's only 9 gallons.
I have a lot of flamebacks and mine have never nipped, but I feed a lot. Maybe you can exchange it for another one?
 
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