Nipping yellow angelfish

[Sphyrna_gal]

Got a yellow angelfish (Centropyge heraldi) and was excited because for us, it was a better alternative to a yellow tang or fox face for our 75. We wanted a 'bigger bodied' fish with the vibrant yellow color so when we saw this one at our LFS we felt it was meant to be.

However, a few days into being in our tank noticed our acans starting to look pretty rough (which were fine, in fact were all growing new heads) and then we caught the new angel in action nipping on them. So, dang it! We got a nipper :( ..anyway, we took out all the acans and put them into another tank and wanted to ask if anyone had tricks because we can't/don't want to take it back..

The angel does eat frozen but not as actively as the other fish.. we also have a coral beauty that totally avoids corals and the angel so .. not sure what to do, we really like the angel and hoping it will stop.

 

[KrisReef]

Once a fish gets the taste of acans or clams or polyps or tentacles its like a crack addict and good luck trying to let the addict coexist with these corals.


Pick one, Fowler or yellow fish in exile? Do you have a sump?

 

[Sphyrna_gal]

Yeah, based on everything I've read on here people seem to just take them back to the LFS. But so far it hasn't gone after anything but the acans which I did remove and they are recovering nicely. I also have some favias, chalices in with it I am watching but so far they are untouched as well as my softies and montis..

I haven't seen much at all on this particular species and now I wonder if they tend to be more nippy than others ..wonder if people are have more luck with the lemon peel angels instead? Regardless, I know it always depends on the individual fish, especially with angels.. will take all the good luck wishes LOL

 

[Sphyrna_gal]

Just to update this thread for others looking more into getting dwarf angelfish:

We ended up taking back the yellow angel (Centropyge heraldi) to the LFS. Sadly, the nipping got way worse no matter how much we would feed. It went from Acans and favas to zoos, bubble tip anemones and on our AE filefish!

They had a beautiful Lemonpeel (Centropyge flavissima) angel that we ended up getting which is doing okay now but did nip on an Acan when it was first introduced. So we are eyeing that closely..

Keep in mind we've had a Coral Beauty (Centropyge bispinosa) in our tank that hasn't touched anything (fingers crossed, knock on wood!!) this whole time. A Coral Beauty that we got after our Flameback Angel (Centropyge acanthops) suddenly died although it never bothered any of our corals. But as of now, the Lemonpeel and Coral Beauty are doing well together.

Sidenote: We got a pygmy yellowtail angel (Centropyge flavicauda) for our smaller frag tank and at first didn't seem to notice it nipping on corals but soon after it went much the same way as our yellow angel :( so instead of waiting for the nipping to get worse we took that one back to the LFS as well and got a cute little wrasse (Paracheilinus mccoskeri) instead.


All this to say, no matter what you research online or learn these forums, it will always come down to individual fish. For now if the Lemonpeel becomes a nipper we may just be done with angels altogether! LOL