Risky not reef safe fish

[doubleshot00]

Flame angel. Mowed down my acans overnight. I leave a sacrificial acan in the tank to let him nip.

 

[apb03]

Maybe stressed coral are more appealing? Anything risky that I added to a tank was always the last addition so everything else was well established.

Could be, I've struggled to find a pattern. Some Corals he is relentless with and others he completely ignores when I receive them. Fortunately nothing has died.

I got a few really high end frags recently so I put him in my QT tank to allow them to get more established for a couple of months before I add him back. :)

 

[Readywriter]

Could be, I've struggled to find a pattern. Some Corals he is relentless with and others he completely ignores when I receive them. Fortunately nothing has died.

I got a few really high end frags recently so I put him in my QT tank to allow them to get more established for a couple of months before I add him back. :)

Hopefully that works out well for you. I always wondered why risky fish always worked out well for me but almost everyone else has horror stories. The only things that stand out to me in how I took care of these fish is 1) riskier fish toward the end of the stocking list 2) feed in the same spot every time 3) varied diet 4) I tracked the local tide conditions and fed during incoming tides (figured if thats when the fish off the pier want to bite thats probably when my fish would also)

 

[PharmrJohn]

Flame angel. Mowed down my acans overnight. I leave a sacrificial acan in the tank to let him nip.

This was my 'take a chance' moment. I lucked out tho. Never bothered my corals. I would not take the chance again. LOL, But it was so pretty!!!!

Edit....Also put in a Chocolate Chip Starfish. This one the dude told me was cool in a reef tank. Again, I lucked out. And it's not just that these are not reef safe, they can get pretty big!

 

[apb03]

Hopefully that works out well for you. I always wondered why risky fish always worked out well for me but almost everyone else has horror stories. The only things that stand out to me in how I took care of these fish is 1) riskier fish toward the end of the stocking list 2) feed in the same spot every time 3) varied diet 4) I tracked the local tide conditions and fed during incoming tides (figured if thats when the fish off the pier want to bite thats probably when my fish would also)

I think it's about mindset. If you're willing to work with the fish and make adjustments you are much more likely to have success.

My current theory with my puffer is hunger. He struggles to compete for food so I have to find a way to get him more food without over feeding the tank.

Risky fish can be a struggle, but success is more rewarding. :)

 

[Nick Steele]

4) I tracked the local tide conditions and fed during incoming tides (figured if thats when the fish off the pier want to bite thats probably when my fish would also)

was this really your thinking? Very interesting thought but I think tides bring in food so that’s why it helps in the ocean not so much are tank?


Also I haven’t had a risky fish yet but one day I will have a harlequin tusk and I know I’ll go through snails like no other but dang it’s a pretty fish!

 

[Readywriter]

was this really your thinking? Very interesting thought but I think tides bring in food so that’s why it helps in the ocean not so much are tank?

Yup that was my thinking. I knew it was because of food coming in with the tide but I had a "I wonder if theres more to it" kind of thinking with it. It might have changed nothing or it might have been the secret ingredient but either way it certainly didnt hurt anything.

 

[doubleshot00]

This was my 'take a chance' moment. I lucked out tho. Never bothered my corals. I would not take the chance again. LOL, But it was so pretty!!!!

Edit....Also put in a Chocolate Chip Starfish. This one the dude told me was cool in a reef tank. Again, I lucked out. And it's not just that these are not reef safe, they can get pretty big!

Yeah my flame and foxface are the show pieces in my tank. Both have great personality and fun to watch.

I can see them nip on a coral here and there but i dont think they are actually eating the coral.

 

[McPuff]

This was my 'take a chance' moment. I lucked out tho. Never bothered my corals. I would not take the chance again. LOL, But it was so pretty!!!!

Edit....Also put in a Chocolate Chip Starfish. This one the dude told me was cool in a reef tank. Again, I lucked out. And it's not just that these are not reef safe, they can get pretty big!

I hear that crown of thorns starfish are also reef safe. Give it a try! :0) Ha ha!

Triggers are reef safe, but I have never had one that is invert safe. I do have a good size hermit in with my 2 Rhinecanthus triggers (almost 4 years) but he is the master of hiding I guess. Even I rarely see him. Every time I see a molt I think, "they finally got him." But that's not the case.

 

[apb03]

I hear that crown of thorns starfish are also reef safe. Give it a try! :0) Ha ha!

Triggers are reef safe, but I have never had one that is invert safe. I do have a good size hermit in with my 2 Rhinecanthus triggers (almost 4 years) but he is the master of hiding I guess. Even I rarely see him. Every time I see a molt I think, "they finally got him." But that's not the case.

I have a Blue Throat trigger and i think they are an exception as far as inverts are concerned. I've yet to see mine go after any of my inverts. I think it's because they have a pretty small mouth maybe.

 

[McPuff]

I have a Blue Throat trigger and i think they are an exception as far as inverts are concerned. I've yet to see mine go after any of my inverts. I think it's because they have a pretty small mouth maybe.

Blue throat is more of a pelagic feeder (open water), along with niger (I've got one of these in my display and it never goes after any inverts, not even shrimp), pink tail, crosshatch triggers. Contrast this to lagoon triggers (e.g., Rhinecanthus spp.) which generally forage on surfaces and LOVE to eat small fish and any/all invertebrates.

You may also hit a middle ground where species like black durgons, who are generally pelagic, will also forage on the reef itself.

I should have said that triggers are very likely to be coral safe but only certain ones are "reef safe" if you're talking about the whole system as an entity.

 

[Kaveeks]

I’ve seen blue throats eat hammer tips but that’s about it. No hammers for me

 

[I never finish anythi]

bah, its hit or miss with a lot of them.

Aptasia filefish: ate my zoa, xenia frags
returned to store

Hippo tang: "reef safe", after being in the tank for 2 years, ate my $400 trach that I spent 6 months looking for within 2 weeks of getting it
returned to store, got a power blue tang as a replacement.

Powder blue tang: "reef safe" after being in the tank for a year: I had a huge colony of zoa's... now its half the size... it is slowly eating them.

Hippo tangs are not reef safe . They are reef safe with caution

 

[I never finish anythi]

Regal angel, didnt so much as look at coral whenO had corals in that tank. But its a fowlr for other fish not being behaved now lol

Ha my regal loved my zoas so I had to sell it .

 

[RabidDragon]

edit

 

[RabidDragon]

Hippo tangs are not reef safe . They are reef safe with caution

obviously, with my given statement I agree with you: HIPPO Tangs are not "Reef-Safe"... howerver that is NOT what a simple internet search would indicate or other sites like LiveAquria.

I REALLY liked that Trach.. and my GF watched it tear sheets of tissue off its skeleton and eat it, and texted me pic of it as it was doing so, I was at work....it was completely gone by the time I got home :(