So many cool fish that are reef safe "with caution"

[Chris86]

Ans these fish seem to be the ones I want! Blue spotted puffer. Flame angel. Those two off the top of my head for sure. Did anyone take a risk with these "with caution" fish and have it turn out to be reef safe?

 

[Oscar47f]

The flame angel a friend of mine has, has been behaving well not nipping at coral or anything....

 

[Chris86]

I really want one. Or maybe another one of the dwarf angels. So pretty

 

[Cment]

dwarf angels can be hit or miss, stack the odds in your favor and feed plenty of what they eat and have a large enough system so they can roam around...

 

[tom reilly]

I really want one. Or maybe another one of the dwarf angels. So pretty

I have a coral beauty angel. I think that if you keep them well fed you have no problems.

 

[hejjo]

I've always wanted a melonaris wrasse but I need my inverts :/

 

[Pdandy]

Reef safe so far. But he's still a juvie, so that may change.

 

[ca1ore]

I've got four dwarf angels in my reef tank. High flow, frequent feeding and lots of tankmates keeps the nipping to a manageable level. No 'meaty' polyped LPS though.

 

[Salty1962]

With Cautions means - they can go nuclear on your livestock or act as model citizens. I know of people who've had a Flame Angel for over a year and it didn't bother anything to eating everything in their tank over night. Puffers can take a liking to your CUC. It comes down to your pain threshold.

 

[immafishguy]

Reef safe so far. But he's still a juvie, so that may change.

Careful, all emperor love zoas!!

 

[eatbreakfast]

You can stack the deck in your favor by keeping corals that are at less of a risk to be nipped. Leathers, Euphyllia, mushrooms, and gorgonians are usually pretty safe.

 

[ca1ore]

Agree that very often it is just a matter of time .... and opportunity. Keep waiting for my LemonPeel to go ballistic.



I have a potters and an eibli in addition to the LP and flame. At the end of the day, I like the fish more than the corals.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

So many fish I would love to have but can't!

 

[becks]

So far my fish that have been reef safe with caution have all be model citizens, maybe because they are well feed?

 

[JLynn]

I think another factor is how fast your corals are growing. If your corals are growing fast, and you only have one or two risky fish choices in your tank, or you have several risky fish that don't do a whole lot of nipping, it should be fine.

 

[HeadStrongGrafx]

Reef safe so far. But he's still a juvie, so that may change.

I had mine almost a year then it decided overnight he liked acans, brains, and scolys

 

[Chris86]

I don't know. Seems like it isn't worth the risk. I would be so sad if a fish ate my coral overnight.

 

[frankragghianti]

I had a Japanese swallow tail and a flame angle alone with several tangs in a125gal. with a variety of softies for 8/ 9 months with no problems .
Unfortunately lost both angles to ick.

 

[omegasoldier123]

As some have already eluded to...the problem with the "add with caution" fish is that they may be fine for long periods of time, varying depending on species and such, and then all of a sudden go crazy. Some say that keeping them well fed may curb this, but from my experience I have noticed that chances of this happen are greater once the fish has been in the tank for a while and reaches maturity, but I am sure there are plenty of examples otherwise. You are correct though, the more extravagant the fish means we cant have it or the harder it is to keep lol. Come to think of it, isn't that the reason why we got into saltwater tanks anyway? Because we were all sick of having dull brown freshwater fish and simple tetras...

 

[sawdonkey]

Reef safe so far. But he's still a juvie, so that may change.

I used to have one like that, now I have an eight inch one with full adult colors. It was cool to watch him change. It is not cool to watch him bite off 1/4 inch pieces of SPS. Funny thing is, he only nips at certain colonies and never touches a few. Blue Matrix is his favorite. Good luck!