The Angel Lovers Thread

Decamicron Labs · Friday at 11:18 PM

Fossilman06 said:
Just picked this little beauty up today.

What a cutie!

Seancj · Friday at 11:58 PM

Decamicron Labs said:
I spot a goldflake in there, you are a very brave individual! If I were you, I'd get some Genicanthus to scratch the angel itch. The masked ones are really nice as well.

Hello and thank you for the reply. I do not have a Goldflake.....yet. :)
I do have a small flagfin, small blueface, small Queen, a small Lamarck, a pair of flame angels, small Eibli angel, a small coral beauty, and a pair of pygmy angels. The Queen and blueface spend a lot of the day hiding amongst the rocks and I'd love to have an open water show fish.

NC2WA · Saturday at 12:06 AM

Seancj said:
Would I be a complete fool to add a Scribbled angel to my 360 gallon reef?
I don't mind a bit of nipping here and there as I think these large colonies can take it. I've never owned a Scribbled before but have read that they would most likely not like the taste of these softies. I will watch the clam closely to be sure.
Thoughts? I think a Scribbled would look really nice in there. Also considering adding a trio of female Watanabe and hoping one transitions and I get a harem.

Scribbled is on my list. I've had one before and they are stunning in person.

DCR · Saturday at 1:06 PM

Seancj said:
Hello and thank you for the reply. I do not have a Goldflake.....yet. :)
I do have a small flagfin, small blueface, small Queen, a small Lamarck, a pair of flame angels, small Eibli angel, a small coral beauty, and a pair of pygmy angels. The Queen and blueface spend a lot of the day hiding amongst the rocks and I'd love to have an open water show fish.

I don't think a Scribbled would pose any more risk to your tank than the Queen and Blueface once they grow-up. I would be most concerned for that clam. I never had much long-term success with Scribbled Angels, but if you can keep a Flagfin, you can probably keep a Scribbled. They are delicate IME. If you are going to do it, I would add it before the Queen and Blueface grow very large and aggressive.

Seancj · Saturday at 1:41 PM

DCR said:
I don't think a Scribbled would pose any more risk to your tank than the Queen and Blueface once they grow-up. I would be most concerned for that clam. I never had much long-term success with Scribbled Angels, but if you can keep a Flagfin, you can probably keep a Scribbled. They are delicate IME. If you are going to do it, I would add it before the Queen and Blueface grow very large and aggressive.

Thank you DCR! There is a 7" long term captive Scribbled female at one of my local fish stores. It came in from a frequent customer's 600 gallon FOWLR. Apparently, it was getting bullied and stopped eating so the owner brought him to the store to recover and is considering selling it. He has had it for a couple of years. It is clean, no frayed or torn fins, a tad bit thin but not sunken lower belly. It was not eating at the store yet, but it was still stressed. I am giving it through this weekend to see how it responds.
It would be far bigger than either the queen or blueface and both of these fish are still young and spending most of the day swimming in the rocks and the back side of the reef. From what I understand, Scribbled spend their day swimming out in the water column, so I am hoping that there will be very little, if any, territorial disputes. Of course, this could change as the queen matures.
I would be okay moving out the blue maxima for a nice show fish like this one if the need arises.

Seancj · Saturday at 1:43 PM

NC2WA said:
Scribbled is on my list. I've had one before and they are stunning in person.

Yes, they are beautiful. Did you keep yours in a reef tank or a FOWLR? What was your experience in terms of feeding, healthy, and temperament?

NC2WA · Saturday at 2:55 PM

Seancj said:
Yes, they are beautiful. Did you keep yours in a reef tank or a FOWLR? What was your experience in terms of feeding, healthy, and temperament?

Just to clarify, mine wasn’t a reef tank by strict definition. I mostly kept RBTA which the angels left alone. At the time I had 4 large angels, and I fed 3 to 4 times a day with a good variety: Rod’s Food, AngelFormula from Ocean Nutrition, PE Mysis, and algae clips.

IMO, that’s the key to keeping them from nibbling on corals. If they stay busy with food throughout the day, they just don’t seem interested. Hope that helps!

I have restarted my tank and I have a large majestic angelfish. I plan on adding 4 more large angels in the coming months. And yes, I will post pictures. :)

NC2WA · 2026-10-18T12:33:34-0400

Seancj said:
Yes, they are beautiful. Did you keep yours in a reef tank or a FOWLR? What was your experience in terms of feeding, healthy, and temperament?

I just placed an order from DrsReef for a scribbled angel and blue face angel. I will share pics when they are in the tank. :)

Seancj · 2026-10-18T15:01:33-0400

NC2WA said:
I just placed an order from DrsReef for a scribbled angel and blue face angel. I will share pics when they are in the tank. :)

Nice! Can't wait to see them!
Unfortunately, the owner of the 7" Scribbled angel decided he wants to keep her.

I may be ordering from DrsReef as well.

Seancj · 2026-10-18T23:05:24-0400

Looking for some angel advice:
I have a young adult blueface angel (5"), young adult queen angel (4.5"), and a 3" Lamarck in my 360 gallon. They were introduced together and get along very well at this point. They even share the same 'safe' space under the rocks and they swim the full length of the tank behind the rock scape. I've seen no aggression or territoriality between them. They have been in the tank for almost 5 months now and none will swim out in the open except for short durations at dawn and dusk and to grab a quick bite off the nori clip throughout the day. They won't even come out to grab food in the water column during my broadcast feeding. They are eating, pellets, frozen, and flake but they wait for pieces to come under the rocks or float to the back of the tank. They will venture out for half shell clams and oysters but only to grab a bite and run back in the rocks. Food is mixed with spirulina powder, selcon, angel elixir, garlic extract, and brightwell aminomega.
I have a 4" flagfin that swims out in the open frequently, even during peak lighting photo period. My dwarf angels, 1.1 small flames, 1 small coral beauty, 1 small eibli are very active throughout the day as well. My princess parrot and wrasses cruise all day all across the tank.
The blueface, queen, and Lamarck rarely come out, especially during the peak lighting hours of the day. I understand that it could be a result of my very intense full spectrum lighting during those peak hours that may be making them feel more at risk when out in the open, so I have decreased my plasma lighting to only 3 hours a day to keep the anemones and corals happy, down from 7 hours a day, as a test. My Red Sea Reefled 160s were decreased to 50% blue and 25% white for the 10 hours of my 12 hour light cycle. But, even this has not made any difference over the past week.
Water parameters are spot on. The tank has almost 650 gallons of water volume, including a 220 gallon refugium with tons of macro algae, mangroves, extra live rock, and a 75 gallon sump with 2 protein skimmers, carbon, and UV.
They are nice and fat, and very healthy appearing. No signs of any parasites or illness. I have a lot of dither fish, as can be seen in the video above, that I had hoped would bring them out in the open but even this has not worked.
I was hoping to enjoy their beauty more often.
I understand that young angels will do this as part of their nature out in the wild, especially the blueface. They are the biggest fish in the tank and were added before most of the others. There are no other aggressive fish in the tank. They should feel safe by now.
I'm wondering if its still their size?
Is there anything else you guys can recommend that I try?

NC2WA · 2026-10-18T23:16:52-0400

Seancj said:
Looking for some angel advice:
I have a young adult blueface angel (5"), young adult queen angel (4.5"), and a 3" Lamarck in my 360 gallon. They were introduced together and get along very well at this point. They even share the same 'safe' space under the rocks and they swim the full length of the tank behind the rock scape. I've seen no aggression or territoriality between them. They have been in the tank for almost 5 months now and none will swim out in the open except for short durations at dawn and dusk and to grab a quick bite off the nori clip throughout the day. They won't even come out to grab food in the water column during my broadcast feeding. They are eating, pellets, frozen, and flake but they wait for pieces to come under the rocks or float to the back of the tank. They will venture out for half shell clams and oysters but only to grab a bite and run back in the rocks. Food is mixed with spirulina powder, selcon, angel elixir, garlic extract, and brightwell aminomega.
I have a 4" flagfin that swims out in the open frequently, even during peak lighting photo period. My dwarf angels, 1.1 small flames, 1 small coral beauty, 1 small eibli are very active throughout the day as well. My princess parrot and wrasses cruise all day all across the tank.
The blueface, queen, and Lamarck rarely come out, especially during the peak lighting hours of the day. I understand that it could be a result of my very intense full spectrum lighting during those peak hours that may be making them feel more at risk when out in the open, so I have decreased my plasma lighting to only 3 hours a day to keep the anemones and corals happy, down from 7 hours a day, as a test. My Red Sea Reefled 160s were decreased to 50% blue and 25% white for the 10 hours of my 12 hour light cycle. But, even this has not made any difference over the past week.
Water parameters are spot on. The tank has almost 650 gallons of water volume, including a 220 gallon refugium with tons of macro algae, mangroves, extra live rock, and a 75 gallon sump with 2 protein skimmers, carbon, and UV.
They are nice and fat, and very healthy appearing. No signs of any parasites or illness. I have a lot of dither fish, as can be seen in the video above, that I had hoped would bring them out in the open but even this has not worked.
I was hoping to enjoy their beauty more often.
I understand that young angels will do this as part of their nature out in the wild, especially the blueface. They are the biggest fish in the tank and were added before most of the others. There are no other aggressive fish in the tank. They should feel safe by now.
I'm wondering if its still their size?
Is there anything else you guys can recommend that I try?

I assume you've checked the basics: water parameters? Stray voltage? Do they come out in the open after the lights are out? Are they fat and happy? You are correct this could be their age if everything checks out. I have a large Majestic that did the same thing for about 3 weeks. Now it comes out and swims entire tank and loves the algae clips. I am curious how it will respond when the scribbled and blue face are added in a couple of weeks. I hope everything works out.

DCR · 2026-10-18T23:58:29-0400

Most angels tend to stay near the rock structures. They are really not open water swimmers, but mine always come out for feeding. I even feed my Blueface and Majestic frozen Mysis by hand near the surface of the water. They might be getting bullied, but that seems unlikely given your other tank inhabitants. Maybe all those large anemones keep them safely in the rocks? Just a thought as I do not know anyone else who keeps large angels in a tank full of large anemones. You will probably see them more as they grow larger.

Catawba_Valley_Reef · 2026-10-19T00:09:10-0400

Seancj said:
Looking for some angel advice:
I have a young adult blueface angel (5"), young adult queen angel (4.5"), and a 3" Lamarck in my 360 gallon. They were introduced together and get along very well at this point. They even share the same 'safe' space under the rocks and they swim the full length of the tank behind the rock scape. I've seen no aggression or territoriality between them. They have been in the tank for almost 5 months now and none will swim out in the open except for short durations at dawn and dusk and to grab a quick bite off the nori clip throughout the day. They won't even come out to grab food in the water column during my broadcast feeding. They are eating, pellets, frozen, and flake but they wait for pieces to come under the rocks or float to the back of the tank. They will venture out for half shell clams and oysters but only to grab a bite and run back in the rocks. Food is mixed with spirulina powder, selcon, angel elixir, garlic extract, and brightwell aminomega.
I have a 4" flagfin that swims out in the open frequently, even during peak lighting photo period. My dwarf angels, 1.1 small flames, 1 small coral beauty, 1 small eibli are very active throughout the day as well. My princess parrot and wrasses cruise all day all across the tank.
The blueface, queen, and Lamarck rarely come out, especially during the peak lighting hours of the day. I understand that it could be a result of my very intense full spectrum lighting during those peak hours that may be making them feel more at risk when out in the open, so I have decreased my plasma lighting to only 3 hours a day to keep the anemones and corals happy, down from 7 hours a day, as a test. My Red Sea Reefled 160s were decreased to 50% blue and 25% white for the 10 hours of my 12 hour light cycle. But, even this has not made any difference over the past week.
Water parameters are spot on. The tank has almost 650 gallons of water volume, including a 220 gallon refugium with tons of macro algae, mangroves, extra live rock, and a 75 gallon sump with 2 protein skimmers, carbon, and UV.
They are nice and fat, and very healthy appearing. No signs of any parasites or illness. I have a lot of dither fish, as can be seen in the video above, that I had hoped would bring them out in the open but even this has not worked.
I was hoping to enjoy their beauty more often.
I understand that young angels will do this as part of their nature out in the wild, especially the blueface. They are the biggest fish in the tank and were added before most of the others. There are no other aggressive fish in the tank. They should feel safe by now.
I'm wondering if its still their size?
Is there anything else you guys can recommend that I try?

I’ve had my blueface for well over a year. It is probably 6” or so and is pretty shy. Will come out to eat and get nori off the clip but definitely isn’t an open water swimmer like the tangs. It mostly hangs out in the rock work. I know someone else who has a blueface and he said his does the same. I have a goldflake in another system and it is always out and about (similar to your flagfin). The goldflake is captive bred, so not sure if that makes a difference.

This is probably just natural instinct for these fish until they become very comfortable or learn from the other fish. Even eating out of the water column isn’t natural for these types of angels.

DCR · 2026-10-19T00:09:12-0400

Seancj said:
Nice! Can't wait to see them!
Unfortunately, the owner of the 7" Scribbled angel decided he wants to keep her. I may be ordering from DrsReef as well.

That is too bad (for you) as that would have been an almost ideal situation if the LFS could get her eating again. When I first got into saltwater in the early 80's, I was fascinated by large angels and wanted to keep as many as I could in my 200 gallon fish only tank. I tried to introduce a couple of Scribbled Angels at various times, but the Holacanthus and Pomacanthus angels were just too much for them and they would never eat. Getting them to eat can be difficult. I consider them to be more like butterfly's with regard to their difficulty, hardiness and acceptable tank mates. You have a much better set-up than I had, but they can still be challenging.