The Reef Safe and Not So Reef Safe List

[cloakerpoked]

stunreefer, What angels have you mixed successfully and in what size aquarium? Describe what you mean by "If done properly".

I just posted my experience with our emperor angel. Obviously, all fish are unique and not everyone will have the same experience with the same species of fish. A lot of people are under the impression large angels will nip at sps. Mine doesn't. I was told that large and dwarf angels could be mixed together, mine killed a coral beauty. The coral beauty was in the tank first. I had read that large angels require at least a 125 gal aquarium, but I was corrected on another forum that they should be in 300-500 gal aquariums and no less than 500 as a full sized adult. I was told and have read that large angels are generally peaceful with other fish, but not other large angels. I've never introduced another large angel, but my emperor has chased blennies, gobies, tangs and wrasses. He is the king of our aquarium. Second in command is a desjardini sailfin tang.

All the info you'll read on any fish in this hobby is either general guidelines or others experiences with those fish.

Most LFS will tell you a 125 for an angel, but I'd say 300+ is necessary for a healthy specimen to thrive. There's a big difference between survive and thrive, and we tend to measure success in fish lifespans in months rather than years. A healthy angel should live for 20+ years if raised from a juvenile in good conditions. If we get them to 3 years, we consider it an old fish and figure it was probably its time. These fish have a lot more longevity than mollys and swordtails.

 

[laskopyre]

Clown Wrasse/Slippery Okra (Halichoeres Maculipinna):
- Within Group: 1 The get along with others of their kind.
- Outside of Group: 2 Pretty passive with other tank mates. Semi-Territorial with different Wrasse species.
- Aquarium Food: 4 Will only eat pods, or frozen foods. Will not eat flakes or pellets.
- Corals: 1 Reef safe. Looks like it's picking at coral bases but actually is looking for pods or picking pods. Does not harm coral.
- Invertebrates: 3 They will eat bristle worms, small shrimp, really small hermit crabs, all pods, and tiny starfish.
This fish has an internal clock that tells it when it is time to go to bed. It knows when Florida dusk time is. So if the sun goes down at 6 EST it would disappear at 3 PST. I've had mine for over a year and it still goes on dusk time EST, no matter the day night cycle of my tank. This makes it a challenge in the winter to feed at night.

 

[brandyrb]

brandyrb, by no means was I trying to doubt you, or say anything negative towards you at all... please do not think that :) Your emporer is absolutely stunning, keep up the fantastic work with that gorgeous fish... in a reef no less!

No I didn't take what you said as negative at all. I haven't mixed large angels, so I was hoping for more info on that from someone who has. And thanks for the compliment. Our emperor is the first fish visitors point out and most are shocked we keep him with sps and a couple clams. He has nipped at gigas and crocea, but not our squamosa or derasa. I've had our angel for approx. 5 years and got him as a juvenile.

Before we got our sailfin tang, he used to bully our blenny and gobies. A couple gobies jumped out of the tank because of him. Now the sailfin and emperor compete for dominance every now and then, but not all the time and the other fish are ignored by the angel. The sailfin will wave his tail at the emperor and the emperor will grunt and sometimes bite at the sailfin, but I haven't seen any damage inflicted, just warnings.

I don't really know the sex of our emperor. I just call it a he.

 

[schminksbro]

Yellow Clown Gobies
1.They are evil
2. They are evil
3. They are evil

They can be kept in multiples and are not aggressive or big enough to cause a problem with other fish.
They are probably fine with softies or LPS but they can wreak havoc on Acropora. I have heard of people with large colonies getting away with keeping them but frags don't have a chance. They can and do nip at SPS corals. They also sit directly on the corals. They are evil. LOL!

 

[whyzee429]

this thread died :(