Angels in Reef Tanks

[chrism]

Hello from England
I was wondering if anyone on here has any experience in keeping any of the large Angels(Pomacanths,Holocanthus,Pygoplites) in a reef tank situation.
I would really love to get one when I set up my new 150UK/180US gallon tank in the Summer.
If anyone has experience of keeping any of these fishes in a reef tank I would be very grateful for all information (good or bad).
Thanks

 

[mps9506]

I haven't personally. However I have read of people keeping Holocanthus or Pomacanthus angels in reef systems that are dominated by Leathers, xenia and mushrooms. Seems the leathers are too noxious for the angels to devour. Unfortunately I have no personal experience to add....

 

[lcstorc]

I have no personal experience either but from what I understand angels are very tricky in a reef. Many will go after your corals as a snack. Some are more likely to than others but they also can be fine for a long time and then just start nipping for no reason that you can decipher.

 

[sabodish]

based on my research it appears the safest of the large angels in a reef tank are (in no particular order)

emporer
red sea regal
koran
goldflake
flagfin

all are pretty much sps safe, but may nip at zoas, and larger lps corals (brains, lobos, scolymia, etc)

 

[chrism]

Thanks for the responses, My angel of choice would be Emperor (Pomocanthus Imperator), it is in my opinion the most beautiful fish in the world and I have wanted one since my very first efforts in marines back in the early 80's.I have also seen reports that the Majestic (Pomocanthus Navarchus) is reasonably reef friendly but I need first hand info on these fish from someone who has kept them in a reef tank.
Hope someone can help
Thanks

 

[prow]

so you want to keep an angel in the reef huh. try giving this a read. some real good info on them and some that are noway safe and other that are very safe. anyway here you go Aquarium Fish

 

[chrism]

Thanks for the link Prow..made interesting reading. I'm still tempted but will not make a decision until I've read averything I can find.

 

[rDr4g0n]

from my research on angels when first getting into reefing the consensus seemed to be that each angel has his own personality. as such, some would play nice, some wouldnt, some get meaner as they age, etc. its probably very much a random thing.

 

[arkanov85]

Ive kept only one kind of the large angels before in a reef tank without any visible problems it was the passer angel or king angel. He ate only formula foods I gave him. Corals in tank were only LPS though.

 

[cheeks69]

We have a member here that goes by the name of JUCA who keeps the Navarchus without any issues but the tank is dominated by SPS. He has also kept the RS Regal but it had to be removed for damaging some of his corals.

The Goldflake, Regal and Flagfin have a very poor survival record in captivity and I would avoid them. The Imperator Angel usually adapts very well to captivity and has been kept in reefs successfully if introduced as a juvenile but MUST be kept well fed otherwise your corals could be a quick meal !

If you want a reefsafe Angel then I would consider the Swallowing One Victim at a Time: The Genus Genicanthus by Henry C. Schultz III - ReefKeeping.com

 

[arkanov85]

I think large angels will be more tempted to bite sponges, soft corals, and fleshy corals. Probably less susceptible ones would be SPS and non fleshy LPS.

 

[bluespotjawfish]

I've had an Emporer Angel for a few years. It is trial and error. The tank inhabitants are based on what he didn't eat last. If he eats a coral, I don't put that type in the tank any more. Zoas are the favorite. Corals such as scolymia he only bothers when they are feeding, but he rips the flesh clean off of them. He has injured a few leathers that had food trapped in them as well. I've got all my fish in QT right now and I don't think he will be going back in the reef tank. I do enjoy him a lot though!

 

[sam wise]

I have a majestic, emporer and queen in my 500g tank (in the UK) and they are all fine with all of the corals (and we have most types). Admittedly they are all still 4" or so, but as long as you can find a food they like and feed them enough of it, I cant see why you would have any problems. At worst they will nip the odd polyp, so just make sure you have plenty of different things so they don't pick on any one coral too much. After all, they dont wipe out the whole ocean!!

 

[rossco]

We've had an emperor in our tank for over 12 months now. He was only a couple of inches long when we got him. He's about 6" long now and a wee bit fatter.:smirk:

He leaves most of the corals alone but I did take our leathers out as he kept 'cleaning' the sides of them (eating the slimey stuff). They didn't like that too much!
He leaves gold/yellow zoantids alone but will munch other colours like green, red, purple. Will also investigate anything new put in the tank to see if its edible so get the risky stuff in there before the angel.

I go with the steak and chips (ok, fries for you US of A folk) theory, which is feed them well and they will mostly leave the other stuff alone. Our sailfin tang actually nibbles on more stuff, like the sides of Xenia, than the angel does. I'll forgive him though, also eats any bubble algae that pops up.

Time will tell how we all keep getting along together!

 

[lcstorc]

Beautiful reef Rossco!