Flame angel normal behavior?

Purdy0753

New Member
Hey everyone I am new to the forum and to saltwater fish in general. I just purchased a flame angel that's around 2" long. When I first put him into the tank after acclimation he grazed for a little while then hid in the live rock for a few days and I barely saw him. Now three days later he came out of hiding and is just basically floating in one spot swimming in around in a very small area. I also noticed one of his side fins is partially damaged and he has a white spot on one eye. I have yet to witness him eat other than occasional grazing on the rock. I'm just a little concerned by his behavior and am wondering if this is fairly normal for a fish that is new to a tank with other fish already in the tank? Thank you for any advice you might have!
 

Purdy0753

New Member
Sadly the poor little guy died last last night! He was tank mates with a yellow tang, six line wrasse, yellow tailed blue damsel, about a 5" porcupine puffer, snowflake clown, and a small picaso trigger. All the fish seem to get along never saw any of them pick on him. We only had the flame angel for 3 days. I'm not sure if he just had a disease or parasite from before we got him or if I did something wrong?
 

Purdy0753

New Member
Do you think that's what caused him to die? The tank is in my living room where I can see it all day and I never saw any of them harass the angel! The damsel and the trigger will chase each other every now and again but never bite at each other. i also just noticed a picture of when he was in the bag from the store and his fin was already messed up.
 

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Its possible he was in bad shape to begin with, but those fish are some of the more aggressive
 

beth

Administrator
Staff member
It very much sounds like aggression. You'd have to craftly observe a tank 24/7 sometimes to actually see what is going on. Not uncommon for aggressors to wait until no one is looking to strike.
 

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
How big is your tank? The same fish in a big tank will be less of a problem. When you put them in a smaller tank where territories are at a premium aggression is much more likely to be an issue.
 

Purdy0753

New Member
The tank is 115 gallons 6 ft wide with plenty of live rock hiding spots. None of the other fish show any aggression towards each other except the damsel will sometimes chase the trigger then the trigger will chase the damsel away then they all swim peacefully together again. Am I too assume now that I have too aggressive of a tank and I will always have this issue trying to introduce new fish?
 

jay0705

Well-Known Member
Intros yes, they will be tough. Too aggressive, its a matter of option. The puffer and trigger should get big enough to eat the damsel and the clown lol. The tang isn't a bad choice. That said, in a big enough tank they should co exist for awhile
 

Purdy0753

New Member
I purchased this tank used with everything already set up and inside it except the trigger puffer clown and the angel! I would like at least another fish or two to be on the tank any recommendations for fish that would be ok with the fish already inside? My original idea were regal tang and that flame angel but I don't want to have more fish if they are just going to get picked on and potentially killed. Should I just be looking at other semi aggressive fish or just slightly larger size than the current fishes size?
 
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