Are Flame Angels reef safe?

[trainfever]

My tank is a reef tank and I would really like to get a Flame Angel but my LFS says that they are not reef safe but this site says that they are. Those of you that have them or have had them in a reef tank, what's your opinion?

 

[fedukeford]

Most if not all dwarf angels have a 50/50 chance of being reef safe... if you'd be able to catch it easily mine as well try it out.
Feduke

 

[stanlalee]

often depends on how much bothering you consider tolarable. I have a dwarf and it occasionally probably nips at everything except mushrooms, star polyps and euphyllia (hammer, frogspawn). It will occasionally nip at zoo's, polythoa, acropora but not enough for me to remove it. IF you do get a nipper the key is to have a large enough tank with enough corals that any one doesn't get bothered enough to be damaged. mine doesn't and most dont actually EAT corals as that is just not part of their natural diet (unlike large angels). they eat the slime and detritus on and produced by corals. Mine and the puffer before took great liking to picking at open brain and this is just a coral that probably cant be had with questionable reef safe fish.

 

[fishfreek]

I agree with what was stated above, its a 50/50 crap shoot(but worth it, IMO). I took a big chance and keep a rusty angel :scared: in my reef and have had no problems with him as of yet. I have kept coral beauty's, a flame in the past and now this guy. They may occasionally nip, but as stated, they actually don't get a taste for the coral itself, its the slime the coral produces. I believe if they have enough to feed on though out the day, coral nipping should not occur on a regular basis. HTH.

 

[aztec reef]

i try it once, but i couldn't stand seeing him snip all over my reef, so i took it back.but also heard of people having sucess with them..

 

[alyssia]

I have had two flames and neither one of them have bothered corals, but they terrorized my other fish.

 

[gasman4433]

I have a flame in 90 gal. reef and its never bothered a thing.And before that I had a coral beauty and had good luck with it as well.

 

[travis89]

I have a coral beauty that never bothers anything, but generally dwarf angels are a 50/50 shot.