Flame angels and corals.

[j-cal]

I've heard that flame angels are about 50-50 on reef safe or not. What can i do to better my odds. Do they nip at all corals or just corals with small polyps? Are there better pygmy angels for reefs? I've heard that bicolors and coral beauties have about the same track record. Tks

 

[wrassecal]

I've kept a coral beauty in my reef for over a year. I know quite a few of us keep flames too. With these 2 I don't think it's quite 50/50 maybe 70/30? Who knows with each individual fish. I do feed mine nori every day and it keeps busy picking on that and the algae in the tank. The dwarf angels should only be intoduced into mature tanks with a lot of live rock. IME

 

[bang guy]

The corals I've heard that Flames pick on are LPS like Brains and also clams. I've taken the risk and so far it's worked out. (knock on driftwood).
I still get nervous when I see stuff like this though, but so far no nipping:

 

[coralwish]

The flame angel should be fine as long as you have a mature tank. There so many things in the tank they could eat and play with, so they should not bother the corals. I have one in my 90 reef and he's always shopping around the rocks for a meal of pods and algae.

 

[wrassecal]

LOL Bang Guy - I think that flame is licking his lips

 

[newreefers]

I make sure my flame has plenty of seaweed selects to eat and he leaves my corals and clams totally alone.

 

[phoenixrising]

I keep a flame angel in my reef and in 2 or so years he has never picked at anything. My coral beauty is in the FOWLR. Hard to hurt anything in there!
FWIW...my friend has a flame in his reef that he has been trying to remove (without tearing down his reef) for weeks due to constant picking at the corals.

 

[m.rogers]

i had a flame in my 72 bo before my cuke nuke and it never pick at coral (RIP little flame)
i know a guy that had a flame in his tank for like 3 or 4 years and it never touched a thing then one day it started to pick at his corals.
mike

 

[hairtrigger]

I've kept a couple of flames with corals. Never had a problem with any of them. However, the larger angels I definitely have. But that's irrelevant. Just give him lots of algae to eat. Eg, seaweed selects or something. They are constant grazers. So if you have a lot of LR, they will probably just nit pick around that.
Bang... knock on driftwood? That's good stuff.