Experiances with Dwarf Angels and coral

[saix88]

I DO NOT WANT TEXT BOOK RESPONSES, ONLY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES.

I would really like to add a dwarf angel to a reef tank but have always heard mixed things about them. I really hope some people have experiences with the ones I'm interested in.

Potter's Angel
Lemon Peel
Flame
Coral Beauty

Did you add your angel last?
Were the corals they nipped at new or old to the angels arrival?
What did you feed your angel and did you feed him often to prevent nipping?
Which type did they nip at most?

Thank you.

[unleashed]

My answers are in bold


I DO NOT WANT TEXT BOOK RESPONSES, ONLY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES.

I would really like to add a dwarf angel to a reef tank but have always heard mixed things about themusual. I really hope some people have experiences with the ones I'm interested in.

I've kept all of them

Potter's Angel very difficult to keep. Never nipped at anything. They generally feed off detritus on the rocks and requite 100+lbs of established live rock
Lemon Peel I've found that this was the most prone to nipping. Nipped at pretty much everything - softies, polyps, sps and lps as well as clams. Never did too much damage, just irritated them
Flame Never nipped
Coral Beauty Never nipped

Did you add your angel last? Added at various stages
Were the corals they nipped at new or old to the angels arrival? See my response to the lemonpeel
What did you feed your angel and did you feed him often to prevent nipping? The usual pellets, mysis and brine etc.......
Which type did they nip at most? see my response to the lemonpeel

I've found that nearly all species of dwarf angels don't really deserve the 'nipping' reputation that they have. I've kept several species of dwarfs in the past and the only one which nipped was the lemonpeel. The rest were model citizens

Thank you. no worries

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I have personally only had the Flame Angel and I have had no problems with nipping at all. From my experience, while there may be some species that are more prone than others, it comes down to individual specimens. I have a mix of SPS, LPS, and Softies in my tank with no issues at all. My angel was not the last thing added to the tank, and I even added corals after the angel was added. I didn't do any extra feeding to prevent nipping, I just simply fed it NLS pellets.

I can give you the personal experience of a fellow reefer in my reef club. He had a Coral Beauty that he added to his tank and it nipped just about everything in his tank, LPS and Softies. I am usure of the diet he used, but I do know that it was added after the corals and it started nipping pretty much right away.

My LFS owner has had many experiences with Lemon Peel Angels and in pretty much all cases he said they nipped LPS and Softies, regardless of when they were added or what they were fed.

[saix88]

Thanks for the quick responses...really hit or miss with them =/

[MonkeyPox]

I've had flame and coral beauty. My responses are identical to Unleashed's for those species.

[kaybee]

I temporarily added some anthelia (soft coral in the xenia family) to one of my fish-only tanks which contains a bicolor angel and it didn't bother the anthelia a bit.

But based on the general reputation of the dwarf angels I wouldn't risk relocating the bicolor into my reef tank where it could potentially pick at stony corals, though I would guess that placing it in a tank which is already stocked with corals would be better than adding corals to its tank which would motivate it to investigate the new stuff.