angel substitution

bemyself

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Jul 17, 2003
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hi all,
i thought of adding 2 angel ( bi color angel and the beauty coral ) to my 80 gallons reef tank. however i was told that these 2 are not reef compatible and they tend to nip at corals. so my question is that are they any angels that are reef compatible or any fishes that are similar to angel (in terms of body shape and color) that are reef compatible.
please put wrasse, goby or any other fishes that like to hide out of this option as presently i had 1 scissor tail goby and 1 firefish that tend to hide all the time. show up when dinner is serve. in fact i would like fishes that like to swim around just like my blue and yellow tang. by the way, fish in my tank:
2 clown, 1 scissortail goby, 1 firefish, 1 yellow tang, 1 blue tang, 1 red head solon wrasse and 1 rock blenny and i am more on keeping soft coral. please excuse my lengthy sentence and hope anybody can help. thanks
 
Angels vary by personality. There are not any species that will thrive and not nip at corals. The few that won't nip are obligate feeders on sponges and have no place in most aquariums. Some angels will be well behaved, while others will nip. It's just a hit or miss thing, with no gaurantees.

I wouldn't add more fish to your setup--it sounds pretty full once your fish hit their adult size.
 
I agree with OG that your tank is nearing capacity. The two tangs will grow quickly and dominate the tank, so an angel would probably be trouble.
I hear that flame angels can work OK in reefs, but that each has its own personality and it's therefore always a gamble.
I guess this is all just a rephrasing of what OrionGirl said.
 
Thanks for the reply and advice. Maybe I'll take both your advice and rather not take the risk but however most of my fishes are still very small in size and considering my sump as big as my main tank with good filtration, can't i just put in 1 or 2 more fishes ( maybe not angels) to brighten up the tank. And how long does tangs take to grow up to a considerable size. I'm open to more advice. Thanks
 
While the increased volume of water increases the capacit of the tank for dealing with wastes and toxins, it does not change the territory available for the fish.

SW tanks are not known for being packed with lots of fish. Plain and simple, the biological needs and territory issues of SW fish means that providing a good home for a few fish is hard enough.
 
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