still not there yet.

[Doc]

Well, my Regal didn't make it. He was not an aggressive enough eater. I saw that he was eating, but looked pretty thin. I figured he was just not eating enough, so I planned to take him to the fish store to trade him in. But, he died. Sad, I have never seen one that eats before. Too bad. I found a juvenile blue angelfish that I added in his place. He is much more of an aggressive eater. He is doing well. SInce I no longer have my homocidal purple tang, I hope he will live. I will post pics later. I was tempted to try a blue-faced angel, but I hear they are not very aggressive either. My Koran is pretty aggressive as are my tangs. One of these days, I will find the balance of fish that fit my tank. GRRR.

-Dr Marco

[yote]

Hate to hear that Doc.
How about a Queen Angel? I cant remember if you already have one or not.

[RigoSharon]

sorry to hear that ..good luck on your new adds

[SSalty]

That blows, but one thing, we all know how you feel.

[Doc]

Don't have a queen. Can't find one cheap enough. I like to find expensive fish on a deal before I buy them. I haven't found a Queen for less than $100. I currently have a 6 inch Koran, a 5 inch blue-ring and now a 3 inch blue angel. I think I am all loaded up on angelfish - hopefully for good. Thanks for your kind sentiments regarding my dead fish. Although it doesn't help at all, it sure is nice. ...lol

-Dr Marco

[reeffreak]

Sorry about your lost Doc.
Now that I have a tank large enough to house some beauties,I'm going to pay more attentions to your threads.Is there any large Angels that are considered reef safe?I think this ? has been asked a hundred time.

[Doc]

reeffreak,

It depends on your definition of "reef safe". Almost all of them can be kept with "noxious soft corals", meaning leathers and the like. Many are safe with SPS corals. The trick is to find the specimens that are going to leave your LPS alone. I have a trick that works for me, and for over two months now, none of my 3 hammers, frogspawn or even xenia have been nipped at. If you are just going to keep SPS corals, Emperors, Queens, Blue-faced, French, Blue, all the biggies are going to be "OK" - just keep them well fed.

If you are planning on having lots of LPS, a few have better reps than others, Regal, Majestic, Scribbled and Emperors seem to be better bets than others. There is still a risk, but can be done. Make sure you add all your corals BEFORE introducing any large angel, they will pick on anything else you add to your tank. I have tried to add three different colt corals to my tank since having my angels and they will not let it in. They have ravaged each one, even though colt corals are supposed to be "noxious".

The only true "reef safe" angels are Lamark's and Watanabe's, but they only get about 6-8 inches and I don't think their color patterns are worth the tank space. IMHO, if you are going to do angels - go for the breath-taking ones that knock off your socks. Buy them about 6-8 inches in length so they start off looking good. Even if you can only keep leathers, you can get a mess of nepthia, spaghetti, colt, toadstool, mushrooms, finger and yellow tonga leathers that will rock your world as a background to a full grown French or Queen. Just the thought makes me drool all over myself.

I have a whole lot of rambling that I could do on my experiment with big angels and reefs, but I will reserve the rest unless you are really interested. Just avoid those pigmy angels, they tend to be more aggressive toward corals than the big angels - especially that rotten lemon-peel thing-er...hate that fish.

-Dr Marco

[reeffreak]

Thanks Doc .....good info.I didn't really want to go with the dwarfs.I'm still in the planning stage right now.The only fish so far on my list is either a Powder Blue or Powder Brown Tang(ick magnets I know)but they are gorgeous fish.Maybe a school of Anthias but still undecided right now on what species.I want one more big fish with the tang and nothing is as gorgeous as those large Angels although I like some of them wrasses but they are jumpers.I think I could work around that though.

One last question?Have you keep any of the larger exotic wrasses like the Velvet Multicolor,Radiant?

[Doc]

Reeffreak,

I have not had much success with the combo of anthias and tangs / angels. Anthias are slow eaters and tend to get intimadated by larger, more aggressive fish. I had a school of three Bartlett's anthias and a school of four squmapinis anthias at two separate occasions, both times with tangs in the tank. they all slowly starved to death. If you are thinking of anthias, I would go with more passive fish - gobies, blennies, jawfish, etc.

I have only kept two wrasses, the yellow coris wrasse and the ornate wrasse. Both have done well. I still have the ornate wrasse in my work tank, and he is very active. He does enjoy eating the occasional crab and snail.

Powder Blues are wonderfully beautiful fish and are also rather aggressive. That fish would do well with large angelfish. I am excited to hear what you plan on filling into that 210!

-Dr Marco