Angelfish trained to be reef safe

I received this as a PM and thought it might be helpful to share.

anonymous wrote: Mark, I was reading your post of training. I really want an emperor angelfish, but I love zoas. I know that they [probably] eat them. so if I want one how and what would I have to do to prepare and train one so it doesn't eat zoas?

Good question. First of all, not all the large Angelfish like Pomacantus sp. and Holacanthus sp. eat coral polyps and even among one Angel like the Emperor, some individuals will not cause a problem. I have included below a few pics I took of Angels in friends tanks that did not bother coral, but were probably eating live *Sponge and Tunicates.

The best way to start an Angelfish in a reef is to let the tank grow very mature adding lots of different Sponge (encrusting not branching) and Tunicates before adding the Angelfish. After that, the best advice i can think of is what I said in the Reefkeeping Tip thread about adding new fish, i.e., overfeeding before and after introduction and then standing guard for a while with a stick or laser pointer to scare the fish whenever it even looks at a coral. You are the Alpha.

If you have ever seen Tileman/Brads tank, you will notice that some types of coral are not there. I don't know how much training Brad does, if any, but he has taken coral out of the tank because he would rather have the Angelfish.

* There are Angelfish foods that are specially formulated to include Sponge. Sally's Frozen Emerald Entree with all the chunks of algae is also good nutrition that will help keep Angelfish from desiring coral.

Mahalo,
Mark


Above: Queen Angelfish, Holocanthus ciliarus
Below: Emperor Angelfish, Pomacanthus imperator






Edited by Mark Peterson - June 02 2014 at 3:36pm

Cool.
Well, I guess I should first state that there is little we can do to keep a shark from eating a delicious fish. A friend here recently showed us that with his shark. In the same way we can't keep a Triggerfish from eating a Peppermint Shrimp. Even Cleaner Shrimp can eventually become a snack in a predator tank where the predators no longer have parasites for the Shrimp to clean. We know that Butterflyfish eat all kinds of coral polyps in addition to Aiptasia Anemones. Some hobbyists buy coral for their Butterflyfish to eat.

The Harlequin Tusk is a Wrasse. (Nice article here.) As it gets larger it can be a definite shrimp eater but training it to stay away from coral should not be too difficult, since coral is not on its menu in the wild. Training isn't just showing the fish who's the boss waving the stick  it involves first preparing the tank environment by encouraging the growth of a fishes natural foods and then feeding the right supplemental foods.

This is how I see it. If we keep a manicured tank, free of algae and other possibly less attractive living matter, isn't it our fault if we buy a a fish that can't find enough of it's usual diet so it starts trying other things. It's hungry. It looks around and sees this garden of coral flesh with it's nutritious symbiotic algae. Can we blame it if it starts munching?

Years ago we had the famous Julian Sprung as a guest speaker. Among other helpful things, he suggested that, because Gorgonians appear to be one of the less "tasty" coral, they might be kept successfully in a predator tank.

There is something to be said for letting all kinds of stuff grow in our tanks. Sometimes we see tanks that don't look so manicured, they may be utterly unattractive at first glance, but then we look closer and we start to notice some pretty amazing animals (or algae) that we've never seen anywhere like that before.

Aloha

The master at keeping angels in reefs.  

Aaron, Thanks for the link. That is awesome.
Didn't we have John C. as a guest speaker some years ago?

Click on this random page that shows many different kinds of frozen foods for different kinds of fish:
http://www.thatpetplace.com/aquarium-supplies/frozen-aquarium-food#!frozen-aquarium-food
Many of these can be found locally.

Aloha

love2skiutah wrote: The master at keeping angels in reefs.   His theory is "It's not what you add, but how you add".   https://vimeo.com/13564370

It was actually your tank thread and your Regal that really made me start thinking I could pull this off. Thanks for the link.