Angels - Beautiful but Worth It?

Was wondering if anyone has actually kept angels in a reef system successfully and had no, or minimal picking at corals and the like. They are really cool fish, probably one of the most beautiful groups available for the aquarium hobby, but which come with a price
I know they are not completely reef safe, but I figured some people probably have tried to keep them in a reef environment anyway. So I would really like to hear anyone's experiences, stories, tips and suggestions about keeping angels in reef systems and if the chance of them damaging the reef outweighs getting them in the first place.

 

I have have read that many people keep angles in reef systems. In fact most people on here do. What I am learning is that when a description says reef safe with caution that means that they in fact can be kept in a reef but may(and only may) take a liking to a certain park of the reef. I havent read about an angle going into a reef system and completely turning everything upside down. For instance, they might pic at your zooanthids. Also some can be semi aggressive so another thing I have learned from our fellow reefers is that you should add your fish according to aggressiveness. Less aggressive to more aggressive.

 

I kept a coral beauty angel fish in my reef tank for over a year until I got rid of the tank, I believe flame angel is a good choice also only more expensive, just keep them well fed and will be fine,

 

We kept a flame back dwarf angel in our 85 & it did pretty good. The clowns probably stressed corals more trying to be hosted than the flame did by nipping. But our 85 was stocked really well with corals, so it's hard to tell what all the angel nipped at. But I would imagine if they're fed really well then they would nip less. To this day I would keep an angel over a clown IME.

 

The distinction I think is whether you're talking regular angels or dwarf angels. There are several dwarf angels that are considered "reef safe with caution" - some that I've heard and read about have already been mentioned (flame, coral beauty), there's also the potter's and pygmy angel. If you're speaking about regular angels, that is harder to find in terms of reefers keeping them with corals - like the emperor and such. Which angel type are you referring to?

 

What you have to remember is that all angels feed on the slime of corals to some extent.Once they get a taste for it they usually do not stop.Some corals are more appetizing apparently then others.They can also be perfect citizens for periods of time and go beserk 1 day.There are some here who feel that keeping them fat and happy(variety) and you can keep them from nipping things. IMO they are just doing what they do and thats graze.They will do that whether there are corals or not but if they get a fever for the flavor you will be tearing the tank apart to remove them.
It all comes down to limiting risks and with so many involved it is best IMO to limit them when possible.Angels are definitely a risk regardless of species IME.

 

I'd rather have a huge FOWLR full of rare angels and buttterflys vs a huge full blown reef with none.

 

What's wrong with both?

 

You can look into species that are less likely to pick at corals...for example, Genicanthus sp. angels are planktivorous, and generally do very little, if any, picking at corals, macro, etc.

 

Spotbreast Angelfish (Genicanthus melanospilos) -

I have kept two of these for years in my fully stocked reef aquarium without issue. These are the only 100% reef safe angels.