Potentially 'reef safe' fish that ended up being a great addition to your reef tank? Bad luck with 'reef safe' fish?

[Alpha_and_Gec]

Also, seems like longnose butterflies being reef safe is confirmed? Might want to pick one up then, I guess…

 

[Sleepingtiger]

Also, seems like longnose butterflies being reef safe is confirmed? Might want to pick one up then, I guess…

I think there is a stigma about butterflies in general. I never heard of a lnb or a cbb eat corals.

 

[Marquarium]

Also, seems like longnose butterflies being reef safe is confirmed? Might want to pick one up then, I guess…

I've seen tons of beautiful reef tanks with butterflies but my lfs and other places always say they're a no go for reefs. Another good type to ask about in this thread
So many awesome butterflies

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

Can we get someone to pin this thread or something? Could be pretty useful to use this as a resource for people looking for very specific fish, especially regarding angels, butterflies, and wrasses.

 

[TWYOUNG]

Put a tiny captive bred Aptasia eating filefish in my tank early on. By the time I started adding corals he was about 2" long. Went after my Waving hands Anthelia and Branching leather within hours of placing them in the tank.

 

[forneyjohn19]

I put a flame angel in my tank knowing I had to look out for him nipping my softies and lps corals. He left those alone. Instead, he developed a taste for sps corals. Within a week none of my sps corals were opening their polyps.

On top of this, he literally beat my lawnmower blenny to death and started after my other fish. He was re-homed immediately.

He went to my lfs’s managers’s personal tank. Apparently he tried to bully a foot-long tang, immediately lost, and became a model citizen.

 

[mikey1958]

You hear about all the cautions for some fish. X might may or may not pick at your coral, it depends on bla.

Which fish have you had great luck keeping with your corals that weren't considered reef safe?

Which fish have you had bad luck keeping with your corals that were considered reef safe?

Same question but for fish that are considered 50/50?

 

[mikey1958]

It wasn't a fish but a Peppermint Shrimp. Te second night he ate my Kenya tress and my featherduster

 

[cilyjr]

It wasn't a fish but a Peppermint Shrimp. Te second night he ate my Kenya tress and my featherduster

Probably a camelback sold as a peppermint.

 

[theatrus]

Flame Angel: no issues
Biota Coral Beauty: no issues
Idiris wrasse: no issues

 

[OU812Reefing]

You hear about all the cautions for some fish. X might may or may not pick at your coral, it depends on bla.

Which fish have you had great luck keeping with your corals that weren't considered reef safe?

Which fish have you had bad luck keeping with your corals that were considered reef safe?

Same question but for fish that are considered 50/50?

Had a yellow clown goby go rogue and a citrinus goby also went rogue they both really liked coral lost an Australian Duncan and favia and asome damage to a couple of other corals

 

[tigre44]

My Lemonpeel Angel hasn't bothered anything yet. I've got zoas, leathers, duncans, hammers, gsp, star polyps and some mushrooms. The devil has been my Flame Hawkfish. Not eating anything, but I can't put anything on a rock without gluing it down or it ends up in the sand almost immediately. I had to relocate my Maxima Clam 3 times before I found a spot that he'd leave it alone.

I'm convinced he thinks it's a game.

I'm rolling the dice and adding a Coral Beauty this weekend. Fingers crossed that he'll get along with the coral, and that the Lemonpeel will get along with him.

My lemon peel went after my trachy with a vengeance but leaves all other corals alone including a lobo

 

[radiata]

List of corals in my tanks

gorgonian
nephthea
zoas
palys
gsp
monti
sticks
euphylia
leather
mushrooms

Current fish:
Flame angel- safe
Blue face angel (juv) - when hungry, picks at gorgonian sometimes. But i still see polyp extension.
emperor (juv) - safe
poma - safe
asfur - safe

Fish that are no longer in my aquarium:
copperband - took care of all the aptasia and feather dusters
long nose butterfly - safe
blue ring angel - safe
majestic angel - safe
pyramid butterfly - safe

to be fair, i feed my fish a lot of food 3 to 8 times a day. Not because I don't want them picking at my coral, but a fish that is eating is a healthy fish imo.
What I am most shocked is my zoas aren't being touched. I am sure when they get bigger it will be a light snack, but atm... they are safe.


I plan on adding a majestic, copperband and a regal

Many years back, I had a good-sized Asfur clean off a rock in my tank that had a nice sized collection of an expanding zoa. I didn't mind too much. Today I think that zoos are evil...

 

[apb03]

My LFS has had some Valentini Puffers but they've advised me against. Online says they're very 50/50 but darnit theyre cute

I have a Valentini Puffer. He is by far my favourite fish and he does well in my tank. However he will mercilessly eat most Acros, Monti and some LPS like Acans. If the frag can survive the onslaught for the first couple of days he leaves them alone after that. Acans never make it but most SPS can pull through.

So not sure if that qualifies as good or bad luck.

I did find a trick though. Any new SPS frags I get now go straight to the rack right below my power head. The valentini can't sustain his position in the current so he won't be able to eat them. A few days later I mount them and have Zero issues. I think he just likes to taste everything.

 

[Ali-F]

Bad luck with a Blue tang. Had him for years since he was 1". He was so normal and well behaving until he grow bigger. Noticed him started licking the strings coming out of my SPS (not the fuzzy polyps, sometimes the corals extends thin long lines). Last month noticed my GSP partially closed. I doubted many other fish like my magnificent foxface fish, yellow foxface fish, flame angle, regal angle, CBB until I caught him eating the GSP. Almost 50" x 20" of GSP is gone now.

I decided to take him to another tank but he is soo cautious and never passed the fish trap door. I was heavily adding the food in the trap for more than two weeks with no luck at all. So I gave up

 

[ab-774819]

I got a "yellow coris wrasse" from my LFS but I'm almost 90% sure it's a bananna wrasse. It was fine as first, then I noticed my stomatella snails were becoming thin. Then it became very brave and started picking food from my corals seconds after I placed it with my hand right there. Now it's starting to pick at my corals at random times. I assume he associates them with food now I'm worried he's going to pick them to death but he's so hard to catch!

 

[blaxsun]

Emperor angelfish (almost an adult now).

 

[Brymac1]

I currently have few non-reef safe fish in my reef tank. Here is a list of them and what they eat.

• Moorish idol (eats leather polyps, trachyphyllia, scolymia, micromussa, and nips at acropora polyps)
• Regal angel (nips at zoanthid and acropora polyps)
• Emperor angel (nips at zoanthid and acropora polyps)
• Flame angel (nips at montipora digitata polyps)

None of these deter me from keeping them as I am willing to deal with the lack of polyp extension during the day and to avoid certain corals. They are worth it to me.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Currently have Pomacanthus navarchus and Centropyge eiblii in my tank, neither of which bother zoas, blastos or duncan coral. I plan on having an LPS dominant tank with acans, scolys, lobos, favias and trachys, ect... hopefully they continue to cooperate.

 

[Debramb]

I'm following along, this is an interesting discussion

You’re right right, me too, worrying that Vetteguy had a jerk fish