the flame angel is a wonderful colorful fish that is a great addition to the aquarium. it has a stunning color pattern of reds blues, black, purple, orange, and yellow.
they come from various reefs to include hawaii, marchall, cook, and line. they can be timid upon introduction to the establishe aquarium but will warm up quickly. they eat a variety of foods live brine, mysis, flake, frozen meaty foods, pellets, spirulina, and seaweed sheets (nori) and will often be seen grazing upon algae on the glass and the live rock.
they will fight other fish in the aquarium if challenged for space as well as other dwarf angels in smaller aquariums.
they reach a max size of 6" (15 cm) and some places suggest it as a last fish ( i personally have added fish after mine but none of them were similar in body size, shape, or color).
now there is a big question (as with alot of other species of saltwater fish) "is it reef safe?". ok, in my own personal experience i say yes it is. now the rule of thumb with ANY dwarf angel, give yourself a 50/50 chance of getting a coral nipper. that is to say, if your dwarf angel gets a taste for coral he may start eating it. one sure fire way to keep it from happening is to keep it well fed. i have never experienced a coral nipping flame but i have seen others that have so as far as reef safe Yes (but with caution).
the basic requirements for keeping a flame angel.
care level: easy
diet: omnivorous (flake, frozen, spirulina, algae sheets (nori), pellets, and algae grazing)
temperment: peacful (can be agressive to other fish if challenged for space and other dwarf angels in smaller tanks)
salinity: 1.020 to 1.025
temperature: 75f to 80f (25c to 27c)
size: up to 4 " in captivity (6" (15cm) in the wild)
reef safe: yes (but with caution)
alkalinity: 8 to 12
PH: 8.1 to 8.4
minimum tank size: 30 gallons (for one) MUCH LARGER if keeping 2
AVOID keeping with large eels, lionfish, or any other fish large enough to eat them.
a quarantine tank is recommended as a must have ( i did not use one myself though). acclimate the flame angel slowly (1 hour +). on the keeping of 2 before any questions are asked, mine is in a 90 gallon tank and i would NOT put in a second one, i would not consider putting 2 in any tank smaller that 200 gallons and i would get 2 small ones and add them at the same time.
