Lemonpeel Angelfish: Please say I can keep it.

[theGil]

My gf and I fell in love with a Lemonpeel Angelfish at a LFS last week, so I checked LiveAquaria.com, and it said:

 

"It is very prone to nip at large-polyped stony corals and clam mantles. It is best not to keep Lemonpeel Angelfish with fish of the same genera."

 

Ok, no LPS or clams here, and no other Angelfish... Done! We brought her home, and have been enjoying her beauty in the quarantine tank.

 

Then... I did some more research online Turns out they nip (can nip?) at all sorts of corals (not just LPS). Also turns out that they are (can be?) aggressive towards all sorts of fish (not just "fish of the same genera"). Ugh... Now I don't know what to do. The idea of starting a FOWLR tank in order to keep her has crossed my mind, but I was trying to move towards just having one "larger" tank, instead of a few smaller ones (like I do now).

 

So, anybody have good experience keeping a Lemonpeel with Ocellaris Clowfish, Green Chromis, Clown Gobies, Neon Gobies, Mandarin Dragonets, or....? I'd hate to see any of the above get killed

 

I've also got a really nice Duncan Coral (it now has 4 heads growing under the original head!), a few Mushrooms and a couple of Candy Canes, too. I'd hate for them to be ruined/killed. And I'd def like to add more corals over time. Is adding a Lemonpeel an obvious "NO"? If so, what's up with LiveAquaria.com's description??!!

[najluni15]

If your tank is not huge and you are able to catch her with a net or trap if she's a nipper then go for it. I've had many dwarf angels and only one that nipped which was a beautiful eibli angel. I caught her with a net and sold her. I just bought a coral beauty yesterday too. I had a great lemon peel until ich took her. Good luck. If she's a bit aggressive then see if it cools down or catch her. She doesn't have any conspecifics like other angels or yellow tang.

[Osric]

I don't have experience of this particular angel but it's the same general family as a flame angel and people have about 50/50 luck with those. Sometimes they're fine and sometimes they're monsters apparently. Also the tank size requirements on liveaquaria looked a little small to me.

 

Osric

[najluni15]

I had a coral beauty in a 28 for a year and a half and she was happy as could be

[slickwill613]

Obvious no being the keywords.

[theGil]

Oh crap... I just realized that I was confusing SPS and LPS :/ I said I don't have any LPS, then I said I have a Duncan. Duh. Man, that sucks...

[theGil]

If your tank is not huge and you are able to catch her with a net or trap if she's a nipper then go for it. I've had many dwarf angels and only one that nipped which was a beautiful eibli angel. I caught her with a net and sold her. I just bought a coral beauty yesterday too. I had a great lemon peel until ich took her. Good luck. If she's a bit aggressive then see if it cools down or catch her. She doesn't have any conspecifics like other angels or yellow tang.

 

Yeah, I could probably catch her. I just can't imagine something happening to my little Mandarin. And I'd hate for something to happen when I'm not around :/

 

I don't have experience of this particular angel but it's the same general family as a flame angel and people have about 50/50 luck with those. Sometimes they're fine and sometimes they're monsters apparently. Also the tank size requirements on liveaquaria looked a little small to me.

 

Osric

 

So, "monsters" refers to aggression towards other fish? Or to nipping corals? Thanks.

 

I had a coral beauty in a 28 for a year and a half and she was happy as could be

 

Did she have any tank mates? If so, what were they?

 

Obvious no being the keywords.

 

Yeah? Regarding both aggression and nipping?

[theGil]

Well this isn't encouraging:

 

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/jf/index.php

[Osric]

So, "monsters" refers to aggression towards other fish? Or to nipping corals? Thanks.

 

Referring to corals. The angels aren't really any more aggressive than damsels of which I believe you already have two ...

 

Osric

[theGil]

Referring to corals. The angels aren't really any more aggressive than damsels of which I believe you already have two ...

 

Osric

 

 

Yeah, I've got two Oc Clownfish and three Green Chromis (quite small). I'm waiting on a bigger tank before mixing in my gobies and my mandarin, although I kinda assumed that everything would be peaceful at that time. Oh wait... I DO have a Green Clown Goby in with the Clownfish and Chromis, but he's always hiding in the rock work (shoots out and back for food).

[jedimasterben]

Well this isn't encouraging:

 

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/jf/index.php

+1, the truth.

[wombat]

If you get one eating, they are really not that tough. As far as corals, leathers and mushrooms should be fine. You just have to decide whether your corals or your fish are more important; add corals one at a time and see what happens. It doesn't hurt to feed it well, too.

[lagunastudio]

Well this isn't encouraging:

 

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/jf/index.php

 

nope, one of the worst ones to get. it's hard to find exotic fish for small tanks.

i love my clowns but they're just clowns. the better half won't do a large fish tank

in the house. one is certainly very restricted by minimum tank size in this hobby.

[awpong]

I had a lemonpeel for a year without any major issues. When I bought him, he did have a parasitic copepod stuck to his gills, but my cleaner wrasse fixed that problem quickly and he was healthy ever since. I ended up selling him to the same guy who bought my lionfish. I didn't want to get rid of him, but I was going to be out of town for a month, so it was in the fishes best interest.

 

I do have to mention that the lemonpeel was very aggressive towards my snails. Every single nassarius snail in the tank lost its siphon to the lemonpeel's harassment. However, he was very peaceful with my other fish in the tank. His tank mates were a cinnamon clown, a volitan lion, a fuzzy lion, and my cleaner wrasse.

 

Also, he was in a semi-fowler tank so I can't really comment on his tendency to pick at coral. The only coral I had in his tank were some GSP, Frogspawn, a Kenya tree, and a RBTA. He never picked at any of them.

 

However, most dwarf angels are a luck of the draw citation. Some are good, some are bad. My experience was positive, but that doesn't mean yours will be.

 

[najluni15]

I had it in an overstocked 28 gallon with a coral beauty, strawberry dottyback, pair of clowns, YWG, and some chromis. All were happy with plenty of food and a 5 gallon water change every week. The coral loved all the poop food floating around.

[1.0reef]

They may be aggressive

They most likely will nip at corals

They get 6 inches and need (IMO) at least a 40 gallon breeder

Hope you know Mandarins eat copepods and aren't the easiest fish to keep, especially in new tanks.

[theGil]

+1, the truth.

 

 

If you get one eating, they are really not that tough. As far as corals, leathers and mushrooms should be fine. You just have to decide whether your corals or your fish are more important; add corals one at a time and see what happens. It doesn't hurt to feed it well, too.

 

Well, so far so good on eating.

 

Good call, I could try one at a time.

 

nope, one of the worst ones to get. it's hard to find exotic fish for small tanks.

i love my clowns but they're just clowns. the better half won't do a large fish tank

in the house. one is certainly very restricted by minimum tank size in this hobby.

 

Well, the tank I'm waiting on is a 40g (LiveAquaria.com said 30g min), so I felt ok with tank size. It was compatibility (fish and reef) that I was concerned about.

 

I had a lemonpeel for a year without any major issues. When I bought him, he did have a parasitic copepod stuck to his gills, but my cleaner wrasse fixed that problem quickly and he was healthy ever since. I ended up selling him to the same guy who bought my lionfish. I didn't want to get rid of him, but I was going to be out of town for a month, so it was in the fishes best interest.

 

I do have to mention that the lemonpeel was very aggressive towards my snails. Every single nassarius snail in the tank lost its siphon to the lemonpeel's harassment. However, he was very peaceful with my other fish in the tank. His tank mates were a cinnamon clown, a volitan lion, a fuzzy lion, and my cleaner wrasse.

 

Also, he was in a semi-fowler tank so I can't really comment on his tendency to pick at coral. The only coral I had in his tank were some GSP, Frogspawn, a Kenya tree, and a RBTA. He never picked at any of them.

 

However, most dwarf angels are a luck of the draw citation. Some are good, some are bad. My experience was positive, but that doesn't mean yours will be.

 

 

Beautiful fish!

 

It sounds like your Lemonpeel had tank mates that are tougher than my current fish. My toughest fish are a pair of Oc Clownfish. Then Green Chromis. The rest are peaceful little gobies and my mandarin.

 

Oh crap! I have two tiny Nassarius snails in the tank w the Lemonpeel! I hope they're ok :/ I better check on them...

 

I had it in an overstocked 28 gallon with a coral beauty, strawberry dottyback, pair of clowns, YWG, and some chromis. All were happy with plenty of food and a 5 gallon water change every week. The coral loved all the poop food floating around.

 

Cool. What kind of Clowns were they?

 

They may be aggressive

They most likely will nip at corals

They get 6 inches and need (IMO) at least a 40 gallon breeder

Hope you know Mandarins eat copepods and aren't the easiest fish to keep, especially in new tanks.

 

Yeah, I have a 40g (30x18x18) on the way.

 

Oh man, I should post a pic of my Mandarin ("Yellow" "Target" type). She's a chubby little thing. Saw her eat brine at the LFS before I adopted her. And she has continued to eat (mainly brine) since then. I feel so lucky to have her.

[1.0reef]

Try and get her to eat prepared foods like Ova and cyclops-eeze, brine isn't very nutritious.

[awpong]

Try and get her to eat prepared foods like Ova and cyclops-eeze, brine isn't very nutritious.

 

The lemonpeel is primarily herbivores. Feed it like a tang.

[jedimasterben]

The lemonpeel is primarily herbivores. Feed it like a tang.

Oh man, I should post a pic of my Mandarin ("Yellow" "Target" type). She's a chubby little thing. Saw her eat brine at the LFS before I adopted her. And she has continued to eat (mainly brine) since then. I feel so lucky to have her.

Try and get her to eat prepared foods like Ova and cyclops-eeze, brine isn't very nutritious.

[awpong]

Try and get her to eat prepared foods like Ova and cyclops-eeze, brine isn't very nutritious.

 

Oh, my bad lol. Yea, Ova is like crack for mandarins.

[jedimasterben]

Oh, my bad lol. Yea, Ova is like crack for mandarins.

I got mine on day one to eat decap'd brine eggs (unhatched, so they are nutritious) and NLS small pellets on day one, but not everyone is so lucky.

[theGil]

Try and get her to eat prepared foods like Ova and cyclops-eeze, brine isn't very nutritious.

 

Well, the brine is enriched, if that helps(?) But, yeah, I've got packs of different foods in my freezer (baby brine, mysis, "mini mysis", bloodworms), but my Mandarin def prefers the brine. The mysis is so big. I chop it up, but then it's just weird little pieces. The bloodworms are massive, too. I tried to chop them up, but I ended up with a bunch of "casings" and a bunch of red liquid on my cutting board. The enriched brine seems to be the fav of my other fish, too.

 

I just read reviews on Nutrmar Ova, and it appears to be extremely well received. I'll try buy some today! How big is it compared to brine?

 

The lemonpeel is primarily herbivores. Feed it like a tang.

 

As, jedimasterben pointed out, we're talking about my Mandarin HOWEVER, what does "feed it like a Tang" mean? I've never had one. I've been feeding my Lemonpeel flake, brine, and algae wafers. I believe she eats at least some of all 3. What do you recommend?

 

Try and get her to eat prepared foods like Ova and cyclops-eeze, brine isn't very nutritious.

 

[jedimasterben]

Well, the brine is enriched, if that helps(?) But, yeah, I've got packs of different foods in my freezer (baby brine, mysis, "mini mysis", bloodworms), but my Mandarin def prefers the brine. The mysis is so big. I chop it up, but then it's just weird little pieces. The bloodworms are massive, too. I tried to chop them up, but I ended up with a bunch of "casings" and a bunch of red liquid on my cutting board. The enriched brine seems to be the fav of my other fish, too.

Enriched brine shrimp still aren't too nutritious in comparison to mysids or a good enriched pellet/flake food (EDIT: I guess it is dependent on what it is enriched with, check with the packaging). Check out what Brine Shrimp Direct sells, I use Golden Pearls and Zooplankton Flake from them and my fish all go nuts and I know that they are getting good food. (this is in addition to everything else I feed, see my thread for more details).

HOWEVER, what does "feed it like a Tang" mean? I've never had one. I've been feeding my Lemonpeel flake, brine, and algae wafers. I believe she eats at least some of all 3. What do you recommend?

Angelfish are omnivores that lean towards herbivores. Feed them dried seaweed (fresh if you can, culture ulva and gracilaria and it should nom on them), spirulina-enriched flakes and pellets, or formula 2 frozen food.

[sanchez]

I have a flameback angel and it doesn't nip at anything, it all depends how you keep it fed and the personality of the fish really. Some are more nippy than others I guess.