Coral Beauty

[Iron Crab]

I picked up a Coral Beauty at the LFS Saturday. I read that these are a hardy fish once they have settled down but just read in another book that they are not the best choice.
They had one in about every tank in the store and we spent a lot of time picking out the best one.
At the moment it seems to stay in one little hole and will not venture out. When I first put it in a damsel terrorized it so I changed the rock pile around a little- this worked when I added the Scopas Tang.
The damsel is there to stay- I spent a lot of time trying to get it out. So far- no luck
Anyone have a Coral Beauty or something to share about them?

[fishguy_8]

Best thing to do is leave him be. Angels of any kind are hit and miss. Go get yourself some formula 1 angel food if you havent already. Hikari also makes a frozen food that is the same as formula one. They are skiddish fish until they are relaxed. Give him time to settle in. Watch his body for soft fleshy areas getting kind of loose. Angels are easily infected w/ popeye and head and latteral line erosion. If you see this go get melafix and follow the directions. If it was me I'd get it before just in case you have any problems. Never hurts to be a step ahead of the game. The damsel hopefully will just be a tough guy for a little bit and then either get its lunch handed to him and retreat, or just get sick of being a bully. I know my damsel did. In fact once I added more fish to my tank....the damsel became more and more docile. He's become quite the little cave dweller. Good luck.
Jon

[CaptainK]

I have one and it is a great fish!! In the beginning it got a few cases of ich but I got that cleared up. I soak pretty much all food that goes in my tank with Selcon or Kents Zoecon and I feed a variety of flake and frozen foods. This is what I did to get rid of the ich. I also have a Green Open Brain which they are known to nip at but mine has never touched it. Maybe it is because it is the host to my Clown Fish.
Overall this has been a GREAT fish. Hope yours turns out the same.

CaptK

[tkg]

I kept one for three years until I moved from Kansas to Ohio. Never noticed any aggression with either corals or fish and he looked good from purchase to trade. Makes me think I might need to look at another. Good luck with yours
Tom G.

[Bughead]

I got a coral beauty a couple of years ago. It never really started eating well and died after only about a month. I decided not to try again because I read that they can be rather "iffy".

But 2 months ago I got one from a friend who was breaking down his tank to move. This has been one of the coolest fish ever! He pals around with the maroon clown, isn't the least bit shy, and will darn near eat from my hand. And this is after being moved 4 times. I lucked out with this guy.

[Iron Crab]

Hey. Thanks for all the come backs.

It's good to hear about all the successes.

I'm thinking of going after the Damsel big time this weekend if it doesn't let up by then. Since I moved him into the bigger tank he has been nothing but trouble.
He sits there and makes sure the angel doesn't come out. I can't even feed the angel the way it is now.
It looks like the other fish are not going to be a problem- as it is now my clown seems to enjoy the angels company if the damsel will back off.
I'll let ya know what happens by the first of next week.
Thanks, Bill