home and released it in my aquarium. Of course the fish
nipped at the corals’ polyps, but as it learned to accept
other foods this behavior decreased a little. I just had to
do without polyp expansion during the day. In my experi-
ence, you can keep this species with corals as long as it
has access to its natural food and the aquarium and the
SPS population are large and healthy enough.RETHINKING “REEF-SAFE/NOT SAFE”
LABELS
As I became more experienced with corals, keeping them
got easier. When I was offered a “hand-me-down” Regal
Angel, Pygoplites diacanthus, in 2003, I could not know
how much this fish would change the way I viewed the
hobby. While keeping the angel in my SPS aquarium, I
discovered that certain corals were completely safe with
him, while others, like fleshy Trachyphyllia brain corals
and supposedly noxious-tasting Zoanthus spp., would be
demolished within minutes. This made me realize that
the accepted dictates about keeping or not keeping cer-
tain fishes with corals might be not as black and white
as I had thought. The rules that usually tagged some spe-
cies as “not reef-safe” were proving especially open to a
second opinion.Cautiously,
I began to add
more “question-
able” fishes to my
reef. I was mind-
ful about always
trying to know
the needs of the animal by reading as many books and
articles about the species as I could find and carefully
observing the animal’s behavior, both in the aquarium
and in the wild. In addition to being a reefkeeper, I am
an avid diver. While many aquarists talk about “reef-
safe fishes,” I prefer to talk about “fish-safe corals.” This
way of looking at it enables me to keep different fishes
than I would if I were content to stay within the conven-
tional boundaries.
Of course, there are risks involved. Sometimes I have
to rehome a coral with another hobbyist, as one of my
fishes would regard it as delectable. Over the years, I
have gotten better at estimating the risks of certain com-
binations. Besides the Regal Angel, which is still in my
reef today, there are some other fishes in my aquarium
that are not usually considered reef-safe. I have a mat-
ed pair of Red Sea Longnose Filefish, Oxymonacanthus
halli, that graze on the
SPS polyps but also eat all
the foods I offer, includ-
ing Mysis shrimp, lobster
eggs, and even flake and
pelleted foods. I have had
these fish, which are the
regional “sister species”
of the Harlequin Filefish,
since 2014. They are still
as healthy as they can
be—fat and robust, no
bloated bellies or skinny
bodies. Just as they would
in nature, they swim to-A Choati Leopard Wrasse, Macropharyngodon
choati, one of a number of challenging-to-
keep species in a tank filled with delicate
invertebrates and stony corals.
The Chaetodon larvatus is
thriving on a diet of oysters
on the half shell.My Red Sea
Longnose
Filefish in
a typical
pose.