@Wyatt Naschke there's sand in the filter, just not in the main display. The crushed coral sand is kept in two skinny media bags in the rear and adds to the system's stability. I get the benefits of a deep sand bed without the long term problems. SPS, high current, and sand don't mix.
@Geneva Lett thanks, they are a joy to observe. Many larger marine fish have their own individual temperament/personality, especially angelfish. Which adds to their charm. I had coral only tanks for many years in the past, but in this iteration I focused on getting the fishes I had always wanted first. I never liked the sterility of FOWLR tanks, and doubt it's healthy for fishes in the long run, so eventually started adding test corals here and there to see what would survive. Mr. Majestic is definitely not reef safe, I've caught him red handed eating zoas multiple times. The other angels tend to leave the corals alone but do nibble here and there when curious. I keep my fish well fed once or twice a day, so I think that helps. Having said that, the tank is now clear of pesky neon zoas and flourescent discosoma mushrooms. The palys, rhodactis, and Yuma mushrooms are left alone. While I mourn the disappearance of those corals, it saves me money because I can't buy them for my tank. Instead, I get to focus on acros, montis, and other corals. It sure saved me time at the last frag swap when everyone was milling about the zoa tables, while I walked off with some great acros and yumas instead. I now wouldn't trade my angelfish for all the zoas in the world. I'm building my reef tank around the fish which has worked out pretty well.
The angels haven't nibbled the LPS corals: frogspawn, hammer, torch, & duncans. However, I know better than to risk adding a brain coral or giant clam. I like keeping bivalves in the tank for water filtration, and noticed the cryptic ones on the live rock are thriving. I want more of those....
Once in a while I put in a piece of live sponge or zoas for the fish to eat as a treat and ameliorate whatever craving or missing nutrients is in their diet. I rotate between 10 different kinds of food, pellets and frozen. They also graze on the various macro algae I initially seeded on the live rock. My emperor has grown from a quarter sized baby to a three inch puppy dog since I've had him, and the same size increases for the African yellow belly Regal Tangs. All the fish are fat little piggies, and accept food from my fingertips.
Fish inventory:
Majestic/Navarchus Angel
Imperator Angel
Queen Angel
Passer Angel
Flame Angel Pair
Regal Tangs x3
Hoeven's melanurus Wrasse
Once the 260g is setup, I would like to add a Blueface Angel and a pair of Regal Angels.
