How to quarantine a Regal Angel?!??!?

[FxdupCobra]

What should I know about Quarantining a Regal angel fish? The LFS tells me you really cant quarantine a regal fish because they need live rock to pick at and eat the algae off of. What to do? Has anybody been able to quarantine a regal angel?

 

[eckrynock]

Tang or angel? For a tang, Just clip some nori to the side of the tank. It'll be fine for a month.

 

[FxdupCobra]

Sorry Regal Angel fish.

 

[eckrynock]

Read this thread. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=389107&highlight=Regal+Angel+thread I'm not sure I would quarantine this species. Maybe a pH adjusted FW dip and into the tank with the lights off. Probably your best chance.

 

[FxdupCobra]

Wow, that is such a good thread. Thank you so much eckrynock. That makes me think twice. I don’t put anything in my tank without quarantining them first. I have had two disastrous ick outbreaks prior and don’t want to go through that again. I was debating between the regal and the juvenile Imperator but most people told me he will eat corals. That is why I decided to go with the regal but know I don’t know what to do?????

 

[danorth]

I put mine in a tank with live rock alone so that I could work at feeding it. Then a week later moved into my main. DO NOT FEED STORE OYSTERS. I did, it loved it, and the oyster ended up killing a few of my fish. Spoiled meat.....mentioned it on another thread also...stick to finely chopped/sliced raw shrimp at first.

 

[FxdupCobra]

My only concern is that I don’t want ich to be in my tank again. It looks like there is no way to quarantine this fish without live rock????

 

[McCrary]

I wouldn't put a regal angel into quarantine unless the water quality is excellent. Regals are not hardy fish and don't normally take to quarantine very well. Your best bet would be to put him in your main tank and keep the water quality as good and stable as possible. I use two cleaner shrimp and a cleaner wrasse to keep my fish free of parasites. Ich is usually the result of poor water quality and stress. You will not be able to keep a regal in a stressful environment. The fish should be healthy when introduced to the tank. When regals are presented with a stress free environment with an abundance of live rock to graze off of they usually do well. Good luck.