Regal Angel Pairs? Hard to find?
- Thread starter k.tran
- Start date
copps
Premium Member
True collected regal angel pairs do not exist. This is due to a few reasons.
1. Regal angels do pair in the wild, but not until they attain size. Most regal angels are collected for the trade at about 5" or less... at that size they are solitary.
2. Most fish that are truly collected as pairs have a very short supply chain, are higher dollar fish, and are found in pairs at sizes where they are collected for the aquarium trade. One good example is the Hawaiian endemic (almost) Tinker's butterfly, Chaetodon tinkeri.
3. It's just not worth it for the collectors and exporters. If that many people asked for them as pairs it would happen perhaps, but keeping a pair together through the long chain of custody found in the regal angels range is just too much hassle.
With that said mixing regals is relatively not that hard. I own four regals. I had a trio together for over five years but recently lost the smaller individual. The remaining pair I've had together now for even longer... here's an older shot of the three...
Copps
1. Regal angels do pair in the wild, but not until they attain size. Most regal angels are collected for the trade at about 5" or less... at that size they are solitary.
2. Most fish that are truly collected as pairs have a very short supply chain, are higher dollar fish, and are found in pairs at sizes where they are collected for the aquarium trade. One good example is the Hawaiian endemic (almost) Tinker's butterfly, Chaetodon tinkeri.
3. It's just not worth it for the collectors and exporters. If that many people asked for them as pairs it would happen perhaps, but keeping a pair together through the long chain of custody found in the regal angels range is just too much hassle.
With that said mixing regals is relatively not that hard. I own four regals. I had a trio together for over five years but recently lost the smaller individual. The remaining pair I've had together now for even longer... here's an older shot of the three...
Copps
Laddy
New member
Amazing what you can do with photo shoppe these days :jester:
I had a meeting in the east bay, here in the SF bay area, and as I drove home I stopped off at an aquarium store I've always wanted to see. The subject of angel husbandry came up and the kid behind the counter said, "Ya, there's this one dude back east who packs his tanks full of angels, but I wouldn't recommend that, that's for some serious keepers.....I swear I see all his fish actually smiling in the pictures."
"Oh ya," I said, "never heard of him........":celeb1:
I had a meeting in the east bay, here in the SF bay area, and as I drove home I stopped off at an aquarium store I've always wanted to see. The subject of angel husbandry came up and the kid behind the counter said, "Ya, there's this one dude back east who packs his tanks full of angels, but I wouldn't recommend that, that's for some serious keepers.....I swear I see all his fish actually smiling in the pictures."
"Oh ya," I said, "never heard of him........":celeb1:
gasman059
The OG mad scientist
:beer::beer:With that said mixing regals is relatively not that hard:beer::beer::beer:
Currently in that process buddy!
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Currently in that process buddy!
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blueplanet
New member
Copps,
pls kindly advise what are the steps & methods to keep them together?
do you introduce them together?
I already had one regal in my tank for one month. have recently purchsed another one & kept in a separate quarantine tank for one week. Both can eat pellets already.
I would love keep them in pair if feasible. How do I introduce the 2nd one into the main tank?
Info of tank: 60inch x 30 inch x 30 inch.
Fish already in tank: regal angel, archille tang, pencil wrasse, six line wrase, Hawk fish, Clown fish, mandarin fish.
I look forward to your help. Tks in advance!
pls kindly advise what are the steps & methods to keep them together?
do you introduce them together?
I already had one regal in my tank for one month. have recently purchsed another one & kept in a separate quarantine tank for one week. Both can eat pellets already.
I would love keep them in pair if feasible. How do I introduce the 2nd one into the main tank?
Info of tank: 60inch x 30 inch x 30 inch.
Fish already in tank: regal angel, archille tang, pencil wrasse, six line wrase, Hawk fish, Clown fish, mandarin fish.
I look forward to your help. Tks in advance!
blueplanet
New member
The existing Regal in main tank is abt 3.5" and the other one in quarantine is similar size, slightly bigger.
blueplanet
New member
The Regal Angel was introduced 1st, before the achilles tang. The achilles tang only been introduce 2 days ago & they seem to respect one another so far. No major fight just some showing off to one another.
copps
Premium Member
Well beware, as the group within Acanthurus that includes achilles (and goldrims and powder blues) are very aggressive once established to new additions. Keep that in mind...
In terms of mixing your regals, the first thing I recommend is a much longer QT/adaptation period for the new specimen. Mixing angels (or any fish for that matter) is a stressful event, and that is the worst thing on any newly imported fish. You want your new fish fully adapted, parasite free, an with far reserves restored before you think about mixing. Ideally you add the fish to the display together or not too far apart. The fact that your newer fish is larger works in your favor.
The ideal way after proper QT and adaptation is to have in your display what I call a "transition zone"... an area where you section off part of the tank for the new addition. This will allow the new addition to settle in without harassment from the existing fish. The new fish could relax and adapt, establishing its own little territory, while at the same time being seen by the existing fish. This allows the existing fish to get over that "let's get the new guy" aggression without being able to touch the new fish. After a few weeks you could remove the eggcrate and observe. Shutting the lights off for a couple of days (a cloudy day on the reef) will help in the days after if needed. The nice thing is that having a place in your display where you could put this eggcrate perhaps front to back comes in handy in many other situations... many of which you'll see if you have success with that achilles!
The worst to do is what I call the "dump and hope approach", taking a newly imported specimen and dumping it into your display. The new weak fish gets tagged left and right as you hopelessly "hope" it gets better... there is always a bit of bickering at least, but an adapted and healthy fish is much more apt to take this than that newly imported weakling...
Here is an example of one of my transition zones in another system...
Copps
In terms of mixing your regals, the first thing I recommend is a much longer QT/adaptation period for the new specimen. Mixing angels (or any fish for that matter) is a stressful event, and that is the worst thing on any newly imported fish. You want your new fish fully adapted, parasite free, an with far reserves restored before you think about mixing. Ideally you add the fish to the display together or not too far apart. The fact that your newer fish is larger works in your favor.
The ideal way after proper QT and adaptation is to have in your display what I call a "transition zone"... an area where you section off part of the tank for the new addition. This will allow the new addition to settle in without harassment from the existing fish. The new fish could relax and adapt, establishing its own little territory, while at the same time being seen by the existing fish. This allows the existing fish to get over that "let's get the new guy" aggression without being able to touch the new fish. After a few weeks you could remove the eggcrate and observe. Shutting the lights off for a couple of days (a cloudy day on the reef) will help in the days after if needed. The nice thing is that having a place in your display where you could put this eggcrate perhaps front to back comes in handy in many other situations... many of which you'll see if you have success with that achilles!
The worst to do is what I call the "dump and hope approach", taking a newly imported specimen and dumping it into your display. The new weak fish gets tagged left and right as you hopelessly "hope" it gets better... there is always a bit of bickering at least, but an adapted and healthy fish is much more apt to take this than that newly imported weakling...
Here is an example of one of my transition zones in another system...
Copps
blueplanet
New member
Copps,
many thanks to yr kind advice & tips. I will go along in this way with yr suggestion. pls advise me further:
1. Partition eggcrate in DT as suggested,
2. introduce 2nd regal in the unoccupied section.
3. feed 2nd regal well & mk sure it's well & healthy
4. at the same time, observe animosity displayed between the 2 regals,
5. lift partition only after 2 mth or so...
6. keep fingers crossed & pray to God that they mix well.
7. also pray that the Achilles will not disturb it too,
8. All these are the easier part. my real worry is: when they really fight & fight so badly then. What should I do? catch one of them (not easy in DT with rocks & corals).
Pls correct my steps, if any?
many thanks to yr kind advice & tips. I will go along in this way with yr suggestion. pls advise me further:
1. Partition eggcrate in DT as suggested,
2. introduce 2nd regal in the unoccupied section.
3. feed 2nd regal well & mk sure it's well & healthy
4. at the same time, observe animosity displayed between the 2 regals,
5. lift partition only after 2 mth or so...
6. keep fingers crossed & pray to God that they mix well.
7. also pray that the Achilles will not disturb it too,
8. All these are the easier part. my real worry is: when they really fight & fight so badly then. What should I do? catch one of them (not easy in DT with rocks & corals).
Pls correct my steps, if any?
copps
Premium Member
First off, I want to say that you could not pay me to place any fish in any of my displays that has not been QTed for at least one month. With that said your plan looks solid... if the new regal was fully QTed and adapted to captivity before placing it in the display, the divider could be lifted at one month.
Remove the divider on a day you have off where you could just relax around the house. Leave only ambient lighting on for the first few days. You will know within a few hours how easy the process will be, but if you follow the detailed steps you should be fine. With healthy adapted regals they could take a beating from each other to establish dominance, so do not worry. Once a dominant fish is established the aggression will always be there, even in spawning pairs, but it is natural... the subservient fish will always be aware of where the dominant fish is and deal with it fine. Interestingly, as is rather common, with my trio the two larger individuals gave each other more problems than either did to the small specimen... regals are tough fish though once adapted... notice one of my small Marshall Islands girls (my trio is from the Indian Ocean) in with the rough and tumble large angels in the pic above! As I always say... it's not WHAT you mix, but HOW you mix!
In all honesty I would be more worried about the achilles than the existing regal... I love these fish... I own an achilles/goldrim hybrid and a goldrim/powder blue hybrid, but their initial aggression makes me sometimes want to shoot them with a mini spear gun... be prepared...
Copps
Remove the divider on a day you have off where you could just relax around the house. Leave only ambient lighting on for the first few days. You will know within a few hours how easy the process will be, but if you follow the detailed steps you should be fine. With healthy adapted regals they could take a beating from each other to establish dominance, so do not worry. Once a dominant fish is established the aggression will always be there, even in spawning pairs, but it is natural... the subservient fish will always be aware of where the dominant fish is and deal with it fine. Interestingly, as is rather common, with my trio the two larger individuals gave each other more problems than either did to the small specimen... regals are tough fish though once adapted... notice one of my small Marshall Islands girls (my trio is from the Indian Ocean) in with the rough and tumble large angels in the pic above! As I always say... it's not WHAT you mix, but HOW you mix!
In all honesty I would be more worried about the achilles than the existing regal... I love these fish... I own an achilles/goldrim hybrid and a goldrim/powder blue hybrid, but their initial aggression makes me sometimes want to shoot them with a mini spear gun... be prepared...
Copps
Vili_Shark
New member
You'll need an importer with pretty strong contact with the exporters to get a true pairs, but even then you'll have to get a very large tank ready as these guys dont pair till they're very large.
I wouldnt try it as they have a poor survival record at this size.
Awsome sight though, a mated pair of Red Sea regals always keep you amazed while diving, no matter how many times you see them.
I wouldnt try it as they have a poor survival record at this size.
Awsome sight though, a mated pair of Red Sea regals always keep you amazed while diving, no matter how many times you see them.
blueplanet
New member
Thanks so much for helping. Yeap, the 2nd regal has been Qted at fish shop already before taken back.
I am too very concerned of the achilles tang. It has started eating pellets & I hope it will do well too. BTW, the achilles' size is smaller than the 1st regal. I purposely chose a smaller one as tang grows fast & I do not want the 1st regal to feel intimidated. I share yr concern on the possibility of archilles's agreesion towards the 2nd one.
Tks again, I will keep u posted.
