Regal Angel Primer

[maxxII]

I mentioned previously in this thread that my experiance with Regals has shown to be slow to acclimate to captivity and the main issue I've seen has not been a willingness to eat but rather a lack of recognition of what "food" is in captivity. To aid in this I've used dither fish that are healthy & disease free that are aggressive eaters but are not territorially aggressive. Both of the Regals I've kept were hesitant eaters but learned to eat by watching the other fish devour whatever I was feeding. I used smaller tangs to "teach" the Regals I've kept. I like the tangs to be at least half the size of the Regal.

Nick

 

[eho72]

I've tried and failed with the regal angel last year, but it's hard to give up since this is my favorite fish. My last one survived for 3 months until I introduced ich into my DT. I was new to the hobby a year ago, but have learned alot since. I just received a 4" Red Sea Regal yesterday. My goal is to leave the regal in my QT for a total of four weeks. The first 2 will be for observations and the last 2 will be to treat the tank with cupramine.

This time, I must be lucky. The fish is eating on the second day aggressively chomping down live brine shrimps. It's trying the New Life Spectrum pellets but is spitting it out. I notice that the regal is tweaching once in a while. Might have to jump to cupramine faster than I wanted. Here's a picture of my new regal.

 

[LukFox]

Twitching can also be flukes. Angels come infected with flukes pretty often, so treating with prazipro would be a good idea in addition to copper.

 

[szwab]

Twitching can also be flukes. Angels come infected with flukes pretty often, so treating with prazipro would be a good idea in addition to copper.

+1 I would treat for flukes no matter what.

 

[blueplanet]

Hi has anyone managed to keep 2 regals simultaneously in a tank successfully. I know of Coops did it from this forum. anyone else? I hope to keep a pair in my tank. If anyone has experience, can advise me the right way to get it done & reduce the conflict?

 

[LukFox]

Hi has anyone managed to keep 2 regals simultaneously in a tank successfully. I know of Coops did it from this forum. anyone else? I hope to keep a pair in my tank. If anyone has experience, can advise me the right way to get it done & reduce the conflict?

I kept mine separated with eggcrate for almost two months because they just wanted to kill each other in QT. Towards the end of QT I started removing the divider for short periods and sometimes up to a few days. For the longer sessions there would still be some fin nipping, but it definitely wasn't as bad as it was earlier in the process.

When they were moved to my much larger DT, they were initially aggressive to each other in the form of light nipping and chasing, but that stopped after a couple weeks. Now they're completely peaceful to each other. They are not technically paired because they are not mature yet, but they live together peacefully and as soon as they're of size and age I think they'll easily pair up.

 

[blueplanet]

I kept mine separated with eggcrate for almost two months because they just wanted to kill each other in QT. Towards the end of QT I started removing the divider for short periods and sometimes up to a few days. For the longer sessions there would still be some fin nipping, but it definitely wasn't as bad as it was earlier in the process.

When they were moved to my much larger DT, they were initially aggressive to each other in the form of light nipping and chasing, but that stopped after a couple weeks. Now they're completely peaceful to each other. They are not technically paired because they are not mature yet, but they live together peacefully and as soon as they're of size and age I think they'll easily pair up.

Thks for yr prompt reply & help. I m thinking to seperate them w eggcrate in Dipslay tank (250g) for one to two months. I think my QT (25g) is too small for 2 Angels & water quality not so good as compare to DT. What's yr advice?

 

[LukFox]

Thks for yr prompt reply & help. I m thinking to seperate them w eggcrate in Dipslay tank (250g) for one to two months. I think my QT (25g) is too small for 2 Angels & water quality not so good as compare to DT. What's yr advice?

If you can divide the display that will work fine. Just quarantine the new one and make sure it is healthy and conditioned first. Depending on the size of the regals, a 25g would be fine, though, if for some reason you didn't want to divide your display. However, do not let them near each other until you can verify the new one is healthy.

 

[blueplanet]

If you can divide the display that will work fine. Just quarantine the new one and make sure it is healthy and conditioned first. Depending on the size of the regals, a 25g would be fine, though, if for some reason you didn't want to divide your display. However, do not let them near each other until you can verify the new one is healthy.

Thks for yr advice may give it a shot. Wish me luck! Thks again!

 

[szwab]

Hi has anyone managed to keep 2 regals simultaneously in a tank successfully. I know of Coops did it from this forum. anyone else? I hope to keep a pair in my tank. If anyone has experience, can advise me the right way to get it done & reduce the conflict?

Mine were the opposite no problems at all. My first Regal was actually the smaller of the two I have now it's grey belly had it for about 4 months then added a second larger yellow belly. No problems other than the larger one now is dominant. Just at feeding time though she makes sure she eats first. Other than that they get along fine. Going on 2.5 years for the first and about 2 for the second.

 

[Tracey2]

I bought a blue belly regal that was eating mysis and brine at the store. She is in my QT with a smaller pb tang who was also with her at the store. She was twitching so I treated the tank with prazi and she stopped eating so I removed the med after only 1 day. It has now been another few days and she is still not eating. I have tried everything with the exception of rods food which is not available here. Any suggestions?

 

[szwab]

Prazi will do that sometimes. My best suggestions is try everything and anything. Best bet is clam but don't leave it in too long as it can foul the water quickly. Also keep up on the water changes in the QT not sure on the size of the tank but it's fairly easy to have water quality issues especially with 2 active fish.

 

[szwab]

You could always put some zoanthids in there as well

 

[ryanrid]

my regal is now eating nori and muscles (pecking quite vigorously), was wondering how oftern i should feed muscles and how long should i leave it in the tank before it starts decaying. Am currently leaving it in there for 1-1.5hrs.

thanks
Ryan

 

[Finsky]

My gray belly Indonesian Regal Angel has been in my tank from Drs. Foster and Smith since August 24, 2008.

He is 3 1/2" and will eat the green, brown, or red seaweed cut up into bite size flakes although I the red seaweed is softer for tender angelfish mouths and other fish with softer mouths. On Sundays, he gets small bite size pieces of razor clam I drop into the tank after I feed my five bubble tip anemones their weekly 1/2" pieces. I drop these small pieces into the tank until my 4" Blue Girdled, 3 1/2" Purple Tang, and 5" Powder Blue Tang have eaten their fill.

I usually feed freeze dried mysis and brine shrimp along with seaweed pieces soaked in Selcone, Vitamin C, and Vita-Chem onTuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays although I may toss in an occasional tid bit of seaweed, flake foot, etc. on "non" fish feeding days which would include my Monday, Wednesday, and Friday liquid coral food feedings.

 

[maxxII]

my regal is now eating nori and muscles (pecking quite vigorously), was wondering how oftern i should feed muscles and how long should i leave it in the tank before it starts decaying. Am currently leaving it in there for 1-1.5hrs.

thanks
Ryan

Ryan,
if you've got it eating both mussells and nori, I would try to switch things up and introduce some other foods as well. is your Regal eating mussells on the shell, or have they been removed? Are they uncooked mussells or are they steamed to open them?

Mussells are a whole food, meaning they're not generally given in a piecemeal manner...the fish is able to get all parts of the meat as opposed to just certain parts. This is beneficial as it provides more nutrients and vitamins than would otherwise be the case. You generally want uncooked items, as cooking can severely reduce the nutritional value of the food item. Best way to get a bivalve open is to freeze it. That will kill it and allow you to get a knife blade to sever the muscles holding the shell closed.

I like to feed scallop and shrimp to my Regal when I feed meaty foods. When I feed vegatables, I switch it up between Nori and steamed Broccolli. You've got to steam the broccoli for not more than 5-7 minutes, (doing a small batch) since overcooking is again bad for the nutritional value of the vegetable).

I only feed what my Angel can consume in a short period of time when feeding meaty foods. Since you're is still in the acclimation phase, I think leaving the mussell in place in the tank for about 1-1.5 hours before removal is fine. Once you get your Regal eating a more varied diet, you can cut down on the time.

Nick

 

[ryanrid]

thanks for the reply Nick.

the muscle has been frozen and opened with a knife and is served uncooked in the shell so it only picks ar part of the meat.
I am putting one in every 2nd day and plan was to try putting in a scallop tonight. Should this be a whole scallop (not in shell) including the orange bit?

It has also started eating sponge now, and i added some live rock from my sump and looks like it is eating pods from there also.

I never thought of brocolli so may give that a try tomorrow.

 

[jhawkor]

Here's my yellow belly Regal. Had her for about a year, eats straight from my hands.

 

[maxxII]

thanks for the reply Nick.

the muscle has been frozen and opened with a knife and is served uncooked in the shell so it only picks ar part of the meat.
I am putting one in every 2nd day and plan was to try putting in a scallop tonight. Should this be a whole scallop (not in shell) including the orange bit?

It has also started eating sponge now, and i added some live rock from my sump and looks like it is eating pods from there also.

I never thought of brocolli so may give that a try tomorrow.

Ryan,
I feed scraps of the scallop. Scallop tends to tear fairly easily into strips which I tossed into the water column. Is your Regal eating out of the water column at all? I havent seen many fish that are able to resist PE Mysis if you can get some over there...

When trying the broccoli its important to remember that the fibers of the plant are actually pretty tough and will not be able to be digested unless they are weakend by blanching, ("frying" them briefly on the stove) steaming, and/or freezing. I used to blanch them florets, and then freeze them. I would warm them in the microwave for a few seconds which also weakens the fibers of the florets. Basically, if your fish poops and you can see broccoli florets in the the poop....its not being digested fully.

Your fish might not be interested in the broccoli at all. I've kept two Regals, (the first was a Yellow belly that I lost after a year due my Ritteri anemone wandering into a powerhead), the first went nuts over broccoli right off the bat, but wouldnt touch Nori. The second one is Blue belly that wanted nothing to do with broccoli for the first year, but now eats it happily.

Both of my Regals took about a year to get fully acclimated into the tank and begin eating comfortably and confidantly. I' ve had my current one for almost 3 years now, and she will chase food items down out of the water column and is definately the boss of the tank. However, initially, she was shy and had to "watch" the other fish figure out what "food" was.

The fact that yours is eating mussells is a great start. Most people never even get that far.

Nick

 

[ryanrid]

Ryan,
I feed scraps of the scallop. Scallop tends to tear fairly easily into strips which I tossed into the water column. Is your Regal eating out of the water column at all? I havent seen many fish that are able to resist PE Mysis if you can get some over there...

When trying the broccoli its important to remember that the fibers of the plant are actually pretty tough and will not be able to be digested unless they are weakend by blanching, ("frying" them briefly on the stove) steaming, and/or freezing. I used to blanch them florets, and then freeze them. I would warm them in the microwave for a few seconds which also weakens the fibers of the florets. Basically, if your fish poops and you can see broccoli florets in the the poop....its not being digested fully.

Your fish might not be interested in the broccoli at all. I've kept two Regals, (the first was a Yellow belly that I lost after a year due my Ritteri anemone wandering into a powerhead), the first went nuts over broccoli right off the bat, but wouldnt touch Nori. The second one is Blue belly that wanted nothing to do with broccoli for the first year, but now eats it happily.

Both of my Regals took about a year to get fully acclimated into the tank and begin eating comfortably and confidantly. I' ve had my current one for almost 3 years now, and she will chase food items down out of the water column and is definately the boss of the tank. However, initially, she was shy and had to "watch" the other fish figure out what "food" was.

The fact that yours is eating mussells is a great start. Most people never even get that far.

Nick

i put in a whole scallop last night and after about 45mins it started pecking at it, this regal is quite sceptical to try eating, when i feed mysis it now follows the mysis around but is yet to eat anything (it is learning form some anthias it may be food). It was the same with muscle and nori, it checked it our for a while looking and smelling it but now it eats as soon as it is n the tank, so i am hoping it will eat mysis in a few days.

the fish is still quite plump but i would like it eat mysis/brine soon to feel "safe" then release to the DT.