Regal Angel Primer

[this is me]

After much thoughts and watching how the pair behave in my tank, I decided to take a stab at a trio. This will be the final regal I'll add. It's about 3"(I was told) and still have the spot on the dorsal fin.

This one will be arriving tomorrow. Supposedly eating at the store. Will have video document similar to the second I added.

 

[ThRoewer]

Looks like one of those Aquatic Collection had recently.

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[this is me]

Yup, I had good luck with AC. Thanks!

 

[this is me]

After much thoughts and a chat to a good friend, I decided to take a larger misbar yellow belly regal instead of the juvie posted earlier.
My current male is a solid 5.5", my female is ~4.5". The juvie is only 3". I'm afraid the male will bully the 3" to death.

This is my new regal to be arrived tomorrow. I will have to diligently train it to eat as I was told it's currently not eating. It's a good 4.5". It came into the store last Saturday. Better stock up on my live clams and mussels.

 

[Alberth napa]

Happy reefing

 

[alton]

My baby with a couple of his buds today

Not a great picture but quite a bit of growth in 4 months comparing to the Golden Angel.

Golden is in the left corner

 

[danrobberg]

Where is the best place to buy a regal from? Looking for a Red Sea. Also I have a qt set up but wondering if I should add some live rock to it for something the regal to pick at. Any thoughts?

 

[ThRoewer]

Not a great picture but quite a bit of growth in 4 months comparing to the Golden Angel.




Golden is in the left corner

That's quite a bit of growth. It looks like he almost doubled in size. What do you feed him and how much?

 

[ThRoewer]

Where is the best place to buy a regal from? Looking for a Red Sea. Also I have a qt set up but wondering if I should add some live rock to it for something the regal to pick at. Any thoughts?

Any reason why it has to be Red Sea? I actually couldn't find a significant difference in coloration when compared to Indian Ocean (Maldives, Sumatra,...) specimen.
The issue with Red Sea specimen is that they usually come in quite large while Maldives or Sumatra Regals are available in smaller sizes that ship better and adapt easier to a new setting.
The ideal size range is between 2" and 4"

Blue Zoo has them right now (though no guarantee beyond DOA with them).

A better source might be a local store here that often gets Sumatra and Philippine Regals. They also ship.

Here some videos of some of my Sumatra Regal pair that I got there:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Cwa2fFr1Dm0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RIJj9l7AEhM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[this is me]

Here's a video of my new yellow belly received today. Video shows how I air out the bag, drip acclimate, and tank mate acclimate.
I decided to feed it after 6 hours being in the tank and it eats!! Not much but a very good start.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJKG6eZkEOg


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LJKG6eZkEOg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[locito277]

Here's a video of my new yellow belly received today. Video shows how I air out the bag, drip acclimate, and tank mate acclimate.
I decided to feed it after 6 hours being in the tank and it eats!! Not much but a very good start.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJKG6eZkEOg


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LJKG6eZkEOg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Best of luck!


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[Oldcabin]

Just picked a baby Regal that I couldn't pass up at my LFS.
I've had him a little over a week and she's eating mysis and picking at the rocks. Hoping she gets more aggressive soon though. It's a newer tank, so not too much algae in the rocks yet. Promising to see her taking mysis though.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[danrobberg]

Any reason why it has to be Red Sea? I actually couldn't find a significant difference in coloration when compared to Indian Ocean (Maldives, Sumatra,...) specimen.
The issue with Red Sea specimen is that they usually come in quite large while Maldives or Sumatra Regals are available in smaller sizes that ship better and adapt easier to a new setting.
The ideal size range is between 2" and 4"

Blue Zoo has them right now (though no guarantee beyond DOA with them).

A better source might be a local store here that often gets Sumatra and Philippine Regals. They also ship.

I always heRd the Red Sea ship better and are more colorful. Could you on or post the name of the local store to you that ships? Also what are your thoughts on qt? I had a beautiful regal that are like a pig but I lost him and the rest of my fish to either a ich or velvet outbrake. Do t want to go through that again. My tank is fallow now. On week 3 of 10. I have a wr set up but I know these fish are tough to keep in qt. wondering if I should add some live rock with some sponges and algea on it to the qt tank. Was thinking some of that Florida deco rock. Seems to have a lot of life on it.

 

[danrobberg]

Beautiful fish nick. How big is he? If he gets picked on and needs a new home I would be more than willing to buy him from you.

 

[ThRoewer]

I always heRd the Red Sea ship better and are more colorful. Could you on or post the name of the local store to you that ships? Also what are your thoughts on qt? I had a beautiful regal that are like a pig but I lost him and the rest of my fish to either a ich or velvet outbrake. Do t want to go through that again. My tank is fallow now. On week 3 of 10. I have a wr set up but I know these fish are tough to keep in qt. wondering if I should add some live rock with some sponges and algea on it to the qt tank. Was thinking some of that Florida deco rock. Seems to have a lot of life on it.

If you lost all your fish it was likely velvet.

The tiny color difference that may be there between Red Sea and Indian Ocean yellow chest regels is IMO not worth the price difference. Also, I found no issues with having healthy Regals eat right away. Interestingly, the only Regal I had dying from not eating was a Red Sea specimen from Diver's Den (it must have gotten too cold during shipping and got a swim bladder infection).

Some of the Regals I got from Aquatic Collection and the tiny Maldives Regal I got from LiveAquaria (QM) went in more traditional QTs and did fine in there. Others I "quarantined" in an isolated reef tank.

Out of 9 I lost only 3:
- a super tiny Philippine Regal, likely to flukes or some other disease (because he was so tiny I skipped the formalin bath)
- the above mentioned Red Sea Regal due to never eating.
- one Sumatra Regal who was eating but still lost weight (intestinal parasites or cyanide?)

2 Philippine Regals (one with Minh now), the Sumatra pair, a Bali Regal and a Maldives Regal are doing fine and had never anything beyond ich.

Beautiful fish nick. How big is he? If he gets picked on and needs a new home I would be more than willing to buy him from you.

I would say it was about 3 inches.

And don't hope for him to get picked on - all mine rule their tanks, the smaller they are the more vicious. Especially the Bali Regal has a real attitude and takes on much larger and usually more aggressive fish.

 

[danrobberg]

Thank you for your reply. I really need to proof read my posts. Darn autocorrect changes a ton of words like qt to wr lol. I will call that store tomorrow to check on stock. I hope to get a 2.5 to 3 inch fish. Do you recommend doing a formalin dip? Or prazipro treatment? If I do observe a parasite such as ich would copper or hypo be less stressful on the fish? This is my first qt set up so not exactly sure how to qt a regal since I know they can be difficult to keep in a qt set up. Also do you know if that retailer has a guarantee on their livestock?

 

[ThRoewer]

Always do a formalin dip and then observe for two months and treat as needed. They use sometimes low level copper in their fish system.

They usually get new fish in on Saturdays and Tuesdays. Make sure to ask that the fish eats. I think they might even send you a video if you ask for it.

3" to 4" are the most common sizes they get, but sometime they also get larger. The size range I would recommend is 2.5" to 4.5".
I would not go below 3" if you want to be sure to get a yellow belly (make sure he has a yellow tailfin and not a clear to greenish). The Sumatra regals are coming in via Bali and other Indonesian Regals can sometimes be mixed in - that's how I got my Bali Regal. I bought it as 2.75" Sumatra Regal but as it matured it became clear that it is a blue-gray belly regal (all juveniles are yellow at first! At that stage only the tailfin color may be different, but doesn't have to be).
At 3" it's pretty clear if they are from the yellow Indian Ocean subspecies or the blue-gray Pacific subspecies.

Like pretty much all LFS they have no warranty beyond their door. They may offer some refund for DOA, though they ship very well and I've never heard of any of their livestock arriving dead or even in bad condition. Their prices usually beat every other store (LFS and online) I know.

 

[alton]

That's quite a bit of growth. It looks like he almost doubled in size. What do you feed him and how much?

Mysis, Spiralina Brine, and since he is at work all the fish get fed all day long. Except on weekends, they get to pick on algae.

 

[this is me]

Beautiful fish nick. How big is he? If he gets picked on and needs a new home I would be more than willing to buy him from you.

Thanks! Yeah, I would say about head to tail is around 3.5". As you can see in the video, I have her in the biggest acclimation box I found from Seaside Aquatic. The other regals come to check her out. The large male was initially interested at the new comer. But now, it's the other female that is showing some aggression toward the new comer. She bangs on the acclimation box. This is the same thing happen to her when he was introduced. The male was really trying to get in there. Even after 3 weeks and when she was out of the acclimation box for 2 weeks, the male still chase after her. It was only the past week that the male stop chasing her and they actually sleep in the same cave that I gave another female a go to form the trio I always wanted.

I just moved the acclimation box to the back of the tank. I try to move the box once or twice a day to give the new fish a sense of its new environment. I know it's not fun to be stuck in a 12x8 box but it's for its own good. Without the box, I'm sure the fish would be bullied to death. Sometime, the fish won't eat due to fear.

 

[this is me]

all mine rule their tanks, the smaller they are the more vicious. Especially the Bali Regal has a real attitude and takes on much larger and usually more aggressive fish.

Agreed. My regals come right up to me and bite on the turkey baster with the food in it. I think this is how they prefer to eat. They like to tear stuff off. My regals are out and about 95% of the time except when there's no night of course. They rarely goes into their cave during the day.