Regal Angel Primer

[HOZERTHEBONEFISH]

Shanghai

I think that is a better sign. In terms of your regals pop eye, read the thread on moorish idol.

There is a guy that claims he treats pop eye by needling the eye. I dont know the exact details, I m sure there will be some details if do a search.

Steve

That is a gorgeous male

Curt

Do not hesitate to remove the yellow tang, at least on a temporary basis if you notice persistent bad behavior. When I first added the regal, I had a yellow tang which is an incredible pig and they are so fidgety that I had to remove it. Now its back together with the regal.

 

[curthendrix]

Do not hesitate to remove the yellow tang

How did you get him out of the tank? There is no possible way I could ever net him in a tank this large. Fishtrap?

 

[HOZERTHEBONEFISH]

This is what I did...and I know I may get flamed for this.

Train the fish to eat small chunks of shrimp(uncooked from supermarket) or any other enticing food.

Purchase or borrow size 26 or smaller( down to size 28) dry fly fish single hook from a flyfishing shop or buddy, tie a 7x-8x tippet on it (your flyshop or friend will understand this) Make sure you get a barbless hook or pinch down the barb) Get a small tweezer handy for hook removal

Put a small piece of shrimp on the hook and go fishin!!!

Make sure you set the hook quickly so it doesnt swallow the hook.

Good luck

 

[curthendrix]

My regal pair has spent their first day in my reef. Regals have been swimming out in the open all day and appear very at ease. I fed mysids and the regals showed no interest in eating the food out of the water column. Cracked a clam and placed it in the tank and the regals have been gorging themselves ever since. They ate voraciously for the first hour or so and have been taking a bite every 5 minutes or for the rest of the evening. Couple of questions: 1) How long do you leave the clam in the tank 2) How often do you feed clams 3) If the regals fail to eat out of the water column, will clams and the liverock sustain them.....both these fish are incredibly fat. Now some pics:
Regal enjoying a clam

Couple of other pics....haven't been able to get a "pair" pic yet

 

[Steve Atkins]

HOZERTHEBONEFISH:

Thanks, his ripped fin is healing fast, so he should look like that again soon. He took his first food from my fingers this morning, despite having to push his way in past a big damsel the same size as he is.

Couple of questions: 1) How long do you leave the clam in the tank 2) How often do you feed clams 3) If the regals fail to eat out of the water column, will clams and the liverock sustain them.....both these fish are incredibly fat. Now some pics:
Regal enjoying a clam

1) I never had to answer this question as after a few hours all that was left was a shell or two (23 other fish to help out tho)
2) I wouldn't put clams in more often than every few days as I understand they are pretty good at polluting the tank
3) In the short term yes but they will not provide a complete diet. Try nori or frozen cabbage leaf in a clip ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ there are both taken ravenously by my regal, tangs and some of the damsels. If there are other fish in the tank and your Regals are active, alert and interested in food, they should soon learn to take food from the water column just by observing the other fish (at least thatââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s how it went with mine).
Personally I would not take the tang out unless it was actually damaging the Regals or it was causing them to stay hidden and not get any food. This is where it appears regal personality may play a big part and if they keep coming out, despite being chased, then I would just leave the Regals and the tang to sort it out themselves. In my case, the blue tang that was chasing it, and still does on occasion, would stop worrying about the regal at feeding time and they would both come out and get fed, only to resume their chasing afterwards.

Steve

 

[HOZERTHEBONEFISH]

Curt

Those regals look very nice, plump and healthy. I think they will do well in your system with close attention and proper diet.

Best of luck

Henry

 

[curthendrix]

Thank you. I got them to try some nori tied to a rock today and they are quickly ridding my tank of the few zoos remaining from my 150g. Has anybody put live sponges in their tank for these guys?

 

[HOZERTHEBONEFISH]

Curt

I think zfunk tried it and nearly killed the regal a few pages back.

His mistake was that the tank was hyposaline and or toxic sponge...

Henry

 

[Steve Atkins]

Has anybody put live sponges in their tank for these guys?

Yes but with inconclusive results. I transferred some golf ball type sponges, an encrusting sponge and a small section of another sponge in from another tank. The smaller ones have all disspeared but this could be due to current as I did not anchor them. The larger golfball and the encrusting sponge do not appear to have been touched and I have never seen the Regal take the slightest interest in either them, or the small ones, while they were still visible. I did transfer a sponge I am rather fond of out of the tank before the Regal's arrival and may put it back and observe it for a while, as I have no intention of it becoming angel food.

Steve

 

[curthendrix]

Steve and Henry,

Thanks for the responses. The regals have yet to take any food out of the water column which isn't as surprise as it is only their 3rd full day in the tank. I continue to rely on clams for now as the regals really like them. My zoos are all but gone as well as some of the sponges that were growing on my live rock. The regals are definately not shy and swim constantly in the open and will even let you approach the tank without hiding. Hopefully they will soon learn from the their tankmates that the stuff floating around at feeding time is food!! Planning on trying some sponge-based food this week.

 

[Steve Atkins]

Since you haven't mentioned the Yellow Tang again, I presume it and the Regals have sorted things out, more or less.

The Regals will probably pay a lot more attention to what the other fish are eating once they run out of sponges and zoanthids. My tank has only ever had limited sponges and zoanthids so it was not long before he started taking an interest if other food sources. Now, for the most part, he has even dispensed with testing things first.

It certainly sounds like you have a pair of fish with the ideal personalities to make a go of it.

Steve

 

[curthendrix]

Yes, the yellow tang has adjusted to his new tankmates. While it is evident that the tang is the king of the tank, there is no chasing or nipping...just an occasional bump. Is there a magic time period where we pass the danger point on these fish or is it a case by case basis? I figure once they are eating out of the water column I can feel a little more confident.

 

[Steve Atkins]

Is there a magic time period where we pass the danger point on these fish .....

About 3 years I think ......

By then you should know if the diet you have been feeding them has been enough to keep them not only full, but healthy.

For me, the major initial milestones were when it became quite obvious that a) despite being chased by a fish 4X his mass, he was not going to be kept from either cruising about the tank or getting his share of the food, b) he starting to view anything the other fish were eating as something he should be trying and c) he started queing up with the rest of the fish at feeding time and not just waiting for food to drift past his no1 cave.

In between now and 3 year out, history has shown there are plenty of opportunities for these fish to take a sudden reverse. Probably if they make it to 3 years it is because they are in good conditions and getting the right food so, unless something changes redically in their caring regime, they are likely to continue doing just as well.

Steve

 

[nbd13]

Hey guys well i have been following this thread fromt he begging and read every single post....

now after about 8 months of looking i have found a nice regal, its from phishybusiness.com and is a red sea speicmen, Sedar (owenr) thinks its a female. anyway shes about 4.5-5" long and in a tank with SPS (most important to me, LPS, and clams), Sedar says she is eating mysis and frozen brine shrimp.....

now she should be here tomrrow morning and Sedar has had her for about 2 weeks he says....

now my question is what tips can you guys give me on aclimation?

i was thinking 1/2 hour to equalize the temp and then adding 1/2 cup of my tank water every 15 minutes or so until the water is all mine, then letting her go into the tank....

what do you think?

any other tips you can think of here?

let me know please.

thanks!

Nick

 

[Steve Atkins]

Put up some mirrors around the tank. I have used this method in the past, and for adding my Regal, to give the other fish some 'competition' to take their attention away from the new arrival.

In the last case it helped but did not 100% stop chasing. In the past I have had even the new arrival come out with the other fish, to do battle with it's own reflection.

Steve

 

[nbd13]

There should be no competion, only fish in the tank are 4 fairy wrasses, 2 ocellaris clowns, and 1 foxface lo....

so the regal will be king of the tank for awhile until the new tank mates go in and i dicide what other fish i want.... may just end up with trying 1 or 2 more regals like copps and a couple other people on this thread or i may spend the money and get a conspic.... still thinking but for now the regal will be kind of the tank....

any other tips? i mean what type of clams on the half shell are you talking about? just the ones in the grocery store? the dead ones right? crack them open and throw them in? hopefully i will not have to resort to this, but in worst case what type of clams?

or are the the frozen ones?

thanks!

Nick

 

[Steve Atkins]

I feed mine New Zealand Green Lipped Mussels, which I get live from the supermarket. If just feeding the mussel on its own (i.e. on the 1/2 shell), I only buy a few and feed one to the fish and keep the others in the sump, where they will live for a few days only due to the high temperature.

If making a batch of my 'pygomix', I shell them then freeze them so that they mince up easily in the blender later.

I have not tried other shellfish yet but will when I see them available (they are a bit seasonal).

The only other thing I would say is that if your fish is anything like mine, having other keen eaters in the tank could greatly help your Regal get the idea of eating all sorts of food. As a consequence, mine now readily eats:
Ã"šÃ‚· Freeze dried krill
Ã"šÃ‚· Freeze dried shrimp
Ã"šÃ‚· Freeze dried brine shrimp
Ã"šÃ‚· Flake
Ã"šÃ‚· Frozen cabbage leaf
Ã"šÃ‚· Nori
Ã"šÃ‚· Fresh ulva
Ã"šÃ‚· Fresh mussels
Ã"šÃ‚· Thawed out pre-frozen shrimp (ex supermarket)
Ã"šÃ‚· Blanched peas
Ã"šÃ‚· Frozen mysis shrimps
Ã"šÃ‚· Frozen ââ"šÂ¬Ã‹Å“marine greenââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ mix - local stuff containing various green things and it looks like squid and fish, plus calcium and vitamins.
Ã"šÃ‚· Frozen diced spinach
Ã"šÃ‚· Live mosquito larvae
Ã"šÃ‚· My own frozen mix of squid, octopus, shrimp, mussel, green nori, red nori, fish, cabbage, scallop and vitamins

Steve

 

[nbd13]

Hi, thanks for the help...

so i need to get the live clams or mussels?

i cant buy the fresh ones on the half shell?

thanks again!

Nick

 

[nbd13]

also is it ok to have 2 females in the same tank? assuming the tank is 275 gallons? its 60" long x 44" wide x 24" tall.....

what do you think.

thanks!

Nick

 

[Steve Atkins]

Hi, thanks for the help...

so i need to get the live clams or mussels?

i cant buy the fresh ones on the half shell?

Yes and I doubt it (unless you and your fish go off to a restaurant).

also is it ok to have 2 females in the same tank? assuming the tank is 275 gallons? its 60" long x 44" wide x 24" tall.....

what do you think.

Personally I would try for one male and one female, but I seem to recall somewhere reading that they can change sex, so you might get one of each either way.

Steve