Regal Angel Primer
- Thread starter DJPB
- Start date
Beckmola24
New member
I've become very patient in this hobby. I want specific fish for my tank, so I'm willing to wait and add a cleanup crew and start adding corals before getting any fish. Thanks for the advice!
That's the path I took. Only fish in the tank when I added the regal were two false percs and an orchid dotty. No corals and the LR was full of sponges and pods etc... The fish has eaten frozen mysis and anything else I put in the tank (except seaweed off a clip) and picks at the LR all day long. My thoughts were to add the fish first, get her eating prepared foods and well established territory before adding any other large fish and corals. Hopefully this way she will develop a taste for the prepared foods and leave the furture corals and clams alone. This is also why I sought out a tiny juvenile.
jjmatti
Premium Member
I just got my Regal Angel Friday and after meet and grret with the other tankmates he is now exploring most of the tank but often retreats to a corner hiding space behind a pump.
I have tried a couple of things for food : Mysis,Spectrum pellets, Green Nori, Vita Chem and grlic soaked.
None seem to work so far. Can anyone explain the clam feeding tactic?
Should I try live brine shrimp first or the clam?
I have tried a couple of things for food : Mysis,Spectrum pellets, Green Nori, Vita Chem and grlic soaked.
None seem to work so far. Can anyone explain the clam feeding tactic?
Should I try live brine shrimp first or the clam?
The clam "tactic" is easy and worked like a charm for me. I went to the market and bought a few fresh littleneck clams. I cracked a few open with a nutcracker and dropped them in. The Regal went straight for them. It's been a couple months now, and the Regal has settled in nicely and now eats anything I drop in. Good luck.
Gregory Schiemer once told me that one reason it's difficult to wean Regals onto most 'fish foods' is because the fish naturally gets it's food from picking at the substrate...much like when eating the clams. Therefore, I think it would be rather difficult to get it to go directly from shellfish to pellet foods floating in the water column.
One trick I used on my Copperband Butterfly was to put a small amount of Mysis shrimp in its clam meat. In the begiining, I just kind of pressed it in so it would stay, but it wasn't long before the picking of the fish would jar some loose. Gradually the Butterfly would learn to 'look up' and grab a piece that was floating away. From there, it was just feeding Mysis without the half shell and it's been eating from the water column since. The whole process took less than two weeks.
Remember however, this worked for me with a CBB; never tried it with a RA. Seems like it would work though since, in the wild, both fish pick from the substrate. Good luck.
It took a little bit before my Regal took pellets and flake foods. I "trained" it to eat from the water column by mushing up clam meat and adding it to the tank. The Regal went right for it and shortly thereafter it would eat various frozen foods I use(Formula 1,2,VHP, Hikari mysis). I then soaked the pellet food in the water I thawed the frozen food in, then added the pellets when they softened up. The Regal ate a few and now it eats anything. It has turned into a typical bullying angel during feeding time now though, but the other fish just shrug it off.
Steve Atkins
New member
The regal will also learn to go after food in the water collumn by watching the other fish doing it, at least mine did.
This is one advantage of putting a regal into an established tank as I suspect it might take longer to learn on its own.
Steve
This is one advantage of putting a regal into an established tank as I suspect it might take longer to learn on its own.
Steve
Beckmola24
New member
What about feeding from a turkey baster? I Have a mandarin Dragonette that will swim over to the baster to get the mysis from it. It took her awhile to learn, but now she knows that baster=food and swims right up and starts eating. Would that method work for a Regal?
Steve Atkins
New member
I use one but I think the Regal was slower at working it out as a source of food than the rest were since for the first few days of using the baster the Regal would hide from it. Eventually the fact that the other fish were keenly interested in it and he could smell food caused his curiosity to overcome his shyness.
What it did allow me to do early on was to more easily target some food right in front of the Regal at a time when he was reluctant to push in to get his share.
Steve
cthetoy
Active member
So you got the 2nd to the last one. I bought the last one yesterday. It arrived today (DEAD!!!!!!!!) I also requested the Red Sea Regal Angel as thats the only fish available via their website. The dead Regal Angel was also BLUE/GRAY chested. I just emailed liveaquaria for an explanation.
Here is a pic of my DOA Regal. It's not from Red Sea correct?
That's definitely the less-expensive, less-hardy, and less-desirable Indo-Pacific variant of the Regal Angel. Wow, I can see them making that mistake once, but twice!? And they list the Red Sea specimens separately and at higher prices on their web site. That's terrible on their part.
Wow, I would not have expected that from Liveaquaria. I have never had any problem with them. There is no excuse. Liveaquaria does, however, have excellent customer service and will undoubtly make things right. Exchanging a live fish is going to be incredibly difficult though.
Marine Depot did that to me once on a Regal after Ivan. I have never ordered from them again as that is either a complete lack of knowledge of species on their part or blatant disrespect for the customer and their knowledge. It was the second time they had done something like that to me.
Marine Depot did that to me once on a Regal after Ivan. I have never ordered from them again as that is either a complete lack of knowledge of species on their part or blatant disrespect for the customer and their knowledge. It was the second time they had done something like that to me.
Yep not red sea, when I called them they said that I can take the fish to a local pet store or marine society and donate it! Get a receipt of donation and then fax it to them for a refund! I couldn't believe it. And now I see they did it to someone else. Amazing. I have always had good customer service from them, sad. I would never have bought a pacific regal--dismal survival rate. Seems shady
