Regal Angel Primer

[Rao]

Mine is doing well, he is eating every day (no eating strikes so far) Still not eating frozen food, is realy strang since this frozen i gave him makes crazy all other fishes, i had a copper band that donÃ"šÃ‚´t eat any thing and eat this frozen from my hand, may regal is pickin nory but just small pices, he just like spectrum pelets.

About QT i know all the reasons to perform a strict QT proces but i just have many more fishes in the QT tank than in the main display, even wen i put a sick fish on the main with god feding all the fishes recover quick, in the QT tank many fishes refuses to eat, i think the refugium is a god place to qt fishes the water quality is exelent and the enviroment is more natural than a bare botom pvc filed small tank, the last 7 fishes i have buy wen directly to refugiun for 3 weaks then for the main, all fishes live and fed well including the regal, before that i have lost some fishes in qt Tank.

 

[fe342185]

OK, After reading almost this entire thread over the last 2 days, I too got myself a Regal Angel. I went to the LFS hoping for one and long and behold he got one from the red sea 2 days ago. I took him home today. They fed pelets at the store and he was already picking at them and ate about 4. He was also bullying all the other fish in the tank incluging a much bigger Hippo tang.

He is currently in a 20gal high refugium with lots of culerpa and pods. He is swimming all over and not hiding at all.

Wjile acclimating in a bucket i threw in flakes and pellets and she sampled them all more than once so I'm hoping for the best.

Some people on this thread say to just put the regal straight into the display tank but I'm afraid the school of anthias and pair of clown would get all the food first. They are like a school of piranhas.

I guess patience is the key here. I will post pics soon.

 

[szwab]

wow sounds like you came across a nice one. I'm still trying to find "the one" been tempted many times but for now am being real patient
post some pics of that one.

 

[fe342185]

Here are some pics during acclimation. Notice the temperature probe in the bucket. I use a wireless pinpoint temp prob in the bag and one in the tank while floating the bag. This is to make sure I only start dripping when the bag water and tank water are the same temp.

The bag water temp was 85 and the tank was 81.6. It took 20 mins to equalize. At that point I started to drip. I hope this little fellow makes it. Thank you everyone for contributing to this thread.

 

[fe342185]

Day 2 in Refugium. PICS

Day 2 in Refugium. PICS

I added a rock with about 50 orange zoos. I have hundreds in the display. Hopefully he wont develop an interest in them.

So far he has swam around all day long and has not been skittish at all. He has tried a few pellets but only when its floating. When i soak it in selcon or Garlic, the pelets sink right away and he shows no interest. Also has picked on some macros and Pods.

Here are some pics.

 

[zfunk007]

So your quarantining him in your refugium? Interesting place to do so. I guess its a low stress environment.

Mine is eating everything I put in the tank and grazing on the rocks constantly. He has a few tiny ich spots, but thats normal when I don't quarantine a fish first. Usually the spots come and go for a while and eventually disappear completely. Anyone else have the same issue with ich?

 

[fe342185]

My primary purpose for putting him in the refugium first is to get him eating prepared foods. Otherwise he does not stand a chance in getting any of the food in the display due to the voracious anthias.
Tonight he ate a few more pellets and he constantly looks for it on the water surface. Once he starts eating from my finger tips then I will put him in the display. Hopefully soon since each time I look at him I am soooo tempted to just throw him in the display. Patience patience patience.

 

[HOZERTHEBONEFISH]

Zfunk

I had ich in the beginning. I used garlic and it went away.

fe342185

I think the refugium is a great idea. You are right, the other fish will eat everything before the regal. I used the opposite approach and removed majority of the fish from the display and let the regal settle and then reintroduced some other fish.

Best of luck guys

 

[d34532]

Well I haven't post on this thread for a while so here is an update.

Its been just over 2 months since I got my yellow chested regal angel.

My regal is going really good in my lps, sps, xenia, mushroom 110 reef tank. She is eatting flakes soak with Selcon and also FD cyclop-eeze soak with selcon (the cyclop-eeze is feed to my LPS and some float around and my regal eats them). I also feed frozen large angel cube with sponge(forgot the correct name for it). It has picked on my favia because I forgot to feed it that day but it hasn't gone out to kill or damage it.

 

[Steve Atkins]

Anyone else have the same issue with ich?

None at all. In fact I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t recall ever seeing a case of it in my tank, which sounds unusual. Perhaps there has been in the past, but I missed it in the days before I realised I needed reading classes.

My Regal is now coming out and feeding with the other fish. It is usually a bit tardy at getting into action so does not get a big share, but it is improving. I am still sending some food behind the reef for it to find later.

When it comes out at feeding time it does not get chased, but at other times the large Blue Tang chases it back into the reef. However, the Regal is persistent, smaller, and more manoeuvrable than the Blue Tang and seems to take this pursuit in its stride. I am therefore operating on the basis that if it is eating enthusiastically, getting sufficient food, able to cope well with being chased and is showing no signs of stress related ailments then I will just let the two of them sort out the relationship issue in their own time.

 

[zfunk007]

Well I finally got some pictures of mine. He's doing great! Eating like a pig, pellets, Formula Two, Angel Formula with Sponge, Frozen Mysis, Frozen Blood Worms, Brine Shrimp Plus, frozen sponge I collected while diving. There really isn't much he won't eat.

This fish amazes me. He has broken every rule of the Regal Angel. He was eating the first day I got him. Eating pellets the second day. Was out swimming around constantly the second day he was in my tank. Hardly ever hides. Just an amazing Regal, I'm so happy I found him. Not to mention him and my Moorish Idol are buds Here are some pics:

Here's one of him picking at some sponge on the bottom.

Heres one of him and my Moorish Idol eating off the bottom.

Cruising.

Another of him picking at the bottom.

Him and the Idol, he's picking at the sponge.

Him and the Idol crusing the tank.

One more of them hanging out on the left side of my tank next to the Refugium.

His ich spots have cleared a bit, they seem to come and go which seems pretty normal for any fish I put directly into my tank without quarantining. Can anyone tell if hes a Pacific or Red Sea Regal? I think hes a Indo-Pacific cause his chest looks blue.

 

[fe342185]

Great Pics. Looks like an Indo. Good to see more and more people are having success.

My Red Sea Regal has doing well so far in the last 3 days. Eating peelets and sampling everything I put in the tank. Flakes have been a hit or miss and Mysis is only tried after it has settled on the bottom. This angel has been out swimming around all day long and never hides. I still have my fingers crossed though. I will leave him in the refugium for another 3 more days then off the the display. He has been very aggressive towards pellets.

 

[mortenN]

fe342185, If I was you I will let the Regal stay in the refugium for a couple of weeks.
I always have my fish in my frag tank for three weeks before I have them to my display tank. It is very important to stress down the Regal after you pick it up from your LFS. Both of my Regals stay in the frag tank three weeks and eat very well before i put them to the display.

Guys, high water quality and no stress is the key to have Regals for a long time in a tank.

Good luck :thumbsup:

 

[HOZERTHEBONEFISH]

zfunk

That is a nice looking pair of fishes. Your MI as well as the regal looks awesome.

 

[cali_reef]

Anyone caught their Regal picking at their clams yet??

 

[zfunk007]

Thanks for the comments guys. I am completely committed to these fish. They get fed 3 times a day. They also get an assortment of about 10 different kinds of food (I will keep adding more as I go along). I also treat all their food with Selcon and Garlic Xtreme Extract. And I leave a seaweed clip for them to munch on all day while I'm at work. I'm going to add an automatic feeder soon to distribute pellets twice a day to make things easier.

I think the key is finding a Regal that is healthy, vibrant, interested in you and most importantly, eating right off the bat. My Regal had all these traits so I took him home. If you don't find a fish like this it is going to be much more of a challenge to get him acclimated and eating normally.

My Regal was easier to get to eat than most Queen and French Angels I catch around here. A very unusual Regal, but then again it took me about a year to find him. It pays if you wait and find a healthy specimen. Wait until you see the one that catches your eye and just stands out. Thats my best advice.

fe342185, Glad to hear your Regal is eating pellets. Thats one of the keys, if you can get them eating pellets I think they have a good chance or surviving.

cali_reef, I don't have any clams, however my Regal hasn't touched a single piece of coral. Not even my Zoopolyps!! And it's been over a week.

 

[ledford1]

Glad to hear your Regal is eating pellets. Thats one of the keys, if you can get them eating pellets I think they have a good chance or surviving.

I wish mine would take to pellets. She hasn't shown any interest in pellets or flakes of any sort - only meaty foods.

 

[zfunk007]

ledford1, Did you try soaking the pellets in Garlic or Selcon? This is how I got my Moorish Idol eating pellets. I got "New Life Spectrum Finicky Fish Formula Pellets" and soaked them in Garlic Xtreme from Kent Marine (woo hoo that rhymes). Give it a try, it might work. It has worked for me with getting finicky fish to eat.

Sorry don't mean to sound like an infomercial with all the brand names but I have had great success with the Kent Garlic Xtreme. I live by that stuff.

 

[fe342185]

I will try mysis again today as well as some other frozen stuff. So far the regal has lost interest in flakes. Also didnt like pellets soak in garlic. She also has not touched the zoos I put in there with her. She particularly likes the grape calurpa.
So far the only bad thing is that she scratches her right cheek on the powerhead every now and then and a 2 little white patches on one fin. I am raising my temperature to 86 to keep these parasites at bay. It does not look like ich though. My anthias had this a few weeks ago and it just went away on its own. They did eat the garlic soaked pellets though.

 

[GSchiemer]

I would NOT raise the temperature to 86. That's borderline death for many corals, reduces the oxygen level, and does NOTHING to combat ich.