Regal Angelfish - How Big Do They Get
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ThRoewer
New member
I've seen fully grown Maldives Pygoplites at DeJong and they were quite impressive at that size.
Male and female are easily distinguished by the gill thorns which are significantly enlarged on males.
They need appropriately sized tanks and should be kept in pairs (that's how you find them in the wild).
If they are not growing it's a sign that the conditions are not ideal for them.
I had a Philippines pair of half growns in a 200 gal tank (L60"xW30"xH24") and it was just OK. I would say they need at a bare minimum twice that size as fully grown adults. 500 gallon and up would definitely be better.
More importantly they need an appropriately decorated tank with enough caves and crevices.
I had my tank as a room divider which I feel to be the best for them.
Male and female are easily distinguished by the gill thorns which are significantly enlarged on males.
They need appropriately sized tanks and should be kept in pairs (that's how you find them in the wild).
If they are not growing it's a sign that the conditions are not ideal for them.
I had a Philippines pair of half growns in a 200 gal tank (L60"xW30"xH24") and it was just OK. I would say they need at a bare minimum twice that size as fully grown adults. 500 gallon and up would definitely be better.
More importantly they need an appropriately decorated tank with enough caves and crevices.
I had my tank as a room divider which I feel to be the best for them.
o2manyfish
o2manyfish
I've had mine for over 3 years now. She is about 4.5" and I don't think she has grown at all since I have had her. Very shy and reclusive, seldom out in open water, and not really interested in that much food that is added to the tank. Seems quite content and plump with hunting what the tank has to offer.
Dave B
Dave B
jonros_sea
New member
There is a local reefer who is breaking down his tank and posted a Regal (Red Sea) he claims he's had for ten years. I asked the size and he says it's 5 in.
nuxx
.Registered Member
Yeap :beer:
For what it's worth the 105 has the same footprint as the 120 just 3 inches shorter. It does not look too cramped because the fish doesn't dash like a tang would do just glides gracefully in and out of the rock work. There is plenty of rocks and she does graze on them and the backwall. She is gaining weight and no longer as reclusive as before after I removed the tang. Very people friendly come to the glass waiting to be fed.
Mark
Premium Member
Sounds good.
ThRoewer
New member
Regals are pretty calm fish and don't need excessive swimming room like tangs or open water fish. In many ways they are more like dwarf angels.
What they really need is a lot of structuring in the tank so they have surfaces to search for food and to make the tank appear larger.
One of the reason that captive regals usually stay small may be that most tanks are too shallow for them to grow further. The little ones supposedly live in the shallow reefs and move deeper as they grow (or grow because they were able to go deeper).
So denying them the possibility to move deeper may stun their growth.
(At least that's the best explanation I can come up with)
The real question of interest is if stunned growth will cause them to die before their time...
So it seems every Regal in captivity is stunted. No one has seem significant growth. Maybe it does take 500g to grow these fish to potential but no one has proven that will work either.
Maybe it's the diet and aggression. We often hear a fish does fine for a year then die suddenly. My regal was quite stressed when the tang was present but now it seems to be very comfortable judging from behavior. Maybe some of these short-lived fish are constantly being stressed.
Maybe it's the diet and aggression. We often hear a fish does fine for a year then die suddenly. My regal was quite stressed when the tang was present but now it seems to be very comfortable judging from behavior. Maybe some of these short-lived fish are constantly being stressed.
