Regal Tang info please.

[EricandBrandi]

I have just bought a Regal Tang and added it to my 120 gallon aquarium. I also have a Goby and a couple of Condylactis Anemone. Is there anything special I should know about the Regal Tang as far as what they eat? The lfs had it eating pellet food. Also, what would be some good tank mates? My overall goal is a reef so I dont want to get fish that wont make good tank mates. Any help would be great.

 

[inthesea]

Hope you QT the regal tang they are very ich prone to start with but once they get thru the initial few days they are very hardy and peaceful. THey will eat pettets and wet foods and they love nori. Attach 1/2 a sheet of Nori for him in a veggie clip every day. They will get alone with pretty much all fish except an other regal tang, but people do keep more than one in large tanks. Once they get used to you they will eat out of your had and are very playful and a great addition to any reef tank.

 

[lhm nole]

Like the above poster said qt very important because they are very vulnerable to ich, and provides lots of vegetable matter and good water quality, they are also prone to getting hlle

 

[hybridazn]

please dont take this the wrong way, but shouldnt you have asked this before buying this fish? the regal really isnt a fish that is for a beginner or novice in this hobby. i hope it turns out the best for you and the fish. just make sure you feed it lots of algae based foods along with some spirulina brine.

 

[Deleted member 82742]

If your 120 is a 4 foot tank it will out grow your tank very fast. As some previous posters said plenty of Nori for food. I think another tang for a tankmate would be a very bad idea. IMO of course!!!!!!!

 

[TampaReefer79]

The regal tang is not an algae eater by nature, it eats zooplankton. Will it eat nori if placed an a closed aquarium? Of course it will, it will eat a license plate and boot if you throw them in your tank...they eat ANYTHING. lol Just don't forget their meaty foods.

As far as tankmates...the hippo is going to outgrow your tank so fast you might not need to worry about tankmates. And as others have said, QT would have been a great thing. Not just because the regal is ich prone, but because it's what you should do with ALL fish.

 

[Eric the half-bee]

I echo others remarks. I'm a rule breaker in that I do not QT my fish and have paid for it in the past with ich and even lost tangs to it. Its amazing what captive tangs will eat. Mine will gobble even live gulf shrimp. After QTing, a varied diet in addn to good water is key for tangs(and all fish for that matter).

 

[Fishguy15]

Also this fish is prone to Head and Lateral Line erosion. So you need to be sure you feed him a variety of foods.

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

This board is a great source of information and I would take full advantage of the knowlege here. Most folks who have been doing this for a while would say a 120 is way too small for a hippo tang and I agree. With that said you will also find plenty of folks who disagree. In my case I found a home for my last regal that got too big and ill tempered for my 180. When large and active swimmers like many tangs get to feeling cramped they can become very aggressive. You didnt say how big your fish was so if he is small enough now he will likely be fine for a while but they do grow fast.

As has been stated hippos have a different diet than most tangs but the ones I have kept ate everything and ate like pigs. A good mix of meaty seafoods, nori, and a high quality pellet like new life spectrum. All of my fish get this diet and are all thriving.