Regal Angel Primer - Page 52

Steve Atkins · 05/15/2006, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Aquaduck
It's called the "lateral line".

I assumed he was actually talking about that ridge between the lateral line and the dorsal fin.

Steve

Steve Atkins · 05/15/2006, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Beckmola24
I don't have anything in my tank right now. Nada. It's a new(er) tank. ......

Probably then comes down to how long you have been keeping reef fishes. If you are just starting out (i.e. less than 2 years) then you probably should leave it alone.

Steve

Beckmola24 · 05/15/2006, 09:42 PM

Not just starting out

This is just a new large tank for me. I keep dwarf seahorses and Erectus seahorses along with a reef in my 37g. So I'm not new to this stuff

So are you saying that I could put a Regal in there w/in the next few months?? Would you all think it would be better to add a Regal as one of the 2nd or 3rd fish in there? IMO it would have more of a chance to acclimate w/o being bullied or crowded by other fish.

Steve Atkins · 05/15/2006, 10:17 PM

If you have a tank suitable for a Regal and biologically ready, then putting it in first would seem a reasonable idea. If you are not sure if it is ready then add some small non aggressive fish first. You must also remember that a newish tank will have nothing in there already for the Regal to eat so it will need to eat the food you add from the outset.

Some Regals seem not to be particularly bothered about other fish, even ones that bully them a bit when first added, but the normal expectation is that they do not cope well with aggression from larger/more dominant fish.

Steve

DKRT0821 · 05/16/2006, 08:53 AM

I wouldn't add a regal to a new tank. I would wait at least a year or two. Just my two cents.

Pennoyer · 05/16/2006, 09:13 AM

My regal constantly picks from the LR. If the LR in the tank is too new, you may run into problems with feeding. Other than that, I think adding with nothing else in the tank is a good idea if you can wait that long.

Beckmola24 · 05/16/2006, 09:35 AM

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!

Aquaduck · 05/16/2006, 09:39 AM

Seed your tank with live rock that has living sponge tissue on it. It will spread through the tank. Wait about six months for the sponges to spread and when you get your Regal it will have plenty of natural food to nibble on.

Pennoyer · 05/16/2006, 10:03 AM

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 · 05/21/2006, 08:37 PM

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?

RichK · 05/21/2006, 08:52 PM

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.

jjmatti · 05/23/2006, 07:13 AM

I got some of the clams last night and dropped 2 in. My Regal, Tangs and Nassarius snails all devoured them in a few hours.
I tried dropping some pellet food in there afterwards but the Angel wouldnt go for it. Is there any tips to get them to transition to other food?

64Ivy · 05/23/2006, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jjmatti
I got some of the clams last night and dropped 2 in. My Regal, Tangs and Nassarius snails all devoured them in a few hours.
I tried dropping some pellet food in there afterwards but the Angel wouldnt go for it. Is there any tips to get them to transition to other food?

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.

jjmatti · 05/23/2006, 02:02 PM

See now that is the kind of advice that I pay 24.99 a year for!
Something so freaking simple why didnt I think of it.

64Ivy,
thanks for the idea I will tuck some mysis into the clam tonight.

RichK · 05/23/2006, 02:37 PM

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 · 05/23/2006, 02:52 PM

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

Beckmola24 · 05/23/2006, 03:55 PM

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 · 05/24/2006, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Beckmola24
What about feeding from a turkey baster? ...... Would that method work for a Regal?

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

calaban · 05/25/2006, 06:47 PM

just took the plunge and bought a Red Sea regal from Liveaquaria.com, for my 180 gallon tank with anthias for tankmates, but was sent a fish with a blue chest which if I am not mistaken is not from red sea. I think I got ripped off?

GSchiemer · 05/25/2006, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by calaban
just took the plunge and bought a Red Sea regal from Liveaquaria.com, for my 180 gallon tank with anthias for tankmates, but was sent a fish with a blue chest which if I am not mistaken is not from red sea. I think I got ripped off?

A picture would help confirm it, but it does sound like you were sent the wrong fish.

cthetoy · 05/25/2006, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by calaban
just took the plunge and bought a Red Sea regal from Liveaquaria.com, for my 180 gallon tank with anthias for tankmates, but was sent a fish with a blue chest which if I am not mistaken is not from red sea. I think I got ripped off?

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?

GSchiemer · 05/25/2006, 07:04 PM

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.

RichK · 05/25/2006, 08:08 PM

That's surprising. My Regal was also purchased from LiveAquaria and it is indeed a Red Sea variant. It looked great upon arrival and it continues to do great. I am sure they will make good on their apparent mistake.

Redfish · 05/25/2006, 08:10 PM

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.

calaban · 05/25/2006, 08:39 PM

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

05/15/2006, 09:42 PM	#1278
Beckmola24 Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Houston, Tx Posts: 345	Not just starting out This is just a new large tank for me. I keep dwarf seahorses and Erectus seahorses along with a reef in my 37g. So I'm not new to this stuff So are you saying that I could put a Regal in there w/in the next few months?? Would you all think it would be better to add a Regal as one of the 2nd or 3rd fish in there? IMO it would have more of a chance to acclimate w/o being bullied or crowded by other fish. __________________ ~Becky~

05/16/2006, 09:13 AM	#1281
Pennoyer Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: New Orleans, LA Posts: 456	My regal constantly picks from the LR. If the LR in the tank is too new, you may run into problems with feeding. Other than that, I think adding with nothing else in the tank is a good idea if you can wait that long. __________________ Serenity Now!! Current Tank Info: 90 gallon; Seq. 4200 return w/ 2 x 1" Seaswirls; Seq. 4200 w/ HD-4Way OceanM. CL; 2 x 250 DE ROIII's w/ Gies. 14.5k's on Icecaps; 4x48" T5HO's w/ Icecap SLR's on 2x660 Icecaps dawn/dusk; Geo 6x40" Ext. NW Skim; Jet 1 CR; PC-650 Chiller

05/16/2006, 09:35 AM	#1282
Beckmola24 Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Houston, Tx Posts: 345	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! __________________ ~Becky~

05/16/2006, 10:03 AM	#1284
Pennoyer Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: New Orleans, LA Posts: 456	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. __________________ Serenity Now!! Current Tank Info: 90 gallon; Seq. 4200 return w/ 2 x 1" Seaswirls; Seq. 4200 w/ HD-4Way OceanM. CL; 2 x 250 DE ROIII's w/ Gies. 14.5k's on Icecaps; 4x48" T5HO's w/ Icecap SLR's on 2x660 Icecaps dawn/dusk; Geo 6x40" Ext. NW Skim; Jet 1 CR; PC-650 Chiller

05/23/2006, 03:55 PM	#1292
Beckmola24 Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Houston, Tx Posts: 345	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? __________________ ~Becky~

05/15/2006, 10:17 PM	#1279
Steve Atkins Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Wellington, NZ Posts: 552	If you have a tank suitable for a Regal and biologically ready, then putting it in first would seem a reasonable idea. If you are not sure if it is ready then add some small non aggressive fish first. You must also remember that a newish tank will have nothing in there already for the Regal to eat so it will need to eat the food you add from the outset. Some Regals seem not to be particularly bothered about other fish, even ones that bully them a bit when first added, but the normal expectation is that they do not cope well with aggression from larger/more dominant fish. Steve

05/16/2006, 08:53 AM	#1280
DKRT0821 Awaiting Email Confirmation Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 68	I wouldn't add a regal to a new tank. I would wait at least a year or two. Just my two cents.

05/16/2006, 09:39 AM	#1283
Aquaduck Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Waterloo, Ont. Canada Posts: 1,076	Seed your tank with live rock that has living sponge tissue on it. It will spread through the tank. Wait about six months for the sponges to spread and when you get your Regal it will have plenty of natural food to nibble on.

05/21/2006, 08:37 PM	#1285
jjmatti Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Northern New Jersey Posts: 517	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?

05/21/2006, 08:52 PM	#1286
RichK Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Wayne PA Posts: 692	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.

05/23/2006, 07:13 AM	#1287
jjmatti Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Northern New Jersey Posts: 517	I got some of the clams last night and dropped 2 in. My Regal, Tangs and Nassarius snails all devoured them in a few hours. I tried dropping some pellet food in there afterwards but the Angel wouldnt go for it. Is there any tips to get them to transition to other food?

05/23/2006, 02:02 PM	#1289
jjmatti Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Northern New Jersey Posts: 517	See now that is the kind of advice that I pay 24.99 a year for! Something so freaking simple why didnt I think of it. 64Ivy, thanks for the idea I will tuck some mysis into the clam tonight.

05/23/2006, 02:37 PM	#1290
RichK Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Wayne PA Posts: 692	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.

05/23/2006, 02:52 PM	#1291
Steve Atkins Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Wellington, NZ Posts: 552	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

05/25/2006, 06:47 PM	#1294
calaban Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: belvidere Posts: 14	just took the plunge and bought a Red Sea regal from Liveaquaria.com, for my 180 gallon tank with anthias for tankmates, but was sent a fish with a blue chest which if I am not mistaken is not from red sea. I think I got ripped off?

05/25/2006, 07:04 PM	#1297
GSchiemer Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 879	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.

05/25/2006, 08:08 PM	#1298
RichK Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Wayne PA Posts: 692	That's surprising. My Regal was also purchased from LiveAquaria and it is indeed a Red Sea variant. It looked great upon arrival and it continues to do great. I am sure they will make good on their apparent mistake.

05/25/2006, 08:10 PM	#1299
Redfish Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 360	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.

05/25/2006, 08:39 PM	#1300
calaban Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: belvidere Posts: 14	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