QT a regal angel help

[PhantomHalo]

I have a regal angel coming this week, but I am getting it before he touches the fish store tanks due to it being $100 cheaper. I am also getting it with an emperor and majestic as well to introduce them all at the same time. My question is, I’ve heard they don’t do well with copper, but I have had bad luck with cupramine and not sure if I should treat them right away or wait to see symptoms? I was thinking at a minimum doing Prazi after I get them all eating. I have also read that regals are hard to acclimate and get to eat. Does anyone have experience with this? Thanks for any and all help!

 

[EmdeReef]

They’re very shy fish at first. You should make sure it has a spot to hide where it won’t be harassed. That’s why ideally introducing it first is always best. are the 3 angels of approximately the same size?

Once ready to get out of hiding it’ll likely take some effort and trying a bunch of different foods to get it eating. Depending on the situation, you may want to wait until it’s eating before adding copper and other meds. If not possible it will do ok in copper power. I have one right now in 2.25ppm without issues and it’s slowly exploring outside its cave.
If you notice any bullying it will be much more difficult/impossible to acclimate. The biggest challenge IME is to get them to eat and that’s often best accomplished if they’re completely alone in a tank with lots of room to hide. Best advice is to throw everything you got, including fresh clams, oysters, and/or mussels. Masstick paste food sometimes works, panta rhei has sponge based food. Live brine shrimp or live white/black worms may work too. That said I’m still waiting for mine to eat and I’ve tried over 1different foods.

also try not to be too close to the tank after feeding.
I had regals that literally wouldn’t eat until I moved away from the tank etc.

 

[LAReefer4Life]

How large is your QT? Regals do fine with copper, I specifically used Cupramine with all my angels and haven't had an issue yet. Make sure you get the Hanna Checker though.

The success of the regal really depends on your QT setup. If I were you, I'd suggest getting a tank divider to isolate the regal from the other fish and help reduce stress by eliminating the lights for the first couple weeks. Get the fish eating before starting medications as well.

Mine regal loves fresh clams and oysters, I got him nipping at food day 2 and eating by day 3 following the mentioned above introduction of the fish. Water quality needs to be pristine.

FYI - My regal became the bully of the tank once he was fully acclimated. He was the largest out of my angels but not by much.

 

[PhantomHalo]

Thanks all! The angels will all be around the same size, 3-4” range. I will make sure I separate it for sure then. I tried cupramine with the Hannah checker and was getting results all over the place. I made a thread about it. I just don’t trust it. I had to double the dose and it was still sitting at .24ppm long story short. I will get a bunch of fresh food in the meantime and try to get it eating. Do you think it would be worth paying $100 more for the local store to acclimate it and get it eating?

 

[PhantomHalo]

Good news! He’s here and in the qt tank getting all settled in. He’s even picking at some nori and pellet food! The Emperor and Majestic are both eating also! The majestic was a tank bred one that had been in qt for 2 months. Didn’t feel right putting him in with the other two that were wild caught.

 

[Phlynamjax]

That is a great size regal. I think he will do just fine.

 

[PhantomHalo]

I hope so! He is small, but so far so good. Fingers crossed! The emperor is about twice the size of the other two, but they’re going into a 300gal dd. Hopefully they will have plenty of space to grow and get fat.