Red Sea Regal Angelfish Care and Introduction

[mjreefs]

Hi all.

This is the first time I’ve searched of this fish thoroughly. The common knowledge of this fish is that this should be the first angelfish or possibly fish that should be introduced to the tank. Has anyone defied this common knowledge and added the fish with existing fish? I have an 8ft. 240gal tank with a subadult french angelfish, adult annularis angelfish, pair of scribbled angelfish. So far, the only problematic fish is probably the subadult french, while the other angels are docile.

 

[Dbichler]

I honestly havent had a regal due to price but if I did go with one i would make sure its eating like a pig in qt before dt and I never qt anything. As far as other angels along with it as long as there is plenty of hiding space I would try it.

 

[alton]

If this fish is an adult I have seen Redsea Regal adults take as long as 4 weeks to start eating in an isolation tank. So the first question is it eating? I only added mine to a tank that had a blueface angel after it was eating

 

[ca1ore]

I'm something of a contrarian, so the more consensus settles in on an opinion, the more likely I am to think it's wrong. If one of my teams is playing in an important game and all the talking heads pick them to win …. I know they're screwed. Must confess that I don't necessarily see the 'common knowledge' you refer to. Regal angel is a tricky fish to acclimate, mostly because they are very picky eaters. I would NEVER just dump a regal directly into a community tank with an established population of fish. That's a perfect recipe to not be successful. Regal must go into a tank with no competition or aggression so that it can be weaned onto aquarium foods. I've had 6 of them (2 indo; 4 redsea) and have been able to get 4 acclimated and kept longer term. All of them were acclimated in a separate reef tank until eating and observably at a healthy weight.

 

[mjreefs]

I'm something of a contrarian, so the more consensus settles in on an opinion, the more likely I am to think it's wrong. If one of my teams is playing in an important game and all the talking heads pick them to win …. I know they're screwed. Must confess that I don't necessarily see the 'common knowledge' you refer to. Regal angel is a tricky fish to acclimate, mostly because they are very picky eaters. I would NEVER just dump a regal directly into a community tank with an established population of fish. That's a perfect recipe to not be successful. Regal must go into a tank with no competition or aggression so that it can be weaned onto aquarium foods. I've had 6 of them (2 indo; 4 redsea) and have been able to get 4 acclimated and kept longer term. All of them were acclimated in a separate reef tank until eating and observably at a healthy weight.

Well, you are actually stating the "common knowledge" I refer to. Since regals are tricky to acclimate, they wouldn't accept prepared food easily, especially when introduced in a tank with an established community of fish, like what you said. That is why it is highly recommended to be one of the first fish to be introduced in the community, given the said conditions. I wouldn't worry about getting it to feed, I have a quarantine tank that will handle the acclimation. But then again, introducing it to a DT would require another "acclimation"( or probably a better term would be adjustment) since there are already established angelfish in the said aquarium.

 

[mjreefs]

If this fish is an adult I have seen Redsea Regal adults take as long as 4 weeks to start eating in an isolation tank. So the first question is it eating? I only added mine to a tank that had a blueface angel after it was eating

I have yet to personally see that the Regal is eating. I wouldn't buy a Regal that isn't eating, too high of a risk/gamble.

 

[alton]

Hopefully your tank has enough Live Rock for the Regal to eat off of until he he gets acclimated to frozen. If the French is a bully you may have to re-home him until the Regal gets fully acclimated. I fell like moving the regal right now will just set him back another week from eating.

 

[ca1ore]

Well, you are actually stating the "common knowledge" I refer to. Since regals are tricky to acclimate, they wouldn't accept prepared food easily, especially when introduced in a tank with an established community of fish, like what you said. That is why it is highly recommended to be one of the first fish to be introduced in the community, given the said conditions. I wouldn't worry about getting it to feed, I have a quarantine tank that will handle the acclimation. But then again, introducing it to a DT would require another "acclimation"( or probably a better term would be adjustment) since there are already established angelfish in the said aquarium.

I think you may have missed my point … or I did not make it clear. I am not saying the regal has to be the first fish into the display; but I am saying that it benefits enormously from a spell in an non-competitive QT.

 

[hobbyreefer]

My LFS had a 5.5 inch Red Sea Regal for under $100 last week and I couldn't resist. I literally brought him home and dropped him right in the DT with multiple tangs and a blue jaw trigger. In my case, I didn't have any aggression. The regal is the largest fish in the tank and the tank has only been up for a few months. I've offered Rods, LRS, Frozen Mysis, Frozen Spirulina, New Spectrum pellets, and Ocean Nutrition pellets and flakes. The Regal has no internet eating any of these. However, as soon as I tried fresh clams and oysters from the grocery store the Regal immediately and aggressively eats.

Regal has been eating clams for 6 days and I'm hoping it will eventually start trying other things. He was very fat when I picked him up, so hopefully that will help.

I'm in no way saying this was a good idea or that the Regal will make it long term, but your post asked if anyone defied command knowledge... I am happy the fish is eating something and it's by far the best looking fish in the tank...