The Regal Angel Thread

[Steve Atkins]

Originally posted by drknap
.....and skimmer isn't skimming. ....

Sounds like you have a problem with the skimmer. I would have though that overfeeding would make a normally functioning skimmer skim more, not less. - at least mine does.

Steve

PS: Well, here we are. Made it to 6 months

[snorvich]

Well, I have an interesting data point for you. A friend of mine had his regal suddenly decide it was no longer reef friendly. This is in an SPS tank of 400 gallons. So, while I was considering getting a red sea Regal, I have now modified my plans dramatically and will stick with Genicanthus species angels. The regal is gorgeous but my corals are an expensive lunch.

[GSchiemer]

Originally posted by snorvich
Well, I have an interesting data point for you. A friend of mine had his regal suddenly decide it was no longer reef friendly. This is in an SPS tank of 400 gallons. So, while I was considering getting a red sea Regal, I have now modified my plans dramatically and will stick with Genicanthus species angels. The regal is gorgeous but my corals are an expensive lunch.

IO/RS Regal Angels are fairly well-behaved in reef aquariums, especially towards SPS corals. I'm not saying that a Regal Angel has never picked at desirable corals, but it would be unusual. They MAY pick at the odd coral, but never terrorize a reef tank, and frankly, there's no coral I would rather have more than this fish.

Underfed fish will also sometimes pick at corals that they would normally ignore, so that may be an issue with your friend's fish. Personally, I've seen and experienced WAY more problems in reef aquariums with tangs than with Regal Angels, and tangs are generally regarded as "reef-safe."

Exactly what happened with your friend's Regal Angel to "suddenly" make it "no longer reef friendly?" I'm sure there would be a line of reef aquarists willing to take an established Regal Angel off his/her hands. Does he/she happen to live in NY? I'm willing to take a chance with the fish in one of my reef aquariums.

Greg

[Psionicdragon]

My regal may not make it to tomorrow sigh..

[hlama]

Originally posted by snorvich
Well, I have an interesting data point for you. A friend of mine had his regal suddenly decide it was no longer reef friendly. This is in an SPS tank of 400 gallons. So, while I was considering getting a red sea Regal, I have now modified my plans dramatically and will stick with Genicanthus species angels. The regal is gorgeous but my corals are an expensive lunch.

hey can you ask your friend what coral or corals he did go for. the exact name. and how long was the angel in the tank before this happend. or if this coral was a new addition. or was the regal just making room near his home in the tank. the regal to me is one of those fish that is well worth stocking around.

[Psionicdragon]

Are the blue / grey belly more exposed to cyanide compare to the red sea regals?

[GSchiemer]

Originally posted by Psionicdragon
Are the blue / grey belly more exposed to cyanide compare to the red sea regals?

Unequivocally, yes! Although the Regal Angels collected in Fiji are probably not caught with cyanide, I've not seen them fair any better in captivity than Indo-Pacific Regals.

In addition to the cyanide issue, the Indo-Pacific Regal Angels (blue/gray belly) are much LESS likely to adapt to captive life and MORE likely to pick at corals! The Red Sea/Indian Ocean variant (orange belly) is a prettier fish too. The only advantage of the Indo-Pacific fish is price, but that's not much of an advantage when it dies prematurely.

I've said it before in this thread and in articles that I've written about this fish: I highly recommend avoiding the Indo-Pacific Regal Angels and would even support not collecting them for the hobby trade unless by special request.

Greg

[JDS]

Originally posted by Psionicdragon
I just reread Vivid's guarantee and they have regal exempted.

How many people have bought a regal from vivid the first time and it lived and ate?

I got my regal from them in april of this year,and it is still doing grate. eats any thing I give it.

[Psionicdragon]

Originally posted by GSchiemer
The only advantage of the Indo-Pacific fish is price, but that's not much of an advantage when it dies prematurely.

Greg

So true, I had my regal angel for 2 weeks. It ate everything that I place in the tank. 6 days ago, it decided to not eat anymore. It died today. I still don't know why it stopped eating. I thought it was a bacteria infection, so I used meds in the QT tank..oh well =/

JDS,

did you get yellow belly or blue/grey/white belly one?

[Tagareef]

Psionicdragon,

I am very sorry about your Regal.

I just got a Red Sea Regal 3 days ago. So far so good. My yellow tang bugged him for a day but has since backed off.

Fingers crossed!

Luis

[Psionicdragon]

GL Luis!

I love these angels and all, but its so disheartening to lose a life. Mine was eating well and was fat as can be. But something made it stop eating.

You might wanna move the tang to a sump or refugium. For some reasons, tangs like to harass regals.

[Tremelle]

I was in a lfs yesterday, and found myself facing a hard decision. I have a beautiful 4.5" male RS Regal in my 210 now. The lfs had 2 2.5" RS Regals that were eating and swimming about together. They were eating mysis and brine. I was thinking of trading my 4.5" male for the 2 smaller ones. The only thing that kept me from buying them was the look on the face of my current Regal. It swims up to the glass when ever I am near the tank and it is very inquisitive of everything that goes on in the tank. What would you have done?

[Psionicdragon]

I would've kept the one that I had and bought the other two :P

[Tremelle]

I seriously thought about that option also. The 2 smaller ones would most likely remained females with the 4.5" dominant male. The concerns I had were as follows.

First, I already have a 5" Chrysurus angel, 4" Blonde Naso, and 4" Purple tang along with the 4.5" Regal. I am not sure I wanted to try 6 big fish in my 210 gallon tank.

Secondly, I am going out of town on Monday for 4 days. I would not be around if the harassment got too bad from the male Regal or any other fish. I even thought about buying them and having the store hold them til I got back, since I know the staff pretty well.

[JDS]

JDS,

did you get yellow belly or blue/grey/white belly one? [/B]

It's the yellow belly one.

[doody]

Originally posted by Tremelle
I was in a lfs yesterday, and found myself facing a hard decision. I have a beautiful 4.5" male RS Regal in my 210 now. The lfs had 2 2.5" RS Regals that were eating and swimming about together. They were eating mysis and brine. I was thinking of trading my 4.5" male for the 2 smaller ones. The only thing that kept me from buying them was the look on the face of my current Regal. It swims up to the glass when ever I am near the tank and it is very inquisitive of everything that goes on in the tank. What would you have done?

Duse you gotta share the LFS name if your not buying them. Someone here will buy them.

[Tremelle]

The name of the lfs is The Fish Gallery in Dallas, TX. They have them priced at $90 each, then I get a 15% discount through my local marine fish club. I called them at the close of busines yesterday, 12/24, and they still have them both. What would you do?

The same day I ran across another 2.5" sized RS Regal at another lfs. They wanted $150 for it. That size RS Regal must have been heavily stock on at least one of the supplier's list.

[pecan2phat]

Wow Tremelle,

Those sizes usually go for $59 at one local LFS here in NY. There are other LFS that will hit the $90 mark out here but this guy gets them year round and sells them for $59.

[GSchiemer]

$90 is a very good price for a Red Sea/Indian Ocean Reagl angel of that size, especially one that's eating at the store! I've seen them for $149 and more at some LFS's and online. OTOH, the Indo-Pacific Regal Angels typically sell for less, and that may be the fish that Pecan observed at his LFS's. $59 is actually a good price even for an Indo-Pacific Regal, but personally I wouldn't buy one at any price.

Greg

[Psionicdragon]

2.5 are pretty rare. So ya that is a killer deal for 90-150.

3.5-5.0 is around 30-50 in the Bay Area, but thats without knowing if it eats or not.

[pecan2phat]

Greg,
The $59 is for a RS Regal.
This guy moves a lot of fish and he deals with the *****-shipper vs the wholesaler in Cali.

[Psionicdragon]

Oops, I thought it was a blue chested one. My bad!

[zfunk007]

I haven't posted on this thread since July. So I figured I would again since my Regal is still alive and well. I have had him for 6 months now. He hasn't grown too much but then again I'm not sure what their growth rates are. The main point is, he is doing well. Here are a few pictures:





All I feed him now is Spectrum Pellets and live caulerpa. Although I will be getting him some live sponge on my dive trip this week. Hope everyones Regals are doing well.

[Psionicdragon]

Anyone ever seen or heard of a regal that would only pick at flakes, but not brine or mysis shrimps? I got another Regal this monday and it ignores everything but flakes. However, it will pick at the flake and spit it back out.

[doody]

I noticed that lot of people have success with Spectrum Pellets. However, there are a few different types of spectrum. What kind of spectrum is everyone useing?