Help needed - Regal Angel

[orsony]

I had bought a Regal Angel 1 week ago and notice that it had not been eating. Please advise what sort of food or action to be taken. I dun wish this fish to starve to death. Please help. Thanks.

[LaW]

I had bought a Regal Angel 1 week ago and notice that it had not been eating. Please advise what sort of food or action to be taken. I dun wish this fish to starve to death. Please help. Thanks.

1) how big is the fish.

2) is it the biggest fish in the tank? reef or just fish only?

3) any tankmates aggression towards it?

4) yellow or gray-blueish belly?

5) tank size.

6) water conditions.

i fed mine with mysis, henry's gourmet, nori(red, green, purple). i soak all meaty food with garlic from seachem together with vitachem. my regal is the biggest fish and a bully.

getting regal to eat is rather tricky and it depends alot on "luck".

buy a rock of cheap zoos and see how. i read somewhere they eat blue sponge as well but mine didnt eat it.

[tijou]

Yup, I must agree with LAW, getting the regal to eat is very tricky and depends alot on "luck".

Previously it took me 4 weeks before the fellow starts to eat..

Just be alittle patient..

[big_ben102000]

have that same problem with my regal not eating. then i tried crab eggs.. and it ate alittle. mine is kinda timid hiding all the time. if u can get your hands on crab eggs u cab try using it.

cheers

[orsony]

Yup, I must agree with LAW, getting the regal to eat is very tricky and depends alot on "luck".

Previously it took me 4 weeks before the fellow starts to eat..

Just be alittle patient..

Thanks brothers for all the advises.

I had tried pellet,seaweed and mysis. Might try other food but other fishes react very fast and food is finished extremely fast. Any suggestion to feed it?

Hopefully I have the luck with this fish. At least it still swim around and not badly bully.

[LaW]

Thanks brothers for all the advises.

I had tried pellet,seaweed and mysis. Might try other food but other fishes react very fast and food is finished extremely fast. Any suggestion to feed it?

Hopefully I have the luck with this fish. At least it still swim around and not badly bully.

do try to answer me those couple of questions i asked above.

in the meantime, i will advice you to target feed. soak mysis with garlic for a few mintues, put it in a syringe. then target it at its favorite hiding spot or tie a nori(i will prefer more red and then green tied together) with a rubberband to a LR at its spot. that atleast how i got it start feeding after 3 days in my tank.

or from RC, which im lucky enough not to try it yet, get a fresh mussel or clam from the market. cut and take away half of the shell and put it at its fravorite spot. its reported to work wonders for regal to subtain it for a while. if the other tankmates went to snatch those food you provided, get another ones and place it at the other side to divert the attention away.

after a couple of target feedings, my regal now will swim out to wait for food. it needs abit of coaching.

but inorder for me to provide more information, do try to answer those qns.

and one more qns, does your LR well cultivated with lifes on it?

and remember, regal angel is very delicate and shy fish, the first step to it to feed is make it comfortable. provide caves for it to choose and find shelter in it.

good luck and i wish to hear from you soon. hope the poor fellow will start to eat soon.

[orsony]

Sorry for the late reply.

1) Fish is about 4"

2) Not the biggest. I have a 5" blueface + blue ring. Some mushroom, tube, zoa & anemone

3) There a smaller Koran disturbing it

4) I see more yellow belly

5) 4 x 2 x 2 with IOS

6) NO3 is about 50ppm. I just bought AZ NO3. Hope to lower the nitrate. NO2 and Ammo is zero.

Please enlighten.

Thanks

[LaW]

Sorry for the late reply.

1) Fish is about 4"

2) Not the biggest. I have a 5" blueface + blue ring. Some mushroom, tube, zoa & anemone

3) There a smaller Koran disturbing it

4) I see more yellow belly

5) 4 x 2 x 2 with IOS

6) NO3 is about 50ppm. I just bought AZ NO3. Hope to lower the nitrate. NO2 and Ammo is zero.

Please enlighten.

Thanks

1) Fish is about 4" [Rather a good size to start with, atleast its not some young fish with low fat content.]

2) Not the biggest. I have a 5" blueface + blue ring. Some mushroom, tube, zoa & anemone [Try to make it the biggest, somewhere I read that the only better chance for having success with regal is to make it the biggest fish which i did. Did ur regal eat the zoa? My regal went for them after a week but he knows how to choose, he only eats the colorful ones and left the brown ones behind but if i feed him on time, he normally wont touch the zoa. ]

3) There a smaller Koran disturbing it [do try ur best to get rid of this guy and lock him up somewhere first]

4) I see more yellow belly [though i had no experience with any blue belly pacfic region regals but alot of website states that they do poorly when compared with their Indian ocean and red sea yellow belly counter parts. i think you have better chance with a yellow belly one]

5) 4 x 2 x 2 with IOS [Not too bad a size but amount of LR with lots of hiding spot and something to graze on is very very and extremely important.]

6) NO3 is about 50ppm. I just bought AZ NO3. Hope to lower the nitrate. NO2 and Ammo is zero. [NO3 can lower it, do it. but do watch ur pH. somewhere i read that using AZ NO3 will somehow affect pH. so watch out for that.]

If possible, get rid of those bigger and bully fishes first, especially the Koran. Let it feel comfortable.

From somewhere I read, if a regal go on food strike, it may due to water condition problem. So do more water change.

Really hope ur regal do well, they are really beautiful and one of my top list of favorite fish.

what i suggest to you is target feed and leave the foods at its favorite spot with a syringe or tube. or try mussel, clams or shellfish opened with flesh showing at its favorite spot. Live food like live brine shrimp you should also try. Red and green seaweeds should also be tied on a small LR and left at its spot.

Dip all the foods with some garlic.

and lastly just keep trying and trying with all the food you can find, just over feed and do more water change.

and here are my sources for info on regals, do read them up and you will know they are not easy fish to keep.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...mp;pagenumber=1

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/fishes/angels/pygoplites/

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/aug2002/Fish.htm

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/totm/index.php

all the best and happy new year!

PS: I'm far from experts in keeping Regals. Those I shared above is just my advices from my experience with them.

[LaW]

buy a blue sponge for it, though mine never eats it. somewhere i read they do so you might want to give it a shot. try live red bamboo algaes and cheap colorful rock of zoa as well. all these are often available and rather affordable. remember to place all at its favorite spot.

[Ah-lim]

I have a regal angel.

Its feeding on formulae two pellets, I choose it as I saw that it was pellet fed at the LFS.

[orsony]

Thanks all brothers for the advise. Especially LAW, in fact I had tried some of your methods withour success probably I did not put it on it favourite spot. Will kepp you updated on the progress. Wish everybody a Blessed New Year.

[LaW]

Thanks all brothers for the advise. Especially LAW, in fact I had tried some of your methods withour success probably I did not put it on it favourite spot. Will kepp you updated on the progress. Wish everybody a Blessed New Year.

your most welcome! you can thank me by trying all ur means to get the fish eating.

i used to just feed normally, the response i got from my regal is just swim pass the food or go hiding. but after i target feed at its spot, she (i think its a she) took her own sweet time to have a bite on it. since then it never look back. do try it, it will get ur hands rather wet but its worth it.

hope your's will behave the same as mine.