Captive Bred Regal and Multibar Angel

[Wildreefs]

biota posted these videos today of the fish they have in stock right now. I wish the videos were longer but these appear to be curious and healthy fish.

Sure, In a same species tank, same sizes, of the 100’s they bring in I’d hope they can film 12 looking good for 10 seconds

I have gotten two yellow tangs over the past year that are captive. One made it 6 weeks, the other 4 weeks. Meanwhile, any Hawaiian yellow wild I’ve had in my life lived no less than 2 years and were either sold off or died during a power failure .

 

[Wildreefs]

I think just like any other industry , there are some companies that don’t deal in truths. Of course they’re hardy, why would they say other wise.

About 2 years ago, when I was then willing to spend more than 3 bucks for a captive fish, (3 too many actually ) , I asked on here when would they be getting more cb scribbled. The reasons from them was we expect them soon. Soon after, was basically told they are a thing of the past and probably won’t get them anymore.

some places use good marketing, which starts with a compelling story (save the reef from fish being caught), good photo taking , a good cause (repopulate fish back on the reef) to lure people in to buy there stuff.

There is one prominent fish quarantine guy that has been posted about before on here, who flat out says, wild are better

 

[areefer01]

Sure, In a same species tank, same sizes, of the 100’s they bring in I’d hope they can film 12 looking good for 10 seconds

I have gotten two yellow tangs over the past year that are captive. One made it 6 weeks, the other 4 weeks. Meanwhile, any Hawaiian yellow wild I’ve had in my life lived no less than 2 years and were either sold off or died during a power failure .

One common denominator is the hobbyist in your case. People have different experiences with vendors be it fish or equipment. Who here is to say who is right?

 

[Wildreefs]

One common denominator is the hobbyist in your case. People have different experiences with vendors be it fish or equipment. Who here is to say who is right?

How about the vendors who do everything from lyretail anthias to tiger angels that say they won’t get these hardy cb fish anymore.

man’s yes I’m the common denominator? Wilds with me lived, captives did not. Hopefully wilds come back, and these biota yellow tangs go back to be sold at person for $99

 

[Steve and his Animals]

How about the vendors who do everything from lyretail anthias to tiger angels that say they won’t get these hardy cb fish anymore.

man’s yes I’m the common denominator? Wilds with me lived, captives did not. Hopefully wilds come back, and these biota yellow tangs go back to be sold at person for $99

I don't want this thread to be another debate about whether captive bred fish are the best thing or the worst thing. No reason to bash all the efforts of people trying to make the hobby more sustainable.

Captive breeding gives people chances to own fish that are difficult or impossible to keep if they are sourced from the wild. Like Tamberav said, multibars almost never make it if you buy a wild one. Maybe one in every 100 eats prepared foods. Does the fact that these angels are captive bred mean they are bullet proof and will eat dry rice if you offer it to them? Of course not, we're talking about juvenile marine angelfish here.

At the store I work at, we've gotten CB yellow tangs from Biota, about five total, and other than the price and size, the fish are almost indistinguishable from the wild ones. Hardy, eat like pigs, great color after a bit of growth, etc. They all live.

The angels are a different story, but my general conclusion is it's not because the fish are bad, it's because they're tiny. If they were the size of a wild one when you bought it, I'm sure it would be just as easy as everyone wants it to be. From the looks of things, however, it seems like these fish are growing surprisingly slowly, so the cost of selling larger specimens would likely be astronomical.

I had literally no success with these captive bred angels, but I put that blame on myself and my husbandry. Next time, I'm buying some of those DKI pellets if it means they'll eat and live. Sometimes it's about finding that one little trick, and it sounds like that's the one from reading other people's experiences.

 

[Zionas]

The newer batches of Regals seem to be losing the misbars and aberrant patterning, if I’m not wrong. How do you find the difficulty of these Multibars and Regals compared to their wild counterparts? Are they a lot hardier?

 

[Tamberav]

The newer batches of Regals seem to be losing the misbars and aberrant patterning, if I’m not wrong. How do you find the difficulty of these Multibars and Regals compared to their wild counterparts? Are they a lot hardier?

Multibar is for sure as the wilds seem to have almost zero survival rate in the US anyways.

Wild regals seem easier then wild multibars so not sure there.

 

[Wildreefs]

I don't want this thread to be another debate about whether captive bred fish are the best thing or the worst thing. No reason to bash all the efforts of people trying to make the hobby more sustainable.

Captive breeding gives people chances to own fish that are difficult or impossible to keep if they are sourced from the wild. Like Tamberav said, multibars almost never make it if you buy a wild one. Maybe one in every 100 eats prepared foods. Does the fact that these angels are captive bred mean they are bullet proof and will eat dry rice if you offer it to them? Of course not, we're talking about juvenile marine angelfish here.

At the store I work at, we've gotten CB yellow tangs from Biota, about five total, and other than the price and size, the fish are almost indistinguishable from the wild ones. Hardy, eat like pigs, great color after a bit of growth, etc. They all live.

The angels are a different story, but my general conclusion is it's not because the fish are bad, it's because they're tiny. If they were the size of a wild one when you bought it, I'm sure it would be just as easy as everyone wants it to be. From the looks of things, however, it seems like these fish are growing surprisingly slowly, so the cost of selling larger specimens would likely be astronomical.

I had literally no success with these captive bred angels, but I put that blame on myself and my husbandry. Next time, I'm buying some of those DKI pellets if it means they'll eat and live. Sometimes it's about finding that one little trick, and it sounds like that's the one from reading other people's experiences.

I think you will find Poma fish are way more hardier . Literally have.m not heard one negative about then. Not propping up Poma, just stating all captive bred facilities are equal

 

[Zionas]

Multibars don’t have a good survival rate where I am either. Think they’re just inherently difficult. Where I am wild ones you’d be lucky to get 2/5 eating.

 

[Tamberav]

Poma Labs 30 day is incredible :) They are in the states so fish don't have to travel half the world to get here either which is a good thing. I assume that is added stress. They don't sell the same fish though so it's not choosing one or the other if you want a specific fish.

 

[Ryebreadiest]

Poma Labs 30 day is incredible :) They are in the states so fish don't have to travel half the world to get here either which is a good thing. I assume that is added stress. They don't sell the same fish though so it's not choosing one or the other if you want a specific fish.

Yeah sadly they only sell a few larger angels at this time.

 

[Maoiwowie]

I have 3 Biota angels, a regal, venustus, and multibar. When they first arrived they were small and shy. I didnt release into general population until they ate aggressively in isolation; usually took a month or less. They do grow rather slowly. I got the Regal first probably around 8 months ago and all are doing stellar now with the multibar barely 1.5 inches. They eat frozen, pellets, and Masstick and sps... ;)

 

[Steve and his Animals]

I have 3 Biota angels, a regal, venustus, and multibar. When they first arrived they were small and shy. I didnt release into general population until they ate aggressively in isolation; usually took a month or less. They do grow rather slowly. I got the Regal first probably around 8 months ago and all are doing stellar now with the multibar barely 1.5 inches. They eat frozen, pellets, and Masstick and sps... ;)

That's what I would try to do, feed them various small foods, pellets and frozen. Many of them they would pick at but not voraciously eat. Then they would starve. I don't know if it's the brand of pellets I'm using, like I need to use the DKI pellets or something. Many even turned up their nose at live baby brine. Couldn't figure why.

 

[Maoiwowie]

That's what I would try to do, feed them various small foods, pellets and frozen. Many of them they would pick at but not voraciously eat. Then they would starve. I don't know if it's the brand of pellets I'm using, like I need to use the DKI pellets or something. Many even turned up their nose at live baby brine. Couldn't figure why.

Thats too bad. I havent lost a Biota yet. But every time i purchased a Biota Angel i would panic the first 3 days because it appeared they would eat nothing in isolation; and everytime i would send them an email seeking help and worried that they would waste away. My iso chamber is a simple box that i suction cup to the wall inside my main display. I am feeding TDO pellets right now. The new angel gets to become accustomed to all the smells and lights of the main display, and sees all the other fish; but gets fed independently and constantly. I throw the book at them and will vacuum any uneaten food after a couple hours; wait then feed again. The multibar was so small that one normal brine shrimp if eaten would fill him, but even that was too big to start, so i shaved the frozen brine even smaller and combined that with live baby brine daily. And ive noticed the multibar in general population learns from the other two angels as far as following them around and seeing what they eat. Today i dont have to do that anymore as between feedings and grazing, they are good on their own without help. The Regal is growing larger, has become even more aggressive, and will take chunks off of my sps now. My only recourse is to keep him well fed. I believe he just gets bored and ticked waiting to to be fed. I personally would recommend Biota angels or any captive bred angel over wild anyday.

*And one thing that i think is important while the angel is in ISO is to have a piece of REAL live rock with them to graze. I would change this rock every other week to a new piece from the main display.

 

[Tamberav]

Thats too bad. I havent lost a Biota yet. But every time i purchased a Biota Angel i would panic the first 3 days because it appeared they would eat nothing in isolation; and everytime i would send them an email seeking help and worried that they would waste away. My iso chamber is a simple box that i suction cup to the wall inside my main display. I am feeding TDO pellets right now. The new angel gets to become accustomed to all the smells and lights of the main display, and sees all the other fish; but gets fed independently and constantly. I throw the book at them and will vacuum any uneaten food after a couple hours; wait then feed again. The multibar was so small that one normal brine shrimp if eaten would fill him, but even that was too big to start, so i shaved the frozen brine even smaller and combined that with live baby brine daily. And ive noticed the multibar in general population learns from the other two angels as far as following them around and seeing what they eat. Today i dont have to do that anymore as between feedings and grazing, they are good on their own without help. The Regal is growing larger, has become even more aggressive, and will take chunks off of my sps now. My only recourse is to keep him well fed. I believe he just gets bored and ticked waiting to to be fed. I personally would recommend Biota angels or any captive bred angel over wild anyday.

*And one thing that i think is important while the angel is in ISO is to have a piece of REAL live rock with them to graze. I would change this rock every other week to a new piece from the main display.

The stuff dreams are made of!

I can not decide if I like regular regal or the "scribbled" one like yours. Both beautiful.

 

[Maoiwowie]

The stuff dreams are made of!

I can not decide if I like regular regal or the "scribbled" one like yours. Both beautiful.

Mine has both one side is normal the other scribbled... :face-with-rolling-eyes: This is an older photo, but today has even more vertical stripes.

 

[mayyammay]

I have a collection of CB angels including multibars. I added 3 pre quarantined directly to my display in July. I lost one and the other two are growing and very interactive. I do feed tons of frozen foods and pellets at least 6-7 times a day. They seem to eat all kinds of extra small food particles along with grazing on live rock. I feed DKI Reefs 1.2mm, TDO, New Vision marine Krill small, Algea Max small, NLS Grow, and NLS Reef Cell pellets. As for frozen I feed rotifers, oyster eggs, baby brine, small mysis, calanus, and LRS foods. Yes, I do have to do quite a bit of phosphate management but it seems more important to keep everybody fat and happy.

 

[Tanggy]

I had 2 multibar not too long ago. They were in a 20 gallon tank by themselves for observation. 1 didn't eat. It lasted 2 wks. They other one was eating well. It was eating TDO chroma pellets and DKI. It lasted 3 wks. Out of the blue one day, he died.

 

[Tanggy]

Thats too bad. I havent lost a Biota yet. But every time i purchased a Biota Angel i would panic the first 3 days because it appeared they would eat nothing in isolation; and everytime i would send them an email seeking help and worried that they would waste away. My iso chamber is a simple box that i suction cup to the wall inside my main display. I am feeding TDO pellets right now. The new angel gets to become accustomed to all the smells and lights of the main display, and sees all the other fish; but gets fed independently and constantly. I throw the book at them and will vacuum any uneaten food after a couple hours; wait then feed again. The multibar was so small that one normal brine shrimp if eaten would fill him, but even that was too big to start, so i shaved the frozen brine even smaller and combined that with live baby brine daily. And ive noticed the multibar in general population learns from the other two angels as far as following them around and seeing what they eat. Today i dont have to do that anymore as between feedings and grazing, they are good on their own without help. The Regal is growing larger, has become even more aggressive, and will take chunks off of my sps now. My only recourse is to keep him well fed. I believe he just gets bored and ticked waiting to to be fed. I personally would recommend Biota angels or any captive bred angel over wild anyday.

*And one thing that i think is important while the angel is in ISO is to have a piece of REAL live rock with them to graze. I would change this rock every other week to a new piece from the main display.

Looking at your angels tempting me to try again. They are beautiful. I am assuming you didn't quarantine them?

 

[Maoiwowie]

Looking at your angels tempting me to try again. They are beautiful. I am assuming you didn't quarantine them?

No QT. Nothing that would add stress to their acclimation. The Regal was basically my first real fish in the tank after a small school of chromis and longfin cardinals. I did get a mild case of ICH from i believe the cardinals, which the Regal survived through. The Venustus and Multibar went straight in as well, but by then the ICH had completely abated. I did not lose any fish to ICH. I do not think the Biota angels are a risk for ICH themselves.

I will caution that as the Regal grows, mine has become more bold. If you keep sps, be prepared for it to occasionally taste them. This is a very recent thing for my Regal as before it did pick but never showed damage like this. On the bright side no new damage... If you look close at this photo this acro has small chunks of missing skin dotted on the arm and especially underneath. I do believe the damage will recover as the Regal doesnt pester the sps all the time; but only when it is cranky and hungry. Im now feeding more too...:winking-face: