Regal Angelfish not eating

[rainsong]

Hi:

I received a quarantined juvenile (blue belly) Regal Angelfish from Dr. Reef on Aug 26. I had him in an acclimation box for a couple of weeks but could not get him to eat anything. He was pecking at PVC pipe and walls of the acclimation box. I released him at that point into the main tank. He has seemed happy pecking at the rockwork (Tank is 1.2 years old with plenty of pineapple sponges ... which he has not pecked at). I have continued to try various foods with no success.

I have tried Angelfish mix frozen, mysis/brine frozen, LRS fish frenzy, LRS herbivore frenzy, clam in half shell (Hikari frozen), Nori, Flake food, pellets, raw shrimp, live brine shrimp, Angelexir, Selcon, Garlic guard...

He has survived so far and I have seen him poop ... but he is definitely not "fat and healthy". Will he start eating real food at some point? Am I missing something?

150 gallon tank with lots of rockwork (originally Marcorock), 1 purple tang, 1 foxface and a few small fish.

Thanks

 

[Blue Cheese]

Well I suppose if he pecks at pvc you can try my nori clip

 

[Blue Cheese]

It’s a hair roller from Walmart I cut,Lay it on the ground and leave it,maybe you get lucky and it’ll eat

 

[LosReef]

I used liquid mysis and live pods to get my biota regal and goldflake pair eating right away. They were the size of a quarter. All still spend a lot of time picking at the rocks. Maybe algae I can't see. I assume pods the way they're searching the rock. It's not like a tang eating algae for sure.

Liquid Mysis - Aquaforest

aquaforest.eu

 

[LosReef]

I used liquid mysis and live pods to get my biota regal and goldflake pair eating right away. They were the size of a quarter. All still spend a lot of time picking at the rocks. Maybe algae I can't see. I assume pods the way they're searching the rock. It's not like a tang eating algae for sure.

Liquid Mysis - Aquaforest

aquaforest.eu

 

[rainsong]

Well ... after a month of not eating the fish died today

Dr Reef offered to send me a replacement if I paid for shipping ... which I plan on doing. I am wondering what I can do differently this time. I might setup a separate tank so that the new fish will not need to compete for food or space.... wish me luck!

 

[Blue Cheese]

Well ... after a month of not eating the fish died today

Dr Reef offered to send me a replacement if I paid for shipping ... which I plan on doing. I am wondering what I can do differently this time. I might setup a separate tank so that the new fish will not need to compete for food or space.... wish me luck!

I’ve used my nori pipe in qt,after a few days of just leaving the fish alone they eventually eat from it every time,then when dt they’ve learned that it’s their nori,give it a shot,it’s helped with picky eaters for me,setup the qt away from traffic and hold back from being around it,maybe where you can see it from the couch of your living room but in a different room

 

[Sleepingtiger]

Well ... after a month of not eating the fish died today

Dr Reef offered to send me a replacement if I paid for shipping ... which I plan on doing. I am wondering what I can do differently this time. I might setup a separate tank so that the new fish will not need to compete for food or space.... wish me luck!

regals are notorious for not eating. I wonder what Dr Reef fed the regal?

 

[rainsong]

regals are notorious for not eating. I wonder what Dr Reef fed the regal?

From Dr. Reef's website: Feeding: We feed 2 times a day. All fish are fed a 50/50 mixture of frozen Mysis & frozen brine.

 

[Blue Cheese]

I don’t have a regal now I have a had a few in the past and tbh I never really had a problem getting them to eat but they were put in a comfortable situation with no stress before a dt,I think you just had bad luck

 

[rainsong]

I wonder if my problem was the Purple Tang being a bully. I did hang a couple of mirrors to help him take out his aggression ... but that may not have been enough??

I will definitely keep the new fish in the QT tank for an extended period of time.

 

[Blue Cheese]

Defiantly use a qt tank for a couple weeks,use some of the dt or refugium rock in the qt,I’d even take the purple tang out and put it in the qt when you put the regal in the dt,make the regal the boss of the dt for a while,I attributed my regal success to their comfort

 

[DCR]

Well ... after a month of not eating the fish died today

Dr Reef offered to send me a replacement if I paid for shipping ... which I plan on doing. I am wondering what I can do differently this time. I might setup a separate tank so that the new fish will not need to compete for food or space.... wish me luck!

Getting regal angels to eat is the main problem with them. Getting them eating prepared foods in a less stressful environment is certainly a step in the right direction.

 

[rainsong]

Defiantly use a qt tank for a couple weeks,use some of the dt or refugium rock in the qt,I’d even take the purple tang out and put it in the qt when you put the regal in the dt,make the regal the boss of the dt for a while,I attributed my regal success to their comfort

Yeah ... I tried to take the purple tang out before but it was too difficult to trap.

 

[Peng1606]

I currently have a moorish idol and regal angel in copper quarantine for last 2 weeks. They have also had treatment with prazipro twice… third dose starting tonight.
Have tried 50/50 frozen brine+mysis, PE pellets, spectrum pellets, marine S, red and green nori, masstic… initially no interest but I kept trying different food… but that meant daily water change with copper dosed water to keep quality up.
The angel eats mainly 50/50 now, starting to pick at some PE pellets. The idol eats everything I throw in at this time… will decide if to move to acclimatization box in display in few days (once I have some time off work) or keep for another week in QT. Then hopefully release into display after keeping in box in DT for few days to make sure my tangs don’t go crazy.

 

[moga]

I started to put him in to the small breeding box and fed him and it took about 4 days him to nip on the food..
jst put some object that he can hide .. it's eating and healthy .. i put him in and it's having a good life!