Circulation design helps Regal

[SteveA]

My last tank had a circulation system that returned water down the back of the reef and, apart from producing a general end to end current flow, played no part in internal tank circulation. Since this worked well, I opted for the same design on the new tank and this has proved most beneficial for feeding a shy Regal angel.

The Regal arrived fat, healthy and clearly with an appetite as it was pecking at rocks within less than an hour of going in the tank. It has, however, proved rather shy, partly because of harassment by other fish (only medium level and slowly decreasing) but also because it only sees a big lumbering human once a day. This has produced a bit of a feeding dilemma as to throw huge quantities of food in so that some would get behind the reef worked to a degree, was hugely popular with the rest of the fish but was not going to do the tank any long term good.

The answer came from the circulation system as I was able to put some of the thawed out frozen food and broken up freeze dried food in at the outlet of the skimmer very easily. Within seconds this is wafting round behind the reef and being eagerly hoovered up by the Regal. So now he (I believe it is a male) can get over his shyness in his own time without any worry about not getting enough food.

A further interesting development that may be just coincidental but I suspect is due to the Regal exploring the underside of the reef rather more thoroughly than any previous fish, has been the appearance, on a more or less daily basis, of one of my two cardinal shrimps in a position where it can actually be seen. I have had these for at least 3 years and apart from the very occasional late night glimpse (using a torch) early on in the old tank and then discovering, much to my surprise, that they were still both alive, when I moved tanks I have not really seen them until now.

Steve

[chimera]

your regal sounds EXACTLY like mine. he (she?) is shy, gets picked on by large tang, was nibbling at rocks within an hour of going in the tank etc. he is now (mainly in the last week or two) MUCH happier and was even eating a clipping of nori right next to the tang, without the tang chasing him away. usually if it's floating food like flake, or frozen etc, the tang is so quick to eat it that the other fish are scavenging around at tidbits he missed. greedy bugger

i simply feed half the food on one side of the tank and half the food on the other side of the tank at the same time. tang cant be in two places at once generally i put a little bit in so they can all smell it at first then feed in two different areas.

[SteveA]

your regal sounds EXACTLY like mine. he (she?) is shy,.........

There is a very long, and interesting, thread on RC about Regals and one of the contributors referred to a captive pair that were spawning. Apparently the male has significantly longer spines on its gills that the female. From the pictures in that thread I was able to determine that mine is probably a male.

I seem to have at least 5 fish that eat like your tang. I frequently get bitten by my clown as is charges in for food. Even my little flame hawk comes up and joins the mêlée to get to food out of my hand. More have and are joining in as time progresses so I will probably have to consider my Regal to be truly settled the first time I get bitten by it during feeding.

Steve

[reef]

Regal angels are shy; they generally live under the rock work or near the bottom of the tank.

[SteveA]

Regal angels are shy; they generally live under the rock work or near the bottom of the tank.

From the thread on RC you find that at least some of them do get out and 'mix it' with the rest of the inhabitants and can even become the boss of the tank as they get bigger.