Good beginning

C

ctaylor81

I wanted to take a minute to share in a positive experience I've had recently. I was online searching for a deal on some carbon and decided to include Petco in the search. I was browsing their website, and decided to look over their fish list to see what they had. I was pleasantly surprised at their expansive selection and saw that they were having a huge sale with big markdowns on their livestock. A regal angel has always been on my fish wish list, even before I thought about having a tank. I've done a lot of research and have read way too many threads on several different forums about them. I was partially scared off because it seems that they are a difficult fish to keep. And to boot, they aren't normally all that cheap. Petco had this fish at a great price, and so much so that I couldn't resist the temptation to order one. If I was going to take a chance on this fish, it was at this price, as I'm not normally one to spend a ton of money on a difficult fish in hopes that it'll make it. I had a 20gal long QT tank setup as a QT tank with nothing in it, so I said what the hell, the price is right, so let's give it a shot. I received the fish the next day and was very happy with the fish I got. It is about 3.5-4" in length, and very fat. I've heard that Petco get's their fish from some of the same suppliers that a lot of the bigger online retailers do, and did notice that it came directly from a supplier out of Cali. The fish has been going strong for 2 weeks now and is eating like a pig. He was very shy at first, but is now opening up and is enjoying his limited space for the time being. I plan to keep him in QT for a bit longer and make sure he's ready to go into the display. I do want to give him more room as quickly as possible, but I don't want to risk his health too early. This is a pic I snapped last week when he was still hiding out (I'll update with more soon). His colors are great and this is definitely my most beautiful fish so far. I know there are different variations to these fish, and I did get the cheaper one. If it works out well, I may consider pairing him with a Red Sea regal far in the future. But for now, I'm really enjoying my purchase from a retailer that has been questionable to some...

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That's a beautiful fish. It's one of the fish I've written off my wish list because of the same reservations you had. Are you putting him into a reef? Let us know how he does in there.

I think the beef with Petco is more in connection with their retail stores since their marine dept. usually look like afterthoughts with ill-trained employees in charge. On the online side, if their site is just a portal and they don't actually maintain livestock from a central location, then you're just getting the benefit of their buying power if your order is getting shipped direct from the supplier. Although I think places like liveaquaria tout their acclimation and QT processes for their livestock. But if you're QT'ing on your own anyway, may not matter much.

Congratulations again on a nice find and keep us updated!
 
Thanks Simon. Yes, he'll be going in a reef tank. Fish are just like dogs or any other pets in my opinion; you get some good and some bad. I've seen fish that are known pickers of SPS thrive in reef tanks and never touch anything. Then again you see the reverse of that as well. How will you know unless you try? He may never touch a coral, or he'll eat everything he sees. It's worth a shot in my opinion. If he's a demon, I'll remove him and sell him to someone with a fish only tank, or someone with corals he wont touch. I'm excited to see him in his new home in the future. I hope he's a model citizen, but you never know. We shall see...
 
Is your regal still in QT? If he's in your reef already, how's he working out so far? I'll be taking a similar risk with a similar size goldflake angel (also got a deal I couldnt pass up) that I'm hoping won't make me decide between it and my corals. I know it's al a fish-by-fish thing at best, but it's still nice to hear encouraging experiences from other folks who've had success keeping certain fish contrary to the conventional wisdom.
 
I kept the regal in QT for about 4-weeks. He was eating very well and became less and less shy as time passed. I transferred it over to my display tank about 2-3 weeks ago. It was very shy at first and would hide in the rocks all day long. He started coming out and exploring some over the next week, but still wasn't as active as I'd like. On Monday of last week, I found him swimming in place at a slightly sideways angle. I noticed what looked like ich on his side fins and he would hide when I got too close to the tank. I set up my fish trap, but he never took the bait. He wasn't eating any more during feeding times and he often would just let food pass him by and not even flinch. I haven't seen it since Thursday evening, so I'm assuming that he has passed. I used to be able to see him behind the rocks on my back wall, but no more. I had high hopes for him since he was doing so well in my QT. The transfer from shipping to QT to my main tank could have been more stress than he could handle. I'm starting to doubt whether or not QT'ing is a good idea. I've heard so many pro's/con's that it's hard to decide which is better. A lot of people think its too much stress for the fish, yet others say its absolutely necessary. Hmm...

Good luck with your new angel. I hope you have better luck than I did. I still love that fish and will try again sometime next year.
 
Dang. Sorry to hear about the regal. Definitely don't need to get the QT debate started but I do think there's a fair amount of stress for the fish from sitting in a bare little QT tank. Guess I'm kind of a gambler by nature, but the swallowtail I got earlier this year went straight to my display and was eating with abandon in the first half hour and seems to be thriving. He'd been in one of the displays at Neptune's Cove for at least a couple of weeks though, so I guess you could say he'd already been QT'd. Plus the tank he was kept in at the store coincidentally also had the same two tangs (a yellow and naso) that I have in my tank. So the circumstances for this new guy will be quite different, but let's hope things work out the same.
 
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