Acclimating regal angel

[ecam]

Hey @Humblefish

Question. I’m in the process of acclimating a regal angel. She has been in a 55 gallon qt since Thursday.

Her tank mates are a blonde naso and Achilles.

As of today she has not eaten and I’ve tried clams , live brine and black worms and no interest.

How long can they go without eating before I should stop holding out hope ?

 

[Mike S]

Hey @Humblefish

Question. I’m in the process of acclimating a regal angel. She has been in a 55 gallon qt since Thursday.

Her tank mates are a blonde naso and Achilles.

As of today she has not eaten and I’ve tried clams , live brine and black worms and no interest.

How long can they go without eating before I should stop holding out hope ?

A few days isn't something to be worried about and its not uncommon for it to take up to 2 or 3 weeks. It does get nerve racking though the longer it drags out since there are always those that never eat. How big is it? Showing any interest in food? Might try picking up some Mastic and putting it on some rock. It have one in QT that went right for mastic the first day. From there I started mixing in pellets and got it switched over to them.

 

[ecam]

The fish is about 4-5 inches. So medium to large.

It s showing no interest in food.
I do have mastick. So maybe I will give that a try

So heart breaking to see it ignoring live food

 

[joetbs]

I would try some pellets and if you have some live rock with sponge throw it in there to graze. I've had good luck with the Panta rhei pellets but they aren't readily available. Was it eating before you got it?

 

[ecam]

No. Pretty much got him straight out of a bag. Didn’t want to do a double acclimation.

I’ve tried everything in my arsenal to date. No response. At least it’s fat so it can survive a little while without food

 

[Humblefish]

As mentioned above, it can sometimes take 2-3 weeks for a new fish to start eating.

Are the blackworms you are offering live?

 

[ecam]

Yes. No response yet. At all. Very vexing.

Tried live black worms and brine

 

[Humblefish]

Yes. No response yet. At all. Very vexing.

Tried live black worms and brine

How long has he gone without eating so far?

 

[ecam]

It’s a week now.

 

[Humblefish]

It’s a week now.

You're not in trouble yet, but in another week you will be. Have you tried LRS? Garlic? I've also had luck w/Regals using the two frozen foods below (probably because they contain sponge meat):

Angel Formula, Aquarium Foods, Ocean Nutrition, San Diego

Frozen Angel & Butterfly Formula – San Francisco Bay Brand

 

[Humblefish]

The Masstick (mentioned above) is also a good option to try.

 

[ecam]

Masstick I did try. San Fran brand I tried too


Going to just give him time and see. I’ve exhausted all the foods I have. So All I can do is keep feeding.

Fingers crossed

 

[greybolt03]

I have a sponge covered rock if you want to give it a try let me know

 

[ecam]

I will try anything at this point !!!!

 

[Humblefish]

How's the Regal Angel doing?

 

[ecam]

Still Alive. But not eating.

 

[Humblefish]

@ecambero Would be extreme, but this might be your only chance of saving him at this point:

 

[Mike S]

Sorry to hear that.

 

[ecam]

Very active fish and swims in between the tangs. So it’d not getting bullied. Very disappointing

 

[MadReefer]

Have you tried mussels or oysters instead of clams?