Personally I prefer the intricate lines of the Imperator but the Regal is a nice alternative. Here are a few pictures to help shed some light for others. Regal Angel Imperator Angel ** the images posted are those of the ThePetsTop.com. neither i nor RRMAS have any affiliation with them what so ever they just showed up on a google image search. **
In my opinion there is no choice to make........it's the Emperator every time. To me it looks more graceful and elegant and I think is less agressive than the Regal. I plan to have one in my 200gal fish only tank when Chris finishes that beautiful stand and canopy.
Just an update. I went with a Regal Angel last november. So far she is thriving and the starlet of the system. She was during the first months like any woman high maintance lol. The knock on regals is that they tend to starve to death. She started eating by picking on the rocks then moving on to dried algae....then clams on the half shell and finally frozen foods and even flakes. Just a couple of months away from the one year mark....It looks like she will be with us for the long hall. PS have never noticed her nipping at any sps corals...
An update....Our regal is doing wonderful..I believe we had her for over a year and a half now....eats like a pig. We have enjoyed her so much that we added this week a juvie emperor angel to the other tank....and she is a ham...the zoanthids were toast but I like the fish better. In my experience the emperor adapts better to the tank enviroment....she is way ahead of the curve over the regal on eating prepaired foods this early on. Another plus is she is in the first stage of changing colors.