Malayan Angels

[markandhisfish]

i recently purchased 2 malayan angels from my lfs £7.95 each

1st is this a fair price? more importantly though the owner of the shop told me they can be kept either freshwater or brackish , now i trust my lfs as they have always given me sound advice before but when i looked at these fish on the web it stated that brackish water was essential. at the moment they are in a freshwater setup are about 3" and seem to be doing fine, will this remain the case or am i going to have problems with them? i hope to be able to keep them as they are stunning fish with real character ( every time i approach the tank they come to the front as if to say hello!)
also would rather not have to net them cos god they are fast !!!!

 

[Corleone]

They need a higher salinity as they age. Young, they might be ok in freshwater short-term, but as adults they're sometimes kept in full salt water. They'll likely be fine for the time being, but like puffers and a lot of other brackish fish, they won't live nearly as long as they should.

If they're alone in the tank, you can begin slowly raising the salinity, though if they're mixed with freshwater fish, you'd be better off trying to net them now than fishing their bodies out a few weeks or months down the road.

Edit: Caveat being I haven't heard of that common name before - Using Google it seems to be another name for mono, but I also found a page without pictures that sounds like it's referring to a marine angelfish, which would probably have died in very short order in fresh water.

 

[markandhisfish]

thats the name i got from my lfs ( malayan angel) on the web all i could find was mono too. basicly they are the same general shape as normal angels but withouth the long thready type thing ( dont know propper term for them lol) very shiny silver with 2 virtical black stripes at the front 1 gos through the eye the other just behind it both go from top to bottom, down the front of the anal fin is black , the dorsal fin is yellow this then runs down the back of the fish to the base of the tail

 

[Miss Wiggle]

is this them?

if so then they are mono's and will need brackish water. I'll take corleone's word for it if they are ok in fresh water as babies but progress to needing brackish...... it's fairly common to find this in fish as in the wild the parents will go up a river to find a more safe spot to have the babies/lay the eggs depending of course on their reproduction method then as the babies grow out they'll venture down into their natural habitat either at a river mouth or out into the sea which is of course a brackish/seawater environment.

but they'll definatley need to be in brackish water as adults so you need to plan for it now.

 

[markandhisfish]

cant see pic in your post for some reason but yep im 99% sure they are monos as i wont be able to provide them with brackish only course of action i can see is to return them to lfs. pity beautiful fish, valuable lesson learned tho, more research before purchase

 

[Corleone]

I'll take corleone's word for it if they are ok in fresh water as babies but progress to needing brackish......

I didn't mean they can survive in fresh water as babies (though maybe they can - they do need higher brackish water as adults), only that they could survive short term. Most brackish fish can, some of them can last for years in very hard water with a high pH.

 

[markandhisfish]

my ph is around 7.8

 

[Lateral Line]

They are commonly called Mono's, arrising from their linnaen name Monodactylus argentus, I, however, always called them Malayan Angels, as that is what they were generally called in the 1970's.

 

[Colin_T]

if they are Monodactylus argentus, then they need hard alkaline water and if possible add some salt. We have them around here in Australila. They are fine in freshwater as long as it's hard and alkaline but do a lot better with some salt. Basically treat them like a molly.
They eat anything and grow to about 6 inches. They are relatively peaceful, will pick on plants and live in groups when young.

 

[stanleo]

Here’s a good article on this fish. It is brackish to marine and this says should be kept with five or more individuals. With two there is not enough to spread out the aggression. Beautiful fish but monos get big and setting up a brackish tank can be challenging.

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/perches/MonoArgentus.php