Angel fish pics

[phillips321]

Hey guys, i have only just set up my tank but a chap in my street said he was giving away his two angel fish, he said he hasnt had them very long, about 3 weeks. He said he didnt want them for some reason?
He said he was going to give them to our lfs for free or he said i could have them, so i willingly obliged. Now for the questions, how does the condition of these fish look? I'm sorry of the poor quality photos but i havnt got a digital camera(wait till xmas), i have to make use of my phone.
The two angel fish have different fin shapes, what does this mean? different sex? how do i tell the sex.

this is the same fish but at different angels the colours look different. it is more white with a tint of pink. its size is about that of a tennis ball(including fins)

here is the second fish, this is very small, about half the size of the other fish. it is roughly the size of a 50p piece.the fist picture above shows a good representive of their size difference

do these fish look heathly or are the photos too bad qaulity?
also anychance you can tell me what type of angel fish they are

cheers

 

[gaya]

It's kind of hard to tell from the pics. Is your tank cycled? If you don't know what that is check out the beginner section.

 

[sylvia]

Read the link in my sig. If you've only just set up a tank you cannot keep those fish.

Both your angels seem to just be ordinary pterophylum scalare - ordinary color morphs of the freshwater angels commonly found at your LFS. As for their condition, I realy can't tell - they seem ok enough but I'd need to see them in person. The pink on the top fish worries me a little though... and it looks somewhat unusual and the finnage on both fish seems rather short (as in they aren't particularly tall). The fact that this guy would be giving away two perfectly healthy angels seems rather suspicious.

 

[phillips321]

why do you ask if my tank is cycled. im feel really bad to say buts its only been running for 3 days now, i was going to wait a full 10 days but then i cudnt really pass on free fish. My next door neightbour said he was getting rid of them there and then and that if i want them to have them now.

My tank looks a little cloudy doesnt it, any idead on whats causing this? the tank looks crystal clear when the lights are off but as soon as they're turned on its a different story.


I was thinking of taking them down to my lfs and ask if he will look after them until my tank is ready and then i have them back but i dont want to go paying him for board and lodge.

I wish i had a digital camera then i could let you diagnose with better qaulity photos.

 

[sylvia]

Read through the link in my sig. asap. Running a tank for 10 days does nothing.

 

[sylvia]

You'll be wasting a lot more money by keeping them on medication and replacements as they are sure to get sick in the uncycled tank.

 

[phillips321]

the tank has had all the water dechlorinated and i put this stuff in called Nutrafin Cycle on the first day

 

[gaya]

do you have a filter on your tank?

 

[phillips321]

yes i have a filter on the tank, its a 75L ELITE one

what u guys think i should do? they have been in there for about 3hours in total.

how much do you usually pay board and lodge to a lfs?

 

[gaya]

well that's good! for a second I got really nervous.
Just learn as much as you can through searching this website. You should probably bring your angels to your LFS or do water changes every day until the cycling process is complete. good luck

 

[sylvia]

The cycle stuff is useless Unfortunately you'll need to test your water and cycle the tank using the fishless method if you realy plan to keep angels. BTW, what size tank? Angels need a tank that's at least 30 gallons or 3 times as tall as they will be when adult. A 16" tall tank is usualy reccomended and higher for the more fancy varieties with the taller finnage.

 

[phillips321]

the tank is 16inches tall and 24 inches long by 12 inches wide, is this far to small

why is the cycle stuff useless? what is it used for, the chap in the shop said just add a few drops everyday to make sure your bacteria grow enough

anyone know why the water seems cloudy? what could be causing this?

 

[sylvia]

What size is the tank in gallons? Hmm... I'll work it out in a minute and let you know.

As for that cycle stuff - it's supposed to be the beneficial bacteria that break down ammonia to nitrIte and then to harmless nitrAtes but seeing as those beneficial bacteria require oxygen and food to live I find it impossible that the stuff the guy sold you would be living bacteria. As such, it is useless. I also know from my own experience and others' that it doesn't help at all.

Have you read the link in my sig.? It'll tell you all about how you SHOULD cycle your tank and how to avoid unecessary fish deaths and costs to you.

 

[Discomafia]

If you don't want to let the lfs hold on to the fish for you, what you can do is get some gravel or media from an already established, cycled tank, and keep it in your tank for a couple of days so that the beneficial bacteria can seed the tank. If you don't know what beneficial bacteria I'm talking about, refer to the thread on cycling that sylvia has on her sig.

edit - Isn't there supposed to be something called Bio Spira or something like that, which claims to do the same thing as Nutrafin Cycle. I've read some TTF members having luck with that. Do a search for that and see what you come up with...

edit again - OK, I tried doing a forum search and nothing, but I did a google search and there's a LOT of info on Bio Spira. Manufactored by Marineland, it's supposed to be the only fast way to cycle your tank, although I've never seen it in any of the lfs around here.

 

[sylvia]

Umm your tank is just under 20 gallons? That *is* too small for angels. When choosing fish (after fishless cycling - read sig.!) you will need to use the 'one inch per gallon' guideline when choosing fish. This is only a guideline and you must use adult sizes, water requirements (the importance of RESEARCH) and compatibility to decide on suitability as well. ALWAYS use the adult sizes and don't choose fragile, incompatible or any fish over 6 inches at adulthood as you realy cannot house such fish in a community in a 20 gallon.