Angel Fish

[Big Rob]

In my quest to find tankmates for stingrays, I've considered angels along the way. I've heard that they almost always harbour disease, however. As a result, I am obviously afraid of tossing them in a tank with my rays...

I've kept angels with other fish in the past without incident, but given the price tag that rays have I'm a little leery this time around...

-What is that exact diesease(s) that angels supposedly carry?

-And should I really worry about my rays contracting it? Or is this more of a "fishy tale"?

Thanks peeps, and please tell me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear!

 

[Tolak]

Any fish can carry disease. Your ray may carry a disease that doesn't really bother it, but could adversly affect the angels.

The 2 most sensitive fish I can think of are discus & altum angels. I have heard of people keeping discus with angels, & altums with discus. Altums & discus need soft, low ph water that is incredibly clean, and are sensitive to most any disease. If people keep these together on occasion, you could probably keep angels with your ray.

The biggest thing you should be concerned with is getting clean, healthy angels from a local breeder. Forget the lfs, you can't be sure of where they came from, or what they have been in contact with on the way to where they are. Most breeders are more than happy to show you their set up, once they get to know you. It's fun to show off your gear.

If you could find a local aquarium club, you will find angel breeders. If you post your location, I could ask around to see if there are any near you, provided you are in the U.S. This post has got me thinking, I like that. I'll ask around & post if I get any more info, as I know nothing about rays.

Tolak

 

[kev_kb]

From what I've read Angels can carry a disease that affects Discus, I forget what its called but if you google you should find it. Maybe it would be worth trying to research if this disease will affect your rays just to be on the safe side?

 

[Big Rob]

Nope, not in the states. North Bay, Ontario, Canada. About 4 hours north of Toronto. The LFS I deal with is ran by a retired gentleman from his basement, and is far superior livestock-wise to any of the "official" chains around here. He's rather pricey, but then again he hasn't got much competition and the competition he does have can't hold a candle to him.

For the most part I trust his advice, however I also believe he is first and foremost a business man and will sometimes persuade fish newbies into buying something a little too advanced (and expensive) for them in order to make a good sale (I've seen him do this a few times).

I guess what I'm getting at is that if I approached him about buying angels to put in with my rays, he would likely try to persuade me to buy something more expensive (like discus say) in order to make more money. He'd say something like "Well, angels can often carry disease without any symptoms. The disease doesn't affect them, but would affect your rays. But, I have some nice discus I can make you a deal on!" rather than saying something like "Well, angels can carry disease without any symptoms. I have no reason to believe my stock is unhealthy, but sometimes you never know. You could likely house angels with your rays without incident, but like all things fish, you just never know."

See the difference? Rather than just give the advice you need to hear, he'll throw in a sales pitch for more expensive stuff!

 

[Tolak]

After asking around a bit, it seems the bottom line is where you get the angels from. Try e-mailing Steve at Angel's Plus, http/www.angelsplus.com/index.htm He ships angels, some of the nicest I've seen.

A long quarintine for the angels would be a good idea before introducing them into the ray tank. I am no fan of medicating well fish, But a couple of months ago I racked up some cell phone minutes talking long distance to a guy at the fish pharmacy help line. http/www.fishyfarmacy.com/ He told me many people will treat wild caught, as well as marine fish, with copper. You may want to contact them with your situation.

The disease kev_kb may be refering to is hexamita, an internal parasite. Discus are more prone to this than angels, angels are more prone than livebearers or catfish. Many fish get by just fine with this in their system, similar to the bacteria in the human digestive tract. Sometimes it gets out of hand, and starts to affect the fish.

The biggest problem with keeping angels & discus together is eating habits. Discus are slower eaters, graze a bit more. Angels gobble like pigs. This may be a situation with keeping rays with angels if rays are slower eaters.

Hope this helps!

Tolak