Angelfish are really just plant-shredding devilfish?

[enricosonic]

I have five juvenile angelfish in a planted 75 gallon tank. As per usual they are the most voracious eaters of all the fish in the tank and are taking to the plants as well. They aren’t hurting for food, believe me and I’ve read they’ll just eat out of boredom, and maybe that’s part of what’s happening. They typically get flakes, bug bites pellets and occasionally freeze-dried bloodworms.

Should I drop some bits of algae wafer to satisfy some veg need they have, or is this just the way it is and they’re gonna go at the plants regardless?

 

[Colin_T]

Never heard of angelfish eating plants.

You can offer then vege flakes or pellets in addition to the their normal food. But angelfish aren't vegetarian so most of their diet should consists of meat and insect based foods.

You can offer them frozen foods and that might fill them up more. Marine mix (prawn, fish & squid blended up), brineshrimp, bloodworms, daphnia, mysis shrimp, and raw/ cooked prawn are all good foods that can be used in addition to the dry foods.

 

[enricosonic]

Never heard of angelfish eating plants.

You can offer then vege flakes or pellets in addition to the their normal food. But angelfish aren't vegetarian so most of their diet should consists of meat and insect based foods.

You can offer them frozen foods and that might fill them up more. Marine mix (prawn, fish & squid blended up), brineshrimp, bloodworms, daphnia, mysis shrimp, and raw/ cooked prawn are all good foods that can be used in addition to the dry foods.

I’ve been watching them fairly closely and the plants with broad leaves are getting hit the hardest and it’s seemingly from two koi angels.
I’ve seen them nip at plants, perhaps looking for pellets, food etc. but maybe I have some tiny snails I don’t see.

All the other fish are bottom feeders.

 

[GaryE]

That's a first for me too, and like many people here, I've bred angels and always kept them in planted tanks.
They should get all the vegetable matter they need from the bellies of their prey. I've had them occasionally tug around the leaves of plants in bad shape - the soft and dying leaves, but they haven't really eaten them.
They do graze on plants for micro-organisms.

It isn't typical, but it seems to be happening in your tank. Do you think maybe they've paired and the natural behaviour of cleaning broad leaves to spawn on them is behind this?

 

[enricosonic]

That's a first for me too, and like many people here, I've bred angels and always kept them in planted tanks.
They should get all the vegetable matter they need from the bellies of their prey. I've had them occasionally tug around the leaves of plants in bad shape - the soft and dying leaves, but they haven't really eaten them.
They do graze on plants for micro-organisms.

It isn't typical, but it seems to be happening in your tank. Do you think maybe they've paired and the natural behaviour of cleaning broad leaves to spawn on them is behind this?

I lack experience with angel pairing. It’s possible the koi have paired, they do typically stay together and are around 6-7 months old, yet they don’t display much if any aggression toward the others, nor do they defend any particular territory of the tank. Another angel if swimming directly in front of them may get a nudge but may not.

 

[enricosonic]

Apparently it's not just the broad leaf plants

 

[Colin_T]

Sorry, have to laugh at angelfish getting stuck into plants. That's hilarious

My guess is you have 2 weird fish
It might be the person who bred those particular fish fed them a lot of plant matter. They don't normally eat a lot if any plant matter but they are definitely eating them.

Keep recording them doing it and keep notes too. This could be something new to angelfish, maybe they are changing due to inbreeding or domestication. Definitely worth observing and recording the details though.

 

[enricosonic]

Sorry, have to laugh at angelfish getting stuck into plants. That's hilarious

My guess is you have 2 weird fish
It might be the person who bred those particular fish fed them a lot of plant matter. They don't normally eat a lot if any plant matter but they are definitely eating them.

Keep recording them doing it and keep notes too. This could be something new to angelfish, maybe they are changing due to inbreeding or domestication. Definitely worth observing and recording the details though.

No worries it’s definitely funny. It now seems to be just this one koi angel in particular, and it could simply be that he’s a horrible eater, all the others gobble up everything and this one just kinda looks lost and pathetic during feeding. Maybe he’s simply resorted to the plants.
I’ll post more footage when I can.

 

[Colin_T]

Try feeding them more food so it can get more to eat. Offer a little bit and let them eat it, then offer a bit more and so on until they have all eaten well.

 

[enricosonic]

I don't know Colin, the other angelfish will eat until their stomachs burst, even the bottom feeders figure out how to scavenge for what they want. Feeding them all more food to get this one to eat... I think I'll have some sort of tropical obesity syndrome before this fish figures it out. I feel like he needs prescription lenses.

 

[Uberhoust]

I have kept Angels for a number of years and have recently started raising the fry. I would have to say my experience differs greatly from yours. My angels will pull on the margins of the leaves, I suspect they are pulling diatoms etc, but haven't damaged any of the leaves. I mostly have Echinodorus species and vals. Now if the leaf is damaged and is starting to die my angels will feed, pull on it. I had a period of time with Black Beard Algae, were the Angels would pull on the algae growing on the leaf edges but they still did not hurt the underlying plant.

I wouldn't put it beyond an angel to pull on leaves as a way of "entertainment" for themselves. My observation is that once they start a behavior it is difficult to change that behavior. They have the strength to tear up plants if they wanted.

 

[Back in the fold]

Interesting. Don't spill your drink in the tank again.

 

[raylove]

How weird. I've always found angelfish to be a bit hard on plants and all the ones I've kept have behaved just like the one in the video - I thought that was normal!
When I've had them in with plecs I learnt that they like lettuce too as they always used to eat most of it.
On a similar note I was surprised to find that pygmy chain loaches also eat plants (or in my case specifically anubias species). I've tried several species and they end up shredded after a few days. They are the only fish in the tank that I have witnessed taking chunks out of the plants. I did once inadvertently allow one anubias to settle in the middle of an impenetrable thicket of vallis where it remained undisturbed for a couple of weeks. It flourished but after a while I trimmed the vallis and exposed it - within days it was toast once the loaches spotted it!

 

[enricosonic]

I don't mind them (really just the one angelfish) tugging at the plants. Just want this one to get a well-rounded diet and not rely on the foliage.

I'll feed a bit more and focus on the this little koi angel getting its fair share.

 

[enricosonic]

Interesting. Don't spill your drink in the tank again.

I promise nothing.