Angelfish In Natural Setting.

[ScalpCrabs]

So I watched a little documentary posted on TFF Facebook about angelfish in the wild. 
I noticed that there natural habitat is very mucky and dirty. Just curious if its better for them to live in a more natural setting or being in a clean tank is beneficial to them. Also has anyone ever seen a "natural" tank done nicely even though its dirty?

 

[Byron]

It would be interesting to see that video, though I have seen many similar by the sounds of it; I think we need to be clear as to just what we mean by "dirty" here.

 

[ScalpCrabs]

I guess by dirty I mean with particles floating in a brown water where visibility is poor.
 
Here is the link
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/437421-this-is-how-they-live-in-the-wild/

 

[Byron]

OK, that is what I was expecting, thanks for the link.
 
That water is far from dirty, it is very clean.  The dark hue is due to it being blackwater.  Blackwater is found in many areas of South America (and SE Asia) and is caused by the extremely high amount of organics dissolved in the water.  Vegetation of all types, from dead trees, leaves and plants, breaking down in the water creates blackwater.  It is often likened to very strong tea...crystal clear but stained very dark brown.  Whitewater by contrast contains more dissolved minerals and few if any organics as such, and this is turbid.  Then we have clearwater, which is much as the name suggests.
 
Some fish occur in one of these exclusively, while some species may be found in more than one type.  Spawning blackwater fish is frequently difficult without creating the water, and for this we can use wood, dried leaves, peat, alder cones, and similar.  I have a 10g that I used to grow out Farlowella fry, and their prime food was dried leaves; I had so many that the water turned very dark brown, but it was still crystal clear.  When I siphoned out 3 gallons into a white pail during the water changes, I could not see the bottom of the pail at all.
 
The particulate matter in the video is due to the substrate, which usually contains mud and/or sand, a thick layer of dried leaves, and bits of wood.  The swimming of the camera man had a lot to do with this of course.
 
Byron.

 

[ScalpCrabs]

I'm aware its not "dirty" and what is floating in the water. I might not have chosen my words correctly. 
Still curious if there is any pictures of a tank replicating that setting but still looking good.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I actually keep a few altums from the Rio Atabapo. I watched those videos in the original German many times before they came out with the "English" versions. Some people keep these fish in a biotope setting. Many keep them without the staining but with the proper parameters. You can probably count on your fingers the number of folks around the globe who can spawn and raise them, I am not even close to being one.
 
There is a site which is devoted to wild angelfish. It have amazing information, photos and people who work with a variety of these fish. There are pictures there like you are asking about. However, this is not your typical fish site. For one, you must register to be able to read the forums. I have a pretty strict policy about never joining any forum where one has to join to read. This site is my one exception.
 
In addition to wild angels they also have an area about wild discus, but the main focus in on the angels. What makes this such an amazing site is there are folks there who have been to many of the rivers where the fish are found as well as a number who keep the fish. This site is where i first learned about using rooibos tea in tanks. In the forum there are pictures and even vids of people's tanks, some are pretty close to the natural settings.
 
You can see of lot of the information on the site without joining, except for the forum. Enjoy http/www.finarama.com/
 
Here are few vids of stained tanks on Youtube:
Altums
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vZ3E0zss8k&list=PLtWgehCimpRSeTP_NjQSkBXvT_EeaYx9q&index=40
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnamvJaW0sc&list=PLtWgehCimpRSeTP_NjQSkBXvT_EeaYx9q&index=86
Pt. Scalare "Manacapuru" (red shoulder scalare)
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlGm5MTzgCs&index=65&list=PLtWgehCimpRSeTP_NjQSkBXvT_EeaYx9q

 

[ScalpCrabs]

The videos are really cool.
Why would you need rooibas tea bags in water?