Angelfish

[westie]

First of all 'Hello to everyone on the forum' I am thinking of starting a new aquarium and was considering freshwater Angelfish '//* but still not sure it would just be a corner tank nothing on to big a scale, i am experienced in fish keeping, my last set up was a berlin reef system which was great but far to time consuming and costly, and also the living room smelling like the seaside did not go down to well with the misses Is there anyone here who has kept, keeps, bred,breeds and is experienced with angelfish to pass on there experience and give me some help?? Thanks peeps

 

[Inchworm]

Hi westie

Welcome to the forum.

I'll move your thread to the New World Cichlids section. I think you'll get more responses there.

 

[mattlee]

the first thing to think about when considering angels is their potential adult size. they can reach 6 inches from mouth to tail and up to 10 inches tall (rough sizes) so a tank of no less than 18 inches tall is where you should be looking. the cute little fish in the lfs soon grow into big adults in no time if properly cared for so dont be thinking they stay small....
if you intend on breeding them then unless you buy a proven pair then its best to buy 6 or more small fish and let them grow up together and naturally pair up. once you have selected a pair sell the others or return them to the lfs. once paired they breed relatively easy and as long as they are the only fish in the tank it shouldnt be long before they can care for the eggs and they hatch. the first few times the eggs may be eaten by the parents but then they will learn not to eat them the next few batches will be cared for and the parents will fan the eggs to prevent them getting fungus on them. the fungused eggs will turn white and go furry, non fertile eggs will go white but fertile eggs will stay a creamy colour and you will see the black dot in them which is the baby fish. it may take a few attempts but soon you will get wrigglers which are stuck to the same place as the eggs were laid by their heads and after a few days they become free swimming little fry. even at this stage the parents might still eat them but again after a few trys they will learn and hopefully protect them. it might be safer to remove the parents and leave the fry to grow without any risk from hungry mouths. it can be a long learning session for the parents but they usually get ther in the end mine use to spawn every 2 weeks without fail and after a couple of months i had very good parent angelfish that cared for the fry.
male with fry

female with eggs

also its pretty impossible to sex angels 100% just by looking at them until they spawn you never know. adult males may develop a nuchal hump on the head but not all do..... even if 2 angels spawn they can be 2 females so wait until the eggs are showing that they are fertile before selecting the pairs.

i hope this has been of some help

 

[westie]

Hi westie

Welcome to the forum.

I'll move your thread to the New World Cichlids section. I think you'll get more responses there.

Thanks for the welcome and moving my thread inch worm.

the first thing to think about when considering angels is their potential adult size. they can reach 6 inches from mouth to tail and up to 10 inches tall (rough sizes) so a tank of no less than 18 inches tall is where you should be looking. the cute little fish in the lfs soon grow into big adults in no time if properly cared for so dont be thinking they stay small....
if you intend on breeding them then unless you buy a proven pair then its best to buy 6 or more small fish and let them grow up together and naturally pair up. once you have selected a pair sell the others or return them to the lfs. once paired they breed relatively easy and as long as they are the only fish in the tank it shouldnt be long before they can care for the eggs and they hatch. the first few times the eggs may be eaten by the parents but then they will learn not to eat them the next few batches will be cared for and the parents will fan the eggs to prevent them getting fungus on them. the fungused eggs will turn white and go furry, non fertile eggs will go white but fertile eggs will stay a creamy colour and you will see the black dot in them which is the baby fish. it may take a few attempts but soon you will get wrigglers which are stuck to the same place as the eggs were laid by their heads and after a few days they become free swimming little fry. even at this stage the parents might still eat them but again after a few trys they will learn and hopefully protect them. it might be safer to remove the parents and leave the fry to grow without any risk from hungry mouths. it can be a long learning session for the parents but they usually get ther in the end mine use to spawn every 2 weeks without fail and after a couple of months i had very good parent angelfish that cared for the fry.
male with fry

female with eggs

also its pretty impossible to sex angels 100% just by looking at them until they spawn you never know. adult males may develop a nuchal hump on the head but not all do..... even if 2 angels spawn they can be 2 females so wait until the eggs are showing that they are fertile before selecting the pairs.

i hope this has been of some help

 

[Arei]

Someone wants to give me 2 juvie angels.

I have a tall 35 gallon tank, so they will have plenty of space. Though personally, I would like to buy a tall corner tank/hex in a few months and place them over there and have a little angel paradise.

In the tank they'll be joining platies, black neons, a pleco, and a SAE (which, I'm prepared to move if he starts acting like a brat). Would this be ok? Since they're cichlids, would they try to eat the black neons when they got larger? (though hopefully by then, they should have their own tank).

Edit: They're the size of quarters right now. Should be ok until I get them in their own tank?

 

[westie]

Hey Matlee thanks for your advice your pics are awesome!! Loving the Oscar! i Have some measurements to make firstly, the aquarium and stand will be situated underneath the stairs height may be an issue, - therefore i think i will have to build a lower stand for the tank which i reckon should not be a problem. ALTUM Now they look nice! (filtration) what do you run? i have an external fluval which i will use. what about media?? peat?? Altum are they alot more difficult to keep? Substrate i love coral sand in aquaria but is it wise in an angel set up? oh and have you seen superfuture the new plan b vid??

 

[mattlee]

Hey Matlee thanks for your advice your pics are awesome!! Loving the Oscar! i Have some measurements to make firstly, the aquarium and stand will be situated underneath the stairs height may be an issue, - therefore i think i will have to build a lower stand for the tank which i reckon should not be a problem. ALTUM Now they look nice! (filtration) what do you run? i have an external fluval which i will use. what about media?? peat?? Altum are they alot more difficult to keep? Substrate i love coral sand in aquaria but is it wise in an angel set up? oh and have you seen superfuture the new plan b vid??

no problem mate

altums are treated the same way as discus. ive never kept any but from what ive read they prefer soft acidic water but sayingthat ive kept discus fit and healthy in medium/hard alkaline water in the past.... coral sand will increase the pH so i wouldnt bother with it unless keeping african cichlids. using peat can help soften the water and lower the pH but i wouldnt really bother with it as you wont be able to keep a steady/constant pH very easily as it may fluctuate as the peat runs out of acids to soften and lower the pH of the water. a steady and non fluctuating pH etc is much better for the fish than one thats constantly going up and down which will stress the fish and may cause them to go into shock.
what is your pH of the tap water? my angels spawned constantly in tap water of pH 7.8, most fish can/will adapt to your pH if introduced/acclimatised slowly.

 

[westie]

yo Matlee thanks again pH not sure as yet test kit still to be purchased, its just cause those Altum Angels caught my eye big time, Still thinking about what kind of angels to keep, i used to run a 90g berlin reef system, skimmer, powerheads, heaters, LR,refractometers, ect,ect all sold bye bye. So i am starting fresh and thought angels would be a good shout for a deep corner set up, i will let you know how i get on and keep you posted. E

 

[Whitey_144]

yo Matlee thanks again pH not sure as yet test kit still to be purchased, its just cause those Altum Angels caught my eye big time, Still thinking about what kind of angels to keep, i used to run a 90g berlin reef system, skimmer, powerheads, heaters, LR,refractometers, ect,ect all sold bye bye. So i am starting fresh and thought angels would be a good shout for a deep corner set up, i will let you know how i get on and keep you posted. E

hey im thinkgin of setting up a new tank with maybe angels, so i'll be interested to hear how you get on