Angelfish

[Mothi]

Hi,

I'm getting 2 angelfish from my brother today. He's had them for like 6-8 weeks in his 24 litre tank. When I last went to his place they were both around 1.5"-2" tall and 1.5"-2" in length. I didn't know much about these fish but I did know that they grow quite large and a 24 litre tank is too small for them, so I told him to give them back to the fish shop. It's been like 3 weeks and he still hasn't given them back so I asked him to bring them with him today and I will keep them in my 60 litre tank. I might return them to the fish shop when I next visit depending on the feedback I get from here.

This 60 litre tank is already cycled and was one of my livebearer fry tank. I moved the fries in to another fry tank last night. So keeping the angels in this tank for some time wont be a problem hopefully.

I always found angels boring. Now that I am going to have some in my tank they might grow on me and if this is the case, then I might want to keep these fish.

I've been on the internet reading about these fish the whole morning and I'm getting varied information about the tank requirements and the size they grow up to. Some places say they need 10 gallons per angelfish and some say 20 gallons. If the first is true and I start liking the fish, then they should be safe in my 60 litre for 3-4 months until I get an upgrade?

One Person said on google that they grow up to 30cm tall. Really, is this true? I have never seen an angelfish that big. Has any angelfish keepers in here had their angels grow this big?

Cheers,
Mothi

 

[karin]

You will get lots of varied information. I think that most people find the angels in the hobby get to be 7-9 inches tall.. My veil tail is about 7/8 inches from tip of dorsal to end of pectoral fins and about 5 inches from nose to tail. Yes some bigger and yes some smaller. Most people will say that an angel pair needs a minimum of a 30 gallon tank that is at least 18 inches tall. IMO this means you can't have a lot of other fish. Maybe some bottom feeding type fish, corys etc. Many people on this site will argue for larger tanks so that these fish have full range of movement.

Thank you for being concerned about these fish.

 

[demented pea]

I have just started keeping these lovely fish and am getting a lot of differing opinions on tank size.

I have read up as much as I can and everyone on the forums has been really helpful. I bought five babies but sadly two have died and it is suggested that the older two may have killed them, especially as these two seemed to have paired up already!!

I have a 20" tall tank 180 ltr tank and that may be ok, but I am advised that a taller tank will be essential when they get bigger. I am going to have to sell some tanks then to get a bigger one! I thought just one tank would do in this hobby...ha ha ha

 

[minnnt]

A 20" tall tank will be ample for Angel fish.

 

[minnnt]

double post

 

[minnnt]

triple post

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Lol^

Yeah tall tanks are best, but I have found them to be pretty slow growers tbh, i bought mine at about just shy of 3" and he is now around just over 4", it has been around 6 months. They will be fine short term but ou do nOt wanna stunt them

 

[Mothi]

Thanks for the replies. I now have the fish in my tank and they seem to be liking it.

I called my LFS and the lady doesn't know if she can take these off me since they might be much bigger than the angels she keeps in the shop. She said that if they are bigger then they will probably fight with angels in her tank. I have to keep these in my tank for at least 2 weeks as I am going away this weekend so it means I have to go to the LFS the weekend after this one.

I don't have a variety of food for these angels. I only have brineshrimp flakes and freeze dried daphnia that I can feed them. I was wondering if I can feed them any spirulina flakes and Aquarian tropical flake food?

I read in places that these are carnivores. On the Aquarian flake food tub it has a picture of angelfish but it contains vegetable. So does it mean they can eat spirulina flakes?

Cheers,
Mothi

 

[fluttermoth]

Angels can, and will, eat pretty much anything, so there's no worries on that score.

 

[Mothi]

Okay thanks for clearing that up for me Fluttermoth.