Angel Fish – Detailed care, Breeding, Raising fry & Forum

Quick navigation – Answers

• Lifespan
• Mating
• Growth rate
• Adult size
• Space demands
• Sexing
• Tank size
• Habitat
• Eating habits

Brief Description

This page is devoted to raising freshwater Angelfish (we have pages dedicated to saltwater Angelfish too; continue reading) and contains hundreds of answers! Some answers can be found directly in the article and some answers are located within the comments under the article. We’d love to hear about your Angels, so submit your story at the bottom of this page! Also visit the following pages too (they will open in new tab/window): Breeding Freshwater Angelfish, (another kind of Angelfish) Pterophyllum leopoldi profile, Pterophyllum scalare profile and forum, (again, another kind of Angelfish) Pterophyllum altum, Tim’s article on breeding and saltwater Angelfish link is: Keyhole Angelfish – this profile offers links to other marine angelfish!

Introduction and short history

Angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare) are popular tropical freshwater aquarium fish, it’s a pleasure to take care of them, and additionally they are considered one of the most beautiful species of tropical freshwater aquarium fish. Angels often look outside their tank, they may react to various stimuli such as hands in an aquarium, persons standing nearby, and each specimen has its own personality. This species is one of the first fish which were transported from South America to the rest of the world, they were brought to Europe around 1820 and they were bred in captivity for the first time in 1930 in the United States. Angelfish are highly demanded and are for sale in almost every pet store, however there are many misunderstandings and mistakes made by aquarists including lack of knowledge, compatibility issues or ignorance, so let’s explain how to look after these fish properly.

Habitat

Native environment for these fish is the Amazon River in South America, Angels are to be found in bulrushes where they can find shelter. They grow and live in large shoals but this fact doesn’t mean that they can’t swim free especially if kept in an aquarium, ideal number of Angels in a single fish tank is 6-7. However not all aquarists own a 400 liter tank (105 US gallons, 88 Imperial gallons), thus raising 2 or 3 specimens in a community or dedicated tank is acceptable. The Amazon River is known to be a home of vegetation which these fish use for hiding purposes, so it’s wise to grow live plants such as Alternanthera rosaefolia, Echinodorus amazonicus, Echinodorus grandiflorus, Echinodorus schlueteri, Ludwigia helminthorrhiza, Ludwigia inclinata, Vallisneria spiralis, Vallisneria gigantea in your aquarium. Naturally Angels must not be kept in the same tank with predators which could hunt, kill or injure them (more to be found in the “Tank mates” paragraph). Actually in the wild Angelfish’ flat bodies allow them to hide in plants quickly in case there’s a predator hunting them.

Fish tank setup and care

Basics: The ideal pH for these fish is between 6.0 and 7.0, temperature should be around 25°C (77°F), the general water hardness of 4-12°N dGH ( – ppm, 1.43 – 4.29 mEq) is the best range. Not only these values are ideal, they should be also constant – pH must not vary, changes in general water hardness shouldn’t exceed 1°N dGH ( ppm, 0.36 mEq) per week, and high temperatures may result in premature death of the fish.

As mentioned already, Angelfish need a large tank, preferably 40 liters (10.5 US gallons, 8.8 Imperial gallons) per specimen which is natural as these fish grow quite big and tall. Less space per specimen isn’t recommended as adult males may be territorial towards each other especially if females are present in a tank. In addition this species will swim vertically and their fins would degenerate in case height of the tank doesn’t exceed 40 cm ( inch), there are known cases when Angels even stopped growing in small aquariums. The minimum height for an Angelfish tank should be 50 cm ( inch) as some space is required for substrate, moreover there’s a gap at the top between surface and lid. After all a tank that’s 50 cm ( inch) tall offers approximately 40 cm KinkyAds ( inch) for vertical swimming, this must be taken into consideration when planning such an aquarium! Lid (tank cover) is a necessity as these fish can jump out of the tank although they don’t tend to jump too often. A small gap of 2.5 cm (1 inch) is sufficient for them to jump out. Bear in mind that Angelfish can be very territorial towards each other, they use to get along much better if kept in a group rather than if kept in a small pack, say of 3 specimens.