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1 Silver & 1 Gold young angelfish
The Angelfish - Pterophyllum scalare, are South American Cichlids, pronounced sick-lids, in nature they
are found in Brazil, in the Amazon and some of the surrounding regions.
They swim between the plants and also the roots of trees, hence why their shape has evolved to
enable this.
During the season when the rivers in the amazon area flood into the rainforest it is known that angelfish
will swim in what was previously forest, especially between the roots of trees that have become
exposed by the flood waters.
I keep mine at a temperature of 29C.
Filtration is undergravel to maintain a slow current and water is PH7.
I use a gravel tidy which enables the plants to grow and not affect the filtration.
Water changes are 3 times per week with approximately 20-25% water changed on each occassion.
I feed high protein granular food in the morning and flake food in the evening.
Young Silver Angelfish
The colour morphs I currently keep are Silver, Gold, Marble.
Young angelfish can be housed in groups and as they mature they will pair off.
Angelfish grow to around 6 inches in the aquarium, with a pair of Angelfish needing a tank size of atleast
20 imperial gallons.
Due to the Angelfish body shape when choosing an aquarium for them the depth of the tank is an
important consideration to take into account.
Angelfish are extremely graceful and calming to watch, they appear to move across a tank without any noticeable movement of the finnage
at times.
They are always curious and being Cichlids they are also very intelligent fish and will study you as much as you do them, they will not hide away in the tank,
and as such are highly viewable fish.
They are generally well behaved citizens within the community.
That said, Angelfish are Cichlids and when breeding do defend a territory and provide a high level of
care and protection for their offspring.
It is therefore important when undertaking breeding to house pairs in their own aquarium.
Angelfish can be kept in a community tank, and are very popular as community fish.
They can also be housed in a species tank or as a breeding pair in their own tank.
In the community tank you should choose calm tank mates with similar requirements and avoid fin nipping
fish as they may nip the delicate barbels on your Angelfish, which not only add to their elegance but are
an important part of their anatomy during the breeding process.
It is also best to avoid very small fish such as neons as once the Angelfish grows you may notice the
neons begin disappearing.
Some say if young Angelfish are raised with smaller fish once mature they accept the smaller fish as
companions rather than as a food source, I have not tried this myself.
2 Young Silver Angelfish & 1 Gold Angelfish in the background
Angelfish Breeding Behaviour
Angelfish are an egglaying fish , they clean off a vertical surface such as a plant leaf or slate/cone
placed in the tank for the purpose.
They sometime lay eggs on the aquarium glass if they cannot find a suitable site.
They may also choose the upstand of an undergravel filter on which to lay their eggs, they may on
occassion even choose this over all other sites available for egglaying, you avoid this by placing a pipe
with a large enough diameter to pass over the filter outlet and long enough that it will also cover the
entire height of the filters upstand, including enough length so as to enable it to be embedded in the
substrate to hold it firm, so that once in position its top is below the filter outlet so as not to effect its
efficiency, this enables you to easily remove the pipe complete with eggs without having to swap the upstand for a spare.
When the fry hatch they are not the typical shape of an Angelfish they are a regular fish shape
(as shown in the images below), as they grow they soon develop their angelfish shape.
The parents would in nature care for both their eggs and fry but to some extent this skill has been
reduced, in extreme circumstances it has been lost altogether and the eggs will need to be removed
hatched artificially and the fry raised artifically.
Captive Breeding Projects
I began with 6 juvenile Angelfish, some of which are shown in the photos above, as these matured 2 pairs formed.
Pair 1
Pair 1 was the first pair to form.
The other 4 angelfish were moved to a new tank.
Pair 1 consists of 1 Gold Angelfish & 1 Silver Angelfish.
Pair 1 - Set-up
They are housed in a 20 imperial gallon tank, filtration is an undergravel filter, a gravel tidy is fitted to allow live plants to be used in the tank.
It is planted with Java Fern. Once a week I add Seachem Flourish to feed the plants, every 2 days I add Seachem Flourish Excel to supply carbon for the plants.
When I notice the pair begin to pick at the pipe to clean it I stop adding both of the plant additives.
The tank has a light for the plants which is set on a timer for 10 hours per day of lighting.
In addition at the opposite end of the tank to the filter uplift I have a rectangluar airstone which is in a vertical position, this is 4 inches long.
Substrate is natural river gravel.
I have placed 3 pipes into the tank, one is over the filter uplift, the other two are at located one at either end of the tank in the front corners.
Pair 1 - Breeding
More coming soon...
Pair 1 - Adult Angelfish & Fry
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