Angelfish Care Guide

Angelfish is a type of fish that is good to keep in an aquarium at home. This beautiful fish is a type of Cichlid from South America. These fishes are known as “Angelfish” because their fins look and shape like a wing.

Angelfishes are also known to be the “King of the Aquarium” because of their beauty. These fishes are just some of the many distinctive species coming from the Amazon River in Brazil.

Angelfish are among the most popular freshwater Cichlid because of their beautiful appearance, less aggressive, and ease of care than other species. If they are maintained properly and cared for, angelfish can live for ten years.

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Physical Attributes Of An Angelfish

Angelfish can grow up to 5-6 inches long, and their wing-like fins can reach up to 7-8 inches tall. Their appearance is shaped like an arrowhead with triangular snouts.

The angelfish’s iconic attribute is the pectoral and dorsal fins and the full caudal fin, which looks like a fan.

Angelfish vary in colors, such as silver, gold, black, and marbled. Some angelfish have black spots, jagged, and typical straight black lines or bands.

Behavior Of Angelfish

Most angelfish are less aggressive than other species of Cichlid. If you notice angelfish having locking lips, they fight with others to fight and defend their positions.

Angelfish are sometimes territorial from other fishes. They form their school, but they do not cooperate with other schools of fish in their habitat.

Angelfishes care for their young, and they are willing to defend their eggs and take care of the newly hatched larvae.

Feeding Angelfish

Angelfish eat frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp, and meaty fish food because they are primarily omnivores in the wild. They also eat insects, crustaceans, and larvae in the water.

Angelfish requires high protein and fiber in their diets. Angelfish in aquariums should also get the same or the majority of nutrition, like in the wild. Tubifex worm is a vital food source of angelfish in the tank or aquarium.

These worms provide high protein content that they also get from the wild. There are also pellet foods for angelfish that are high in protein content. Angelfish must be fed at least twice a day, while mated angelfish pairs should be fed up to 4 times a day.

Angelfish do not usually eat algae or plants. Still, you may feed them with plan foods that will provide them additional fiber in their diet. For less expensive foods, you can feed them with vegetables like spinach and zucchini.

Habitat And Tank Selection

Since Angelfish is a native species from the Amazon River, they live in slow-moving streams, floodplains, and swamps. The water they live in is often acidic and with little to no salinity.

Angelfish live in a swampy condition, with lots of vegetation and excellent sandy substrate.

For home tank or aquarium setups, angelfish should be placed in water with 75 and 82°F and a 6.8-7 pH level. If you want to have substrates in their aquariums, put fine sand or mud to prevent cuts to their fins and scales.

The aquarium’s water flow must have a low flow because they are used to slow-moving streams. The tank or aquarium will need light exposure up to 8 to 12 hours a day.

When you plan to place vegetation in the aquariums, create a small swamp that is safe and will not affect angelfish motions. Avoid using large-sized vegetations like pondweed because it can block the light, and it will overcrowd the habitat of the fish.

For the aquarium size, you need to have a minimum of 20-25 gallons for two freshwater angelfish. And if you have a small school of freshwater angelfish, you will need at least 85 gallons.

For the angelfish’s mates, choosing a compatible mate for angelfish in an aquarium is quite difficult. They lived with freshwater Catfish, Silver Arwana, Aramapiama, and other Characins in the Amazon River.

You can select Bolivian Ram or Dwarf Cichlid to be the mates of angelfish. But some of the angelfishes are bully their mates because they tend to defend their territories.

Change In Water

Angelfish are quite sensitive to poor water quality. Freshwater angelfish reacts to massive water changes. To properly maintain your angelfish behavior in the tank, you can change 50% of the water daily.

These frequent water changes will give the angelfish a suitable habitat and will let the fish grow rapidly. With frequent water changes, you can prevent the growth of illness and diseases that can affect angelfish’s health.

It also keeps the excellent condition of the aquarium environment that establishes a better habitat for fish.

Breeding And Reproduction Of Angelfish

When angelfish lay eggs, it is placed on vertical surfaces like woods or leaves and even on an aquarium’s glass. Angelfish can breed in water with 75-80°F with a 7.5 pH level.

Once the parent angelfish place the eggs, it is ideal for removing the parent angelfish, preventing them from eating the eggs. To condition the angelfish, feed them with high-quality foods that will increase their successful hatches.

Conclusion

Angelfish is one of the top choices by fish owners or breeders because of its fancy and elegant appearance and graceful movements. They have less aggressive movements, but they tend to be more territorial than other fishes.

Taking care of an Angelfish is easy as long as you have enough knowledge of properly taking care of them. There are various types of angelfish to choose from when it comes to their sizes and colors.

They stand out on their own and shine in a community tank or aquarium. Once you have correctly set up the environment for angelfish, maintaining and taking care of them will be easy.