Name
Pterophyllum scalare (ter o fill' um ska lar' e)
The scientific name for the freshwater angelfish is quite
descriptive.
Pterophyllum is derived from the Greek word for "winged
leaf" and
scalare means "like a flight of stairs" in reference to the
dorsal fin. It is a Latin word that can also mean "ladder". Angelfish
are laterally compressed or look like a disc on edge with long fins
coming out of the top and bottom and have 2 'feelers' in front of the
anal or bottom fin. The tail is vertically oriented and may be
ffrom scoop shovel shape to long and relatively narrow depending on
the variety.
Origin
Amazon region of South America
Size
Up to 6" in length, the top and bottom fins spanning a greater
distance in the Veil varieties.
Ideal Water Quality
Soft (0.6 to 1.2 dH), slightly acid (pH 6.5 to 6.9), successful
breedings have occurred in pH 6.8.
Live Plants
Live plants should be included in all freshwater tanks. Water quality
is monitored by live plants as they will look sickly before the fish
die, they aid in keeping water clear, hinder growth of algae and add
Oxygen to the water.
Broadleaf aquatic plants are favorites of Angelfish for
laying their eggs on. Amazon Sword Plants (Echinodorus) are in
a genus that embraces more than fifty relatively hardy and adaptable
species, most of which are native to the flood plains of South
America. They prefer water that is neutral or slightly acid and not
too hard making them perfect plants for your Angelfish tank.
Vesicularia dubyana (Java Moss), Ceratopteris (Water
Sprite) and Microsorium (Polypodium pteropus or Java Fern) are
all compatible live aquatic plants.
Diet
Angelfish can survive on flake food alone, but they will thrive and be
much more apt to breed on a greatly varied diet. Live foods such as
Adult Brine Shrimp, Black Worms, Mosquito larvae, finely chopped
earthworms and Guppy fry are accepted with enthusiasm and should be
included regularly. If live food is not available, frozen packages of
Blood Worms (Midge Fly larvae), Brine Shrimp and others are available
from your favorite pet supply store and are acceptable substitutions
for the live food. There are many dried foods available that will
suffice too.
Raw beef heart, finely ground, mixed with unflavored gelatin and
frozen immediately in small one serving size pieces is a good and
economical addition to your Angelfish diet. Be absolutely sure there
is no fat in the meat.
Fry Diet
Angelfish fry have been successfully raised on a diet of newly hatched
Brine shrimp (napulii) for the first 4 weeks of their lives and fed
two to four times daily. After that, they were gradually introduced to
a mixture of finely powdered Angelfish flakes and powdered dried blood
worms with an occasional (twice a week) feeding of baby brine
shrimp.
When their bodies are about the size of a quarter, they may be fed
Guppy fry. An easy way to provide this very nutritious food is to keep
pregnant guppies in the same tank as the young Angels and the rest is
up to nature. Of course feedings of other varied foods are needed to
round out the diet.
The author conducted an experiment and got 6 quarter sized Angelfish
from a large tank of like sized Angels and put them in a 10 gallon
tank with a sponge filter and Water Sprite. They were free fed guppy
fry and twice a day received any combination of Angelfish flakes,
frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp and dried dworms for 4
weeks. At the end of the experiment, the 6 who received a varied diet
twice a day were almost the size of a half dollar while the size of
the other Angelfish barely had any noticeable growth at all. You can
see that the correct diet for your Angels is essential to potential
and current breeder fish.
Tank Size
The minimum size tank for a breeding pair of Angelfish is 15 gallons,
but should be 25 gallons or larger if you plan on leaving the fry with
the parents. As you can imagine, a fully grown pair of Angels with
200-300 fry to herd around would be pretty cramped in anything
smaller. Another plus to having a larger tank is that there is a
better feeling of security in a larger tank and the parents aren't as
apt to eat their eggs or young.
Choosing Breeder Angelfish
The best way of assuring yourself at least one young pair is to choose
6 perfect specimens from a large tankful of young angels. This method
is less expensive than buying proven breeders that may be near the end
of their breeding careers anyway.
When preparing to buy 6 Angelfish, take your time to study the fish
and select only those with straight top and bottom fins and perfect
'feelers' without any bowing or bends in them. They should be strong,
robust and active. Angelfish that are active feeders mean they will
grow quickly, and have a high rate of egg production in the
females.
Do not buy fish from a tank with either dead fish in it, with fungus
or parasite infestations. Resist the urge to 'come to the rescue of
the little ugly duckling' because it will only grow up to be a big
ugly duckling and will be totally unsuitable for breeding purposes. Be
extremely picky with your breeder selection and you will be rewarded
with beautiful fry.
Once you have carefully selected your 6 potential breeders, they can
be set up in a 20 gallon tank minimum to grow up in and to finally
pair off. If they are fed well with a good selection of live foods,
they will grow quickly and reach breeder size rapidly.
One sure way to acquire a true breeding pair of Angelfish is to
purchase a proven pair from a breeder. When you purchase a pair this
way there is always the possibility that they are at the end of their
breeding career.
Spawning
![[2 angel fish]](http://fins.actwin.com/fish/fresh-pics/angelspawn.gif)
This 30 second video shows two freshwater angelfish
spawning, the newly hatched fry a week later, then one and two months
later. The
quicktime version is 1.9
Meg. The
mpeg is
1 Meg.
In mature fish, breeding can be stimulated by a partial water change
and a rise in temperature to between 80 and 82 degrees F.
One sure sign that spawning is about to occur is the appearance of the
pair's genital papillae. These look like little nipple-like
projections and are called ovipositors (oh vi poz' uh turs), a
word that literally means "egg-placer(s)". The female's ovipositor is
larger and more blunt than the male's which is slender and more
pointed. These protuberances which appear at the vent are used
respectively for depositing eggs and fertilizing them. The obvious
differences in the genital papillae are the first completely reliable
indication of sex determination.
The pair will select a spawning site and thoroughly clean it about two
or three days before actual spawning takes place. When the cleanliness
of the spawning site finally meets the approval of the parent fish,
the female will make a few test runs. She will pull her ventral fins
or feelers close to the lower sides of her abdomen and her anal fin
will be situated so that her entire lower line is relatively
straight. Her ovipositor will then be able to make full contact with
the slate, leaf or whatever was chosen for a spawning site. The male
will then make a few practice runs too before the actual spawning
takes place.
When spawning actually takes place, the female will pass over the site
and eggs are deposited which adhere to the surface. The male then
moves in and scoots along over the string of eggs just laid and
fertilizes them, his fins taking the same position as the female's so
he can press closely to insure a higher fertilization rate.
The male and female Angelfish will take turns making passes over the
spawning site until several hundred or more eggs have been laid,
depending on the size and condition of the female prior to
spawning. The parents will hover closely over the spawn and fan
continuously with their pectoral fins to create a circulation of water
over and around the eggs. Some unfertilized eggs will turn white in a
matter of hours and will be removed by the parents.
Hatching Eggs Away from Parents
Should you decide to remove the eggs after spawning to raise away from
the parents, a bare 15-20 gallon tank with sponge filter and a piece
of slate leaned up against a side wall would be the angelfish will use
the piece of slate to lay their eggs on making it easy for you to
remove the entire spawn.
A restaurant sized pickle or mayonnaise jar submerged into the tank
and the slate with the spawn gently transferred into it is the best
way to handle the delicate eggs which should be facing upward. An
airstone should be placed in the jar in such a way that the somewhat
vigorous stream of air bubbles does not hit the eggs directly. The jar
should be floated in the tank so the temperature remains constant and
that water changes can come from the parent's tank.
Successful breeders have used this 'formula' for the water in which to
raise the fry: Dechlorinated tap water measuring about 75-100 ppm
hardness or about 5 DH and a pH of about 7.4 and kept at 80-02 degrees
F. A one gallon pickle jar was used and tilted, filled 3/4 full and 3
drops of 10% Methylene Blue was added. The aeration was vigorous and
each day after hatching, one-half the water was replaced with aged tap
water of the same temperature. Aeration was slowed after the fry were
free swimming.
Hatching should occur in about 36 to 48 hours depending on the
temperature. If you should see some eggs fall off the slate, you may
elect to either pick them up with an eyedropper or turkey baster and
squirt them back on the slate or leave them to hatch where they
are.
There will be a period after hatching and before free swimming when
the fry will stick together. At this time increase the aeration so ALL
the fry will have access to sufficient oxygen.
Do not put food in the jar until they fry are free swimming. This will
only serve to foul the water and they won't eat while they still have
a yolk sack to live on. After about 3-5 days when they are free
swimming, you may introduce newly hatched brine shrimp into the jar
for the fry to eat.
Leaving Fry with Parents
If the parents are to be left with the eggs, it is best to provide as
much peace and quiet for them as possible. You may want to set up
their tank in your bedroom or a spare room where they will not be
unnecessarily disturbed. Other than that, they should be treated as
you normally do.
Some aquarists cover the tank with paper or black plastic and use peep
holes to observe the fish. This can cause more disturbance than
without the cover because there is no warning for the fish when the
lid is going to be opened for feeding or for any other reason.
The best system for filtering a fry tank is a seeded corner sponge
filter. Start your new Rotifer (roe' tu fur) bacteria colony by
putting the new sponge filter with aeration into an established
tank. This should be done long before you have to use it so that all
you have to do is pop it into the fry tank when the time comes. The
sponge will begin to discolor when you have the start of your
colony.
The circulation of water is gentle, the fry won't be sucked into the
sponge and even baby brine shrimp are safe with a sponge filter. Clean
the sponge in a bucket of siphoned off aquarium water to protect the
Rotifers from dying, wring it out a couple of times and it's ready to
go back to work even in a completely bare aquarium.
Undergravel filters also work biologically, but are not as convenient
to use in this instance. A scrupulously clean aquarium is essential
for proper growth and health of your Angel fish fry, but with an
undergravel filter, this is almost impossible to do. The water can
look crystal clear while the space under the filter can be filthy with
uneaten food and fish waste. This in turn causes ammonia build-up
which is dangerous or even fatal to fish.
It is obviously very difficult if not impossible to keep a fry tank
with an undergravel filter in it perfectly clean.
Angelfish Varieties
While most mutations are lost in nature because they are different,
the aquarist can provide added protection for the creature and
possibly breed it selectively to establish the new strain.
This is the normal coloring of wild Angel. The body is white with 4
dark vertical bars running through it. The first passes through the
eye, the second usually is in front of the top and bottom fin, the
third is usually through the top and bottom fin and the fourth is at
the start of the tail fin. There may or may not be faint dark bars
running parallel between the darker ones. Some specimens have black
speckles over the top half of the body.
Zebra
These are much like the Silvers, but they have more vertical stripes
which continue on right through the tail.
Black Lace
Black Lace are the steppingstones to the solid black variety. The main
difference between Black Lace and Silvers is the intensity of color
especially on the fins where you will see a lace like effect. In
mating 2 Black Lace, you can expect to produce 25% Black, 50% Black
Lace and 25% Silver. The Black fry are especially fragile and a lot of
times don't survive to free swimming and if they do, should be
separated from their more vigorous littermates.
Black
These fish are a solid, velvety black. In mating a Black to a Black
Lace you can expect 50% Black and 50% Black Lace and if you mate Black
to Black you can expect 100% Black.
Half Black
Half Blacks are just that. Their bodies are white in the front and the
black cuts right through the top and bottom fins right through the
tail.
Veiltail
Veiltail Angels have very elongated fins and come in all color
varieties. If a Veil Angel and a Silver are bred, you can expect
50% Veil and 50% Silver. Breed 2 Veils and you can expect 25%
ordinary Angels, 50% Veil and 25% Long Tailed Veil which will have
even longer fins and tails than the Veil. Breeding 2 Long Tailed
Veils will produce 100% Long Tailed Veils, but they are not as
hearty nor are the spawns as large. Some Veils have such long fins
that they become bent or at worst broken.
Instead of having the ordinary black bars, these fish have a
broken pattern of black and silver that is best described as
Marble. In the head and back region there may be undertones of
golden while the fins have rays of black and white. A breeding of
a Marble with a Black Lace will produce some fry which are Black
Lace Marble, having characteristics of both parents.
Golden
Goldens may range from a solid silvery white to a golden color
with no other markings. Over the head and back area is usually a
mantle of gold.
Blushing
Blushing Angels have a red cheek area and no pattern on a
white body and are reported to be the most delicate.
Pearl Scale
Pearl Scale Angels have bumpy almost rough looking scales and
come in many color varieties.
Diseases
Angelfish are apparantly not as apt to contract the common
diseases that other tropical fish are. However, I will list some
common ailments for your reference.
Ichthyophthirius or Ich
Otherwise known as "white spot disease" because of the
appearance of the encysted adult parasite on infected fish, Ich is
caused by the protozoan parasite
Ichthyophthirius multifiliis.
Angelfish are less susceptible than many other tropicals, but
occasionally contract this disease.
Ich goes through three definite stages: First, the adult
parasite lives in the skin of the host fish, feeding on the tissue
and body fluids of the fish and appears as a white spot; second,
the mature parasite leaves the host and falls to the bottom where
it divides; third, as many as 2000 free-swimming youngsters all
seek a host fish that they can attach to. This is the stage where
most treatments are affective.
Higher temperatures will cause the cycle to complete faster so
it is suggested that you raise the temperature to around 80 degrees
F. as part of the treatment. This gives the free-swimming
parasites less time to find a host before they die.
Your favorite pet supply store will have Ich medication on
hand.
Exophthalmia or Pop-Eye
This is one of the more often encountered diseases of
angelfish although not common. Pop-eye is a symptom, not a disease
and it can have a number of causes. Some are incurable, some can
be cured.
Some of the causes of this condition are: Not making partial
water changes often enough resulting in a build-up of dissolved
waste products, infection by a parasitic fungus called
Ichthyosporidium. Other symptoms of this disease, also known as
Ichthyophonus, are usually present when it is the cause of Pop-eye.
The symptoms are body sores, bloody spots,staggering, black
spots,tumors that have erupted, emaciation or scale protrusion,
loss of fins. Usually this is introduced with other fish and is
considered incurable. Some success has been reported using 1%
phenoxetol at about 50cc per gallon of water.
Bacterial infections can also cause Pop-eye and may be treated
with 50 mg. per gallon of Tetracycline or Terramycin added every
other day or mixing with the food 200 mg. antibiotic to 4 oz. of
food and feeding this for 10 days.
Another cause of Pop-eye is otherwise known as "worm cataract
disease". The eyes bulge and the cornea becomes cloudy because of
the invasion of types of flatworms. These must live through a
stage in which snails are the intermediary host and if they don't
find a fish within a short period, will die. Once a fish is
infected, there is no effective cure.
This parasite is introduced with snails, so wild snails should
be avoided. Aquarium snails pose no problem as they are not
exposed to water birds who serve as another intermediary host and
from which the snails become infected.
Hunger Strike
Loss of appetite and eventual refusal to eat should not be a
problem in a well maintained tank. As long as regular partial
water changes are made and the general guidelines for cleanliness
are followed, this should never happen to you.
In case you notice your angelfish going "off their feed",
bribe them with live brine shrimp, live guppy fry or any other
clean live food. In no time they will be eating again.
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