I love having angelfish, but I have never had one live longer than 6 months or so in my tank. I am currently without any, as I had decided to give up on them. They don't show signs of sickness before dying... i just find them dead after awhile.
My initial assumption was that our city's water is too hard, but I know people in my city who have successfully kept them for years (one who lives about 10 blocks away from me) so I wouldn't think that's the issue. My tank is a 67g that has been set up for over a year. I don't remember the last time I saw an ammonia or nitrite reading. I know there are nitrates present in the tap water - the city's water website says it's around .25 ppm (i THINK that's the unit they use... Same as the API liquid test kit uses, anyways) but I condition with Prime and my tank is moderately-heavily planted. Temperature is steady around 78. ph is around 7.5.
So... Do I give it another shot, or what? In the past when I had angelfish, tank mates were harlequin rasboras, platies, mollies, guppies, yoyo loaches, a bristlenose pleco, and a couple dwarf honey gouramis. Recently I have added zebra loaches and a male betta. Of the original tankmates, might there have been some compatibility issues that contributed to the angels' untimely demise? And if I decide to try again, should I be concerned about aggression with the betta?
My other thought would be if they are easily stressed by activity outside the tank. My cat likes to sit on top of the tank, and try as I might, I can't keep him away. Would his jumping onto the tank and startling them be a factor?
My initial assumption was that our city's water is too hard, but I know people in my city who have successfully kept them for years (one who lives about 10 blocks away from me) so I wouldn't think that's the issue. My tank is a 67g that has been set up for over a year. I don't remember the last time I saw an ammonia or nitrite reading. I know there are nitrates present in the tap water - the city's water website says it's around .25 ppm (i THINK that's the unit they use... Same as the API liquid test kit uses, anyways) but I condition with Prime and my tank is moderately-heavily planted. Temperature is steady around 78. ph is around 7.5.
So... Do I give it another shot, or what? In the past when I had angelfish, tank mates were harlequin rasboras, platies, mollies, guppies, yoyo loaches, a bristlenose pleco, and a couple dwarf honey gouramis. Recently I have added zebra loaches and a male betta. Of the original tankmates, might there have been some compatibility issues that contributed to the angels' untimely demise? And if I decide to try again, should I be concerned about aggression with the betta?
My other thought would be if they are easily stressed by activity outside the tank. My cat likes to sit on top of the tank, and try as I might, I can't keep him away. Would his jumping onto the tank and startling them be a factor?