We've had several recent threads about angelfish and tankmates and aquascaping. I came across the attached video while hunting online for photos, and thought I would share it. Not only is this about as good a setup as one could have for angelfish, it is very instructive on why this fish must be in a group, and illustrates how they behave when they are in a proper environment in terms of tank size, aquascaping, and numbers. You can see clear interaction between the fish, but it never amounts to any physical damage because of the numbers and environment. And the fish swim very little, as indeed they do in the wild, preferring to remain relatively close in their shoal, near the cover of branches and under floating or overhanging vegetation.
The tank is 200 gallons, so probably 8 feet, though I'm no judge of distance. Sand substrate, lots of chunks of wood and no submersed plants, but a good layer of floating plants (Amazon Frogbit). This is so typical of most watercourses in South America.
The fish are a group of 11 wild Pterophyllum scalare, the original species from which all aquarium varieties such as the Marble, Black Lace, Blushing, etc. have been derived. These fish in the video were caught in the Rio Cuyuni, a tributary of the Rio Essequibo; a portion of the R. Cuyuni forms the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela, and is pictured in the attached photo by Ivan Mikolji, an explorer and fish collector in Venezuela.
While this aquarium is an authentic habitat, it is not strictly a biotope. The corys are Corydorus duplicareus, and I believe I saw C. serratus once or twice, and these species are endemic [= only occur] in the Rio Poranga which is several hundred miles to the south in Amazonia.
Use the expand in the lower left corner to get full screen, and then enjoy.
The tank is 200 gallons, so probably 8 feet, though I'm no judge of distance. Sand substrate, lots of chunks of wood and no submersed plants, but a good layer of floating plants (Amazon Frogbit). This is so typical of most watercourses in South America.
The fish are a group of 11 wild Pterophyllum scalare, the original species from which all aquarium varieties such as the Marble, Black Lace, Blushing, etc. have been derived. These fish in the video were caught in the Rio Cuyuni, a tributary of the Rio Essequibo; a portion of the R. Cuyuni forms the boundary between Guyana and Venezuela, and is pictured in the attached photo by Ivan Mikolji, an explorer and fish collector in Venezuela.
While this aquarium is an authentic habitat, it is not strictly a biotope. The corys are Corydorus duplicareus, and I believe I saw C. serratus once or twice, and these species are endemic [= only occur] in the Rio Poranga which is several hundred miles to the south in Amazonia.
Use the expand in the lower left corner to get full screen, and then enjoy.