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Scalare Angelfish Questions

2K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Shewbert 
#1 ·
So I am getting a 55 gallon soon and I already have 1 Marble Angel... I have done some research on community fish and what would be compatible and discovered I am somewhat ignorant when it comes to Scalare Angels. I would like to increase the number of Angels in the tank so the one I have isn't under any stress from being a "Loner" in a grossly undersized tank (Currently 10G :oops:)...

So the Questions I have are :

  1. Are the Color Variations (Lace , Veil , Marble , Solid Black , Striped , so on and so forth) compatible with one another in a small group of about 4 to 6 ?
I read in the Scalare Profile that one should purchase the school of Angels all at once. So they can establish their "pecking order" I suppose. I already have an Angel who is approximately 3" in length already. So in an effort to not cause any stress to the resident Angel or needless bullying/stress to the soon to be new arrivals...

2. Should I purchase each Angel individually at different stores?

3. Should they be introduced to the new Cycled Tank all at the same time?


If I do have 3 to 6 angels in the same 55 gallon tank ...

4. What would be the suggested number of Angels for a tank this size?

5. Should I try to pair color types? i.e..Two Marbles, Two Striped Ones and Two Oarnge Ones

6. Would I still be able to put a school of Rasboras' , Congo Tetras or Diamond Tetras in the tank?

Should I purchase a 20 to 30 Gallon tank so when and if the Pairs " heed the call " ;-) I have somewhere for them to go? Or would the 10 Gallon Hospital/QT suffice? (I'm pretty sure if they start breeding It becomes a whole new ball game huh?)

All Comments and Suggestions Welcome.

Thanks
 
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#2 ·
Any new angels will need to be about the same size as the one you have. Get them all at the same time, and put them all in together. That way no one will have 'claimed' any territory or dominance yet. The tank will need to be fully cycled before adding them.

Diamonds are better than Congos, as Congos are more active while Angels are slow sedate fish. Even Diamond Tetras are a bit frisky, but seem to get on well with Angels.

I certainly wouldn't get more than 5 in a 55 gallon, and that will nearly fill up the tank. I have 5 in a 125g tank, along with 10 Diamond Tetra and 10 Harlequin Rasbora, then various bottom fish.

Colors do not mater with angels, they'll school and spawn with each other just fine.

When they start spawning, you won't know until they've already laid eggs so you can't see a sign then move them. A mated pair could work in a 30 gallon (a 3 foot tank) but you do not have to remove a mated pair. It's only necessary to remove a mated pair if you want to save the fry (which you need much larger than 30g to raise all the fry).

They'll turn aggressive when spawning, but only in the sense of keeping the other fish out of 'their' corner while they tend to the eggs. When the eggs all get eaten, everything goes back to normal.
 
#4 ·
It isn't reliable, the only way to tell their sex is during spawning. Although after watching them for awhile (hours) you can sometimes tell from behavior once they are of spawning age. I have 3 males and 2 females in my tank. The two females formed pairs, leaving one as an unknown. But I've observed the lone fish challenge one of the males on numerous occasions, and eventually the lone fish did succeed in winning gaining dominance and getting the female.

The males will face off each other, with the dominant making jerking movements as if he's about to charge. It's a warning. Usually the subordinate male will refuse the challenge and turn away, but sometimes he will accept the challenge and the dominate male will charge. They'll lip lock, or one will turn away and get ramed in the side. All the while the female will ignore what's going on, acting oblivous but secretly pleased to the fact that the males are fighting over her (typical female ;) kidding of course).

This can go on for a few days, and if one doesn't relent and allow the other to be dominate it can eventually result in the death of one of them. I'm not sure how common that is though, it hasn't happened to me.
 
#5 ·
hello,
I put a mirror in the tank with angel fish and was surprised by the activity angel fish showed towards the image in the mirror. They seemed to form a loose group with the image but for one who charged the image and tried to lock jaws with the image and pushed the mirror backward a little bit. At first I thought this was a display of aggression but then I started to think in terms of communication when I removed the mirror from the tank all four angel fish began to shoaling in the general area of the mirror. It has been 3 or 4 weeks since the mirror test and the angel’s are still shoaling where the mirror was placed. I wonder if they are looking for the image. I kept the mirror in the tank for half an hour. How do angel fish communicate might be an interesting subject to consider sometime any suggestions.
pop
 
#6 ·
hello,
I put a mirror in the tank with angel fish and was surprised by the activity angel fish showed towards the image in the mirror. They seemed to form a loose group with the image but for one who charged the image and tried to lock jaws with the image and pushed the mirror backward a little bit. At first I thought this was a display of aggression but then I started to think in terms of communication when I removed the mirror from the tank all four angel fish began to shoaling in the general area of the mirror. It has been 3 or 4 weeks since the mirror test and the angel’s are still shoaling where the mirror was placed. I wonder if they are looking for the image. I kept the mirror in the tank for half an hour. How do angel fish communicate might be an interesting subject to consider sometime any suggestions.
pop

This makes me wonder if this could be a way to tell the sex of an Angel. If the males will try to challenge another male and lip lock or attack the (mirror) and a female won't then why not place a mirror in the tank or whatever and try this theory with known Male and Female specimens? Someone should try that and start a thread or post on this one the results.
 
#7 ·
Sexing Angels is done by looking at the angle of the anal fin in relation to the belly of the angelfish, this will identify the sex.
The female angelfish will generally have a near 100°-110° angle formed by the forward edge of the belly and the anal fin.
The male angelfish will have a greater angle in the range of 120°-150° degrees. Most often it requires a bit of experience though to detect the subtle differences seen in some lines.
If you keep them at a slightly lower temperature Aprox 75deg they tend to mate less and be less agressive.
If you want them to breed raise the temp to between 80-85 and feed more frequently.
One of our display tanks, the Angels happily share with some discus, festivums and urarus, with bristle noses and corydoras giving movement at the bottom.
Enjoy your fish
Ray
 
#8 ·
Shewbert,

So let me see if I understand this correctly. When you say the female has a 100 deg angle, from which point is the number in relation to? Does this mean their Anal fin is almost straight down but angled ever so slightly to the rear? If so then i would assume the Males Anal fin is more in line with halfway between straight down and horizontal. Is this what you were trying to express? Thanks for the help by the way.
 
#9 ·
unless you can use a protractor on your angel's anal fins to tell, i would just watch their behavior/look at their papilla if they spawn. i guess if you have a super awesome eye then you could tell. but i dont think i could see that difference in my pair lol.
 
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