Angel Fish... that get along best for community tanks...

[Magnum Man]

so I'm curious, if there is a particular variety of Angel Fish that gets along with others better than others ???

or if Tank Raised a few generations helps that out... there is nothing nicer than 4-5 Angel fish in a tank, but peace would be nice...

 

[FranciscoB]

There are only two species of freshwater angel fish.... one much more common of the other, much more frequently kept successfully by average aquarists, and with many man-made 'varieties'.

 

[FranciscoB]

Correcting myself - long-nose angels are a third species, not that frequently kept, but not rare. No more species of FW angels.

 

[Magnum Man]

I should have used the word varieties rather than species

 

[Byron]

Angelfish are cichlids (I know, obvious, but many forget this). They are very territorial, a trait that is part of their genetic makeup. No one is going to change this. Why some individuals are more aggressive than others, this can depend upon environmental conditions [they are not getting something they expect], but sometimes also individual fish just don't follow the norm exactly. Tank raising has nothing directly to do with this, it is genetic. We do know without doubt that the space (aquarium size) and the number in the group determine aggressiveness. In their habitat, the fish remain in groups of roughly 30, and as pairs form, the others just move out of their way. Placing them in a relatively small tank is not going to pay out.

A comment on the species...I've no idea what "longnose" refers to, but there are three species of freshwater angelfish. Pterophyllum scalare (Schultz, 1823), P. altum Pellegrin, 1903 and P. leopoldi (Goss, 1963). In 1998, Sven Kullander erected the subfamily Cichlasomatinae and moved the genus Pterophyllum into it. It is my understanding from Kullander (1998) that all varieties are derived from P. scalare.

 

[GaryE]

Dead angels treated with aquarium safe sealant will not harm a community. Live ones will act like live ones, no matter how modified their colours are.

 

[FranciscoB]

Long-nose angel is the common name of P. leopoldi (= P. dumerilli), characterized by the reason for its name (due to a near-absence of the pre-dorsal notch, which is present in P. scalare and strongest in P. altum), and for an additional (incomplete) black bar, not present in the other two species.

 

[GaryE]

Interesting. I have never heard 'long nose' angel as a marketing name here. They're called leopoldi here, even as a common name. It's easy to say in English.

 

[Magnum Man]

As a matter of fact, I hav a couple in my basket from one of the suppliers I use… called Leopoldo on their site… they didn’t list them as a different species though

 

[Byron]

As a matter of fact, I hav a couple in my basket from one of the suppliers I use… called Leopoldo on their site… they didn’t list them as a different species though

You should not combine the three species. And if more than one, a group of five or more. Two, three or four is only asking for trouble.

 

[Magnum Man]

Maybe I should wait… I really wanted zebra lace

 

[GaryE]

I love angels, but if they pair, they are going to defend their young to the death. That's a good thing, if you're their young. In the wild, predators of their size tend to go away. In a tank, they have nowhere to go.

They are also very hard on each other. males will gradually and cruelly kill each other, although the real cruelty is on us for confining them with no escape route.

My last group were four wild caughts in a 6 foot, 2m tank. There were only that many for sale. One male was rapidly killed. Then I had a never spawning pair and a third wheel, which meant angels in 2 tanks rather than the one I'd planned. I switched the pair to a 75, and the lone male to a 55. I gave them away when I moved, and sadly, they were later killed by a freezing rain storm taking out the heat in their new home. No fish has ever caused me to change stocking plans more often than scalare angels.

The fancy line breeding that give zebra lace angels and the other human created forms doesn't change their need to protect their breeding space.