Angelfish Longevity

[joncairns]

Hi,

First post for a while. I am getting into Angels in a big way,and have recently purchased 5 juveniles.Can anyone tell me realistically how long they can be expected to live if kept in tip top conditions.

These are amazing fish,really beautiful,graceful and entertaining.

Thank you,

Jon

 

[M.R Otter]

well joncairns;

it is reported that the Angelfish can live for over 10ys if kept healthy.......

5 juveniles you do know how big these fishes grow don't you, in what tank are they living in?

 

[joncairns]

Thank you for your reply,they live in a huge tank,plenty room even if they eventually breed.

 

[SBL]

Don't have to big a tank, an angel fish grows pretty large in a 10 USG, but if you put one in a huge tank by itself, it will become ugly, nuchual hump, body keeps growing and fins stop growing, and a large angel that looks like a silver dollar. Angels live pretty long though, good fish, easy to keep, but very fragile.

 

[lalo99]

Don't have to big a tank, an angel fish grows pretty large in a 10 USG, but if you put one in a huge tank by itself, it will become ugly, nuchual hump, body keeps growing and fins stop growing, and a large angel that looks like a silver dollar. Angels live pretty long though, good fish, easy to keep, but very fragile.

I completely disagree with this statement. A 10 Gallon tank is not ok for an adult angel. If an angel does grow as decribed above, either it has bad genes or its been kept in bad water conditions and allowed to grow deformed.

I just had am angelfish die at just over 12 years. RIP my buddy

 

[joncairns]

Thank you for your reply,I have plenty of room so,will consider moving them to a smaller aquarium when I can get one cycled.I really like these fish and look forward to keeping them for many years to come.

Jon

 

[chesterscot]

SBL what are you on about?
scot

 

[SBL]

I mean angels can grow pretty big, they grow pretty well in a 10 USG but, really shouldn't be housed in there. Angels with too much space grow more than they should. I have seen some ugly angels that were alone in too big of a tank, like a pair in a bare 150 USG, they are pretty ugly cause they grow too much, they have nuchual himps, huge bodies with fins that haven't grown with the body.

Edit: Don't get a smaller tank Jon, just don't leave the them in a bare tank thats huge, it creates monsters. I say a 55 USG is good for your angels but, add something other than just angels.

 

[Tolak]

I really need to pull one of my potential show fish/breeders out of a 150 gallon tub to show you that a large, and in fact huge if available, quantity of water will produce beautiful angels fully finned with healthy stocky bodies. A healthy adult male angel, well kept, will develop a nuchal hump to some extent or another.

 

[SBL]

Ok, I love people showing me up. I guess it's just about how the fish was raised. Eh, I an take me being wrong. I want to see that angel

 

[Tolak]

Let me get around to cleaning up a tank for some pics, I'm overdue for some anyway.

I don't mean to show anyone up, but if you understock a deep tank with angels, and feed heavily while changing plenty of water you get some really nice looking fish. Big tubs are deep, cheap, and hide some of my fish from the prying eyes of other breeders who happen by.

 

[Tolak]

Dug out a reasonably clean tank for pics, most of my tanks are on end, drilled with overflows & plumbed in place.

First, here's the tubs I use, the closest one is for growing out larger angels;

A silver dollar body size with stubby fins was mentioned, so I taped a silver dollar to the back of a bare 10 gallon tank. These two are right by it in back, the small shadow on the wall behind the tank confirms this, their both wild caught fish, Rio Xingu;

A closer pic, you can see the fins, with some nice extensions on the tail. They settled in pretty good, given the 10 minutes of time I gave them;

They color up even better given a bit more time, the crown gets dark brown, almost black, same color as the stripes;

I found as chunky bodied of an angel as I could, a really dark marble. A couple of domestic silvers & a lighter marble are in there with the dark fatty;

Large amounts of deep water make nice fins, well in proportion to the body.

 

[SBL]

cool, I see why you keep them from the eyes of breeders, nice fish.

 

[Tolak]

TY! I use the clamp light to work on those tubs, without the light & being black you can hardly tell what's in there. Some larger breeders I know have the back room, where future projects in development are hidden away. I'm nowhere near that size, and certainly don't have that sort of room.

 

[Bigjakee]

Angels with too much space grow more than they should.

Is that the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard? Possibly...