Hardiest/Best Angels

[rdd1952]

I am ready to add 4 angels to my 75 gallon tank. Most of the LFS around here have marbled angels and also some that are relatively gold without much other markings (don't know what kind they are). I love the altum angles but have been told by one LFS that a true altum is wild caught and extremely rare. What type is the hardiest and easiest to keep? I do regular water changes and check my water daily so i'm not worried about bad water but it never hurts to have hardy fish. Also, do I need to get 4 of the same type? I'm not interested in breeding and understand that angels are extremely hard to breed anyway.

I know someone will ask so here are my water parameters:

ammonia, nitrite = 0
nitrate = 10
pH = 6.8
KH, GH = 1
temp = 78 - 79

 

[ramesses]

Altums are the bomb,but they are also hard to find and expensive and yes,they are a bit more delicate for they are usually wild ones.
Angels are not delicate per se,marbles are as tough as they get,so are the golden ones.Some black strains are delicate and you have to keep watching the H2O parameters,etc.Same can be said about some blushers (pink gills).Of course super veils are too,for those beautiful fins require special care.
If you really want high quality angels,you might check on line.I've got my kois through Aquabid,and they grew up to be spectacular.

 

[parker313]

It depends far more on the breeder than it does on the color strain. You could get a very poorly bred marble that would be far more delicate than a black....

I've had fair luck with the angels from my lfs and HORRIBLE luck with the angels from PetSmart. If I were going to attempt angels again, I would definitely look to an online supplier like angelsplus.com

 

[Tolak]

Smaller, non-chain lfs are your best bet. They usually deal with local breeders, where your chain shops order from huge breeders & importers. The advantages to local bred is that they are used to your local water conditions, and they haven't been shipped hundreds if not thousands of miles to get to your location.

I don't know where in N.C. you are located, you may want to check this out http/www.fishclubs.com/nc/ras/index.html

The club I'm in goes to all the auctions & shows in the midwest. You are bound to meet plenty of breeders, they will steer you in the right direction. All the breeders I know aren't in it for the money, it's more of a camaraderie sort of thing. Hang out, talk fish, exchange ideas. If you sell a few fish & pay for some food, great. No one is quitting their day job, they just enjoy dealing with quality fish. That is your best bet for healthy angels.

You can put any domestic bred angels together, they do just fine. The only time you have to worry is with wild caught angels, They can get nasty towards domestics.

Altums are as tough to keep as discus if not more so. Most all are wild caught, it's nearly impossible to breed them. Tall dollars, high maintainance.

Your water will be fine for angels.



Tolak

 

[Norway]

I have to disagree on the Pterophyllum altum. They are not at all difficult to keep, but yes, they are hard to breed, and I have still got that challenge ahead of me.

Actually it's my opinion that many wildcaught fish are easier to keep than their often inbread cousins...(but not all wildcaught fish are easy, thats not what im saying )

Some of the professional breeders are very greedy and instead of letting the fish live normally whilst growing up, they feed them with antibiotics and keep the water too cleen for the fish to develop a reasonable immunesystem, thus leaving the fish very vunerable to diseases after it comes to a customers tank. This way the fish can die in your tank instead of theirs..-

This is why its so smart for newcomers to the hobby to join an aquariumclub, for they can most often get fish there that are born and bread in their own tapwater.

This will make them happy, they will get more and more into the hobby, buy more aquariums and then they will end up like most of us - spending all their money in the good aquariumshops after they start getting bored with the fish in the clubs...

PC

 

[rdd1952]

There doesn't seem to be a club in the Charlotte area, at least not one that I have found yet. The one Tolak mentioned is in Raleigh, about 3 hours away and they had their annual auction in February. As big as Charlotte is, you would think there would be something. There is a new marine club that just formed though. I may try something like aquabid but the only problem with ordering online is that I'm not home to receive them and if I have them delivered to my office, they will still be bagged for the rest of the day. As for local LFS, the Petsmart near where I work probably has the cleanest tanks of any around. They haven't had any angels the last couple weeks though. I'm not in a great rush to buy them so I will look around.

 

[The-Wolf]

I just found this site, looks like it the ideal angel info place.
http/www.angelsplus.com/index.htm

this page sets out all the different strains
http/www.angelsplus.com/angelstrains.htm

 

[parker313]

As for local LFS, the Petsmart near where I work probably has the cleanest tanks of any around. They haven't had any angels the last couple weeks though. I'm not in a great rush to buy them so I will look around.

Yeah, our PetSmart has clean tanks too. I've lost at least 5 angels that I've gotten there though. Even if they're kept in pristine water, if they're from poor breeding stock to begin with, they just won't make it

Between them and the LFS, I've spent enough on angels that I should have just sucked it up and ordered them online in the first place.

 

[chkltcow]

There's a Charlotte club... but I'm not sure how active it is. The Charlotte reef club was formed because the CAAS is mostly freshwater, I believe.

http/pvelasco.net/CAASBBS/index.php