Freshwater Angel Fish are some of the most popular fish in the aquarium trade. They have been bred in captivity for a very long time because hobbyists enjoy them so much.
They come in a vast array of colors and fin shapes, including Gold, Black, and Koi Angelfish. And all of them are quite easy to keep in the home aquarium.
When you think of Angelfish, the first thing that comes to mind may be the colorful fish collectively known as Marine Angelfish. However, Freshwater Angelfish are actually not Angelfish at all. They are members of the cichlid family.
The Angelfish commonly kept as freshwater aquarium fish are probably descended from a hybrid of pterophyllum scalare with other species. There are three other species of Freshwater Angelfish. And hybridization with these other fish has resulted in the Angelfish we know today.
Angelfish have been raised in captivity for over 100 years, eliminating any separation of species that may have been present in the original breeding fish. They come in a wide range of fin and color varieties. Mixed breeding between different varieties can result in all kinds of different colors and patterns.
In the wild, pterophyllum scalare have a wide range. They’re common in Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, and the Guianas and throughout the Amazon River. They prefer to live along the shores of ponds and rivers among heavy plant material.
They have a unique body type in order to easily swim among the plants and keep them safe from bigger fish.
Angelfish have a unique ability to evade predators. They can turn the black bars on their scales on and off as needed to help them blend in with the environment.
When threatened, they may completely eliminate the black scales, making them pale, and lay on the bottom to blend in with the sand.
When the lights in your aquarium are off, they will also very likely lie near the bottom of the aquarium and bars will not be visible.
Angelfish – Quick Facts
| Common Names | Angelfish, Gold Angelfish, Koi Angelfish, Marble Angelfish, Black Angelfish, Albino Angelfish, Silver Angelfish, Pearlscale Angelfish |
| Temperament | Semi-aggressive |
| Lifespan | 10 years |
| Size | 6in long and up to 8in tall |
| Water flow | Slow-moving |
| Aquarium size | 20 gallon tank, or 10 gallons for each Angelfish. Tall aquariums are preferred to long ones. |
| Aquarium decor | Well planted, with a large flat rock such as slate for breeding pairs. Fine substrate is preferred to enable safe digging. |
| Temperature | 75-82°F |
| PH: | 6.0 to 7 |
| Water hardness | Between 5 and 18 dH |
| Lighting | Full-spectrum UVA/UVB for plants, but plenty of plants to cut the light down within the middle range of the aquarium where Angelfish like to swim. |
| Compatible tankmates | Most peaceful and semi-aggressive fish of a similar size such as Betta Fish, Gouramis, and other Angelfish |
| Available captive-bred? | Yes, almost exclusively |
| Family group | Cichlidae |
| Close relatives | Cichlids |
| Feeding Difficulty | Easy to feed |
| Schooling Fish? | They do school with other angelfish but also do fine as pairs in the home aquarium |
| Diet | Carnivores that eat larvae, insects, crustaceans, and smaller fish. Live earthworms, tubifex worms, live water fleas, and brine shrimp are excellent options to supplement a flake or pellet diet. Freeze-dried krill and glass worms are also good options. |
Angelfish Care – Infographic
Setting up an Angelfish Aquarium
Angelfish grow to be pretty large freshwater aquarium fish, so it is vital to have a large enough tank to support them. Angelfish that live in undersized aquariums are often unhealthy, unhappy, and aggressive. From my experience, I would suggest a tank of at least 30 gallons to support a few Angelfish. This is especially important if you plan to keep other suitable tank mates. While they can be great community tank fish, Angelfish are still in the cichlid family and become territorial if space is limited. It is always better to have more space than not enough space!
Angelfish tend to be pretty hefty eaters, which means a lot of waste in your fish tank. Make sure you have a good filter that can handle these types of fish. While a good hang-on back filter will work, I would highly recommend purchasing a canister filter. Canister filters can process a lot more water than HOB filters, and they tend to be a lot more effective for freshwater aquariums.
Substrate
When setting up your Angelfish aquarium, the first major decision you need to make is the type of substrate you are going to use. If you are new to fishkeeping, I would recommend going with a simple gravel substrate. Though gravel tends to trap a lot of waste, it is extremely easy to clean and doesn’t require a ton of upkeep. It is also fairly cheap to purchase, so your wallet will be happy (we can’t always say that in the fishkeeping hobby).
If you are more experienced with aquariums, adding sand as a substrate can be a beautiful addition. Angelfish are natively found in the Amazon Basin in tropical South America. So naturally, they are more familiar with a sandy bottom. Sand will give your tank a more realistic, natural look, but can be more difficult to clean. I personally use sand in all my new aquariums and would never switch back to gravel, simply for the looks.
Vegetation
As I talked about before, Angelfish are from the Amazon Basin where vegetation is abundant. Proving your Angelfish with a lot of plants, rocks, and hiding places is an important part of keeping them stress-free. Unless you plan to purchase a light setup, it is best just to use artificial plants. Artificial plants provide the look and feel of a natural planted aquarium, but require little to no work. When selecting these plants, try to find some that stand vertically and have large leaves. These mimic the plants in the Amazon Basin and will make your Angelfish more comfortable.
Other great aquarium decorations to add to your Angelfish tank are driftwood and rocks. Driftwood perfectly mimics the Angelfish’s natural habitat. Large, vertical standing rocks also provide a great place for your fish to hide and, eventually, lay eggs! Filling your tank with lots of natural-looking hiding places and decorations helps keep your Angelfish comfortable and stress-free.
Water
When filling your aquarium, it is important to use a quality water source. The best thing you can do is purchase water from your local fish store. Depending on how big your aquarium is, though, this can be difficult and require a lot of buckets! Purchasing your water from a well-known fish store ensures that all the parameters will be correct and chlorine-free!
If you want to take a cheaper route, tap water is acceptable to use. Water straight from the tap, though, contains a lot of chlorides and can kill your fish. When using tap water, you MUST use a water conditioner to neutralize the chlorine and provide a safe environment for your Angelfish. Failing to do so will burn the Angelfish’s gills and eventually lead to death. Natural Rapport produces a great water conditioner that I have used for years in my freshwater aquariums. Make sure to follow the instructions on the bottle very carefully.
Cycling Your Aquarium
Cycling your aquarium is a necessary evil. It can take a week to complete, but in the end, it is completely worth it. Failing to cycle your aquarium can be harmful and potentially fatal to your fish. To properly cycle your freshwater aquarium, you must first understand the nitrogen cycle.
When organic compounds such as fish waste and food dissolve in your tank, a large amount of ammonia is produced. This ammonia is extremely harmful to your fish and lethal in any amount. In a healthy aquarium, there is an abundance of beneficial bacteria that convert this lethal ammonia into a less-harmful toxin called Nitrite. Nitrite is “better” than ammonia but is still potentially lethal to fish. This is where the second set of beneficial bacteria come in and convert the Nitrite to Nitrate. There is only a one-letter difference in their names, but a huge difference in your aquarium. Even the healthiest aquariums show traces of Nitrates, and they are usually nothing to worry about unless in high quantities. Nitrates can only be removed through water changes, so be prepared to do them on a bi-weekly schedule.
The Fish-less Cycle
Now that you know how the nitrogen cycle work, you need to learn how to effectively complete this cycle in your home aquarium! I am a huge advocate of the Fish-less cycle (not adding ANY fish until cycling is complete). While this may take a little longer, it saves a few unlucky fish from ammonia/nitrite poisoning.
How to Fish-less Cycle an Aquarium
Before starting your fish-less cycle, you should purchase a test kit. The API Freshwater Test Kit is the absolute best on the market. To begin your cycle, have your aquarium completely set up (substrate, water, plants, decorations, filter, heater)and add a few pinches of flake food each day. As this flake food deteriorates, you will notice a huge spike in ammonia on your test kit. Make sure to test your water at least once a day to stay up-to-date.
As ammonia spikes, the first type of beneficial bacteria will begin to grow. As these bacteria grow, they will consume the ammonia and convert it to nitrite. This first part of the cycle may take anywhere from 2-3 weeks. Make sure to add a little pinch of flake food once in a while to feed your ammonia-consuming bacteria!
Once ammonia begins to drop (the first type of beneficial bacteria are doing their job), you will notice a spike in Nitrites. At this point, the second type of beneficial bacteria will begin to reproduce and grow in numbers. This bacteria consumes the nitrite and converts it to nitrate. As always, remember to keep adding a few flakes of fish food to sustain the cycle. In another 2-3 weeks’ time, you will notice the nitrites begin to fall off (remember to test your water every day) and nitrites begin to spike.
Once Ammonia and Nitrite hit zero on your test kit, your cycle is complete! Do a large water change to reduce nitrates and your tank is ready for fish. Add your fish one at a time every few days instead of all at once. The beneficial bacteria are still growing and you don’t want to overwhelm them.
Adding Your Angelfish To The Tank
Once your cycle is complete, you are in the clear to add your fish! If you want to be on the safe side, it is best to get a few hardy species such as mollies or guppies and add them to your aquarium first. Watch them for a few days and make sure they look healthy before adding your Angelfish.
When the time finally comes to add your Angelfish, make sure your tank is set to the proper temperate. Angelfish like a temperature of 76-82 degrees. If you still need a heater for your tank, I would highly recommend looking into the Aqueon Pro Heaters, I have used them for a while and they are extremely durable and reliable.
Slowly acclimate your Angelfish to your aquarium by floating them in the bag for 20-30 minutes. When the temperatures are evened out, you can finally release your fish into the tank. You have been building up to this for weeks and it is an exciting time, congratulations!
Feeding Your Angelfish
Angelfish are aggressive eaters and definitely look forward to mealtime. It is important to feed your Angelfish a healthy, balanced diet if you want them to thrive and be happy in your new home aquarium. I would recommend a mixture of flake food and meaty, frozen food to keep your Angelfish as healthy and strong as possible.
I usually give my Angelfish TetraMin Tropical Flakes a few times throughout the day supplemented by frozen brine shrimp or blood worms at night. You can decrease the amount of frozen food as the Angelfish get older, but this is not necessary. Live brine shrimp is also a great treat once in a while!
Only feed your Angelfish as much as they can eat in a 60 second period. It is better to feed your Angelfish 3-4 times a day in small quantities than one large meal. Feeding too much at one time will only increase the amount of uneaten food and make your aquarium dirty. In fact, overfeeding is the most common mistake made by new fishkeepers!
Maintaining Your Aquarium
A huge part of keeping your Angelfish happy and stress-free is having a healthy aquarium. Keeping an aquarium requires a good amount of work, so if you are looking for a set-and-forget kind of hobby, this probably isn’t for you!
Water changes should preferably be done on a bi-weekly schedule. Every other week, swap out between 10-20% of the total tank volume and replace it with fresh water. Before adding the new water, make sure it is dechlorinated and ready for your fish. During water changes, you should scrub the glass of your aquarium to remove any buildup of algae. You should also use a siphon to suck up any settled waste on the sand/gravel. Getting rid of this waste before it has a chance to decompose will help keep your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in check.
During water changes, you should also do a thorough cleaning of your filter. Put a few cups in a bucket and splash your filter around to remove any gunk or slime. This will help prevent your parasites from building up and infecting your fish. It is very important to ONLY use existing tank water to clean your filter, do not run it under the faucet or anything. Doing so will kill all of the beneficial bacteria, which, as you know, are very important to the health of your tank.
Missing a water change here and there is not a huge deal. I commonly let my aquarium go for a month without doing a water change. As long as you are testing your water often, you shouldn’t have any problems. Just make sure you do water changes at least once a month. Your fish will love you for it!
Breeding Freshwater Angelfish
Pterophyllum scalare are relatively easy to breed, and they are extremely interesting to watch as breeding pairs and as parents. As long as they can select their own mates and are well cared for, they tend to make it very easy to breed them and raise their young.
When Angelfish are ready to breed, they will choose a flat surface. They usually pick either a piece of slate or a broadleaf Amazon Sword Plant to lay their eggs on. Both Angelfish parents meticulously clean the egg depositing location. The female lays her eggs in organized rows and the male follows, fertilizing them. As many as 200 eggs may be laid.
Both parents put a lot of effort into caring for the eggs, although there is some variability in parenting skills depending on the pair and their experience. Good parents remove any dirt or debris from among the eggs and devour eggs that have died or were not fertilized properly so that they will not rot.
Raising Angelfish Eggs and Fry
The baby fish are born in only a couple of days. The parents continue to care for the fry until they are swimming freely and confidently and able to care for themselves. They may even move the babies around in a herd looking for food.
Some aquarists remove the eggs as soon as they are laid to eliminate any possibility that poor parents will consume them. However, the home aquarist is encouraged to allow the parents to raise the babies, since balancing aeration and anti-fungus treatment when eggs are removed can be challenging, and you will likely lose a batch or two before you get the hang of it.
If the Angelfish do eat their eggs, you will find that they likely produce more in only a couple of weeks and are much less likely to consume them the next time around. There is no need to remove the young Angelfish until they begin to stop following their parents around in search of food and begin to look for food on their own, at which point the parents may breed again and the first batch may be a danger to the second. The best food for juvenile Freshwater Angelfish appears to be Artemia.
