Angel Q's - How many? What size? What kind?

[Aqualoon]

Some quick pics, however...

Lighting = Bad. Using a single 24" strip light on a 72" tank. I'll be getting some LED lighting next week.
Camera = Bad. Using the camera on my cell.
Waterspots = My bad!

Two that strayed away from the group. As you can see from the sand they have gone through every bit of it to look for food. Hungry lil buggers.

More of the group, can really see their size and why I am laughing at myself for thinking these guys would be total thugs on dime size angels.

Some more came over in case I was going to feed them...I did give them a bit of spirulina flake as I like them to be owner responsive and when they see people they don't run and hide.

Best one I could get of the Sev and it took the flake to get him out. He likes to hide in the darker corner of the tank where there is a lot of driftwood.

 

[dxdx]

very cool pics, Geos are funny at that size.

My severums did the same thing when they were new to the tank. Would belly up to the background so all you could see was the top of them. They were almost invisible, but they'll get out more with time and size.

 

[Aquanero]

Cute little guys. My Taps were gluttonus little pigs too, wate they still are......lol. Very nice post the Angels too when you get them.

 

[Aqualoon]

I'm really torn on which angels to get.

F1 Peruvian Scalare @ Silver Dollar Size
Silvers with 50% wild blood, crossed to a Peruvian wild fish from the Manacupuru Region @ dime size
Pterophyllum Peru "altum" Wild Caught @ med size (Love altums but my pH is rather high for wild angels at 8.2)
F1 juves of Santa Isabel Scalare - Unknown size. I mentioned to Jeff when I bought these fish that I was looking for angels and he said he was getting some of these in soon.

So angelfish guys...which ones do I want?

 

[Aquanero]

F1 Peruvian Scalare and Wild Cought Peruvian "Altum" are essentialy the same fish they are Pterophyllum Saclere from the Rio Nanay in Peru, they are not true Pterophyllun Altum. F1 fish will generally be a little less agressive. As adults Rio Nanay get some red spotts on the sides and a blus shean by the lower gill plate.

The Silver/50% wild x Manacupuru is also P. Scalare. Basicly a wild "type" domestic strain. P. Scalare from Rio Manacupuru are refered to as red sholdered angelfish and are very beautiful fish. This is a nice looking and hardy strain.

F1 Santa Isabel angelfish are again P. Scalare from another river. They have a nice coloration as adults too.

I have a group of Rio Nanay scalare. They get pretty big with an altum like apperance to them hence the name Peruvian altum. See below, HTH.



Below is a wild cross but being a cross not all look like this due to inherting different traites form the parents but it is and example of what some look like. This one is very nice and a pretty big fish.

 

[Aqualoon]

I'm thinking for my first time angels with my water hardness I should go with the Silvers with 50% wild blood. They are from Lee Gordon and it looks like his pH is the same as mine so that's actually rather fantastic.

I was reading this link about Altums and pH and it turned into an extremely informative thread regarding all angels and water hardness.

 

[Aquanero]

Lee Gordon is Angels Plus and has excelent stock IMO. Good chioce.

 

[Aqualoon]

My lights shipped out this morning, so once those come in I will post up more pictures.

Something interesting to note - I actually have 14 angels in the tank now, I only plan on keeping 8 into adult hood. The reason for 14 is twofold, I read on the TAF forums about another member had better luck keeping a group of angels when overstocking them and I wanted a large group of small angels to grow out and pick which ones developed the coloration I want.

It is fun to watch a group of this size though, they school together - wouldn't of thought they would do that.

 

[decoy50]

Man I really like that sev - even in that pic I can see the turquoise on him. I bet he is a stunner in person. I'm pissed I have no space for some of them!
Good call on the LED lighting, I switched over to LEDs about 6 months ago and I'm really glad I did.

Also a good call with the extra angels. Whenever I get juvies of any fish, I always get extra so I can pick the best of the lot. IMO, its even more important with angels. I'm really picky about their fin shape - the dorsal has to be perfect, without any bends for me. Good example would be both of the pics Tom posted - really straight dorsals on those fish.

 

[decoy50]

Another good thing about getting a group of that size is it will spread out the aggression & keep bullying to a manageable level. Angels really go after each other, especially when food is in the water.