[FuzzyCrawdad]

I have three freshwater angelfish, that I've had for a while now (about a month). In that time they've gone from all looking like marbles to looking like marbles with other traits (such as threadfin). They've also increased their body size quite a bit. However, I don't know their age, and I was wondering if there is a way to guesstimate their ages based on body size? Their bodies are roughly the size of a solver dollar coin (the big ones).

I have pictures, too, if that helps.

 

[Nordic]

Hard to guess, somewhere around 6 month to a year?
Did you know the orange colour they display is not their own pigments, but carotenoids they get from food.
So, you can colour them up really nicely with the correct staple.

 

[FuzzyCrawdad]

I did not know that, thank you for informing me. I feed them homemade Gel food, tropical flakes, and ground up color-enhancing cichlid pellets. I'll have to remember to add paprika in my next batch.

 

[lksdrinker]

I did not know that, thank you for informing me. I feed them homemade Gel food, tropical flakes, and ground up color-enhancing cichlid pellets. I'll have to remember to add paprika in my next batch.

The color enhancing cichlid pellet is likely already enhancing the color of these cichlids!

About how big were they when you bought them a month ago? Silver dollar sized is far from their full potential so they likely still have some growing left (that is unless they were already quite old when you purchased them). I think the 6 month estimate sounds about right to me with no other info to go by.

 

[Nordic]

Getting angels as small as possible is good. It maximises your potential to grow them out big...
Treat them like discus.

 

[_alex_]

Ours is around 7 years old. My wife got from her previous job. Was at a senior home in a 29 gal for 4-5 years. Been with us now going on 3 years. So we are guessing 7-9 years.


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[FuzzyCrawdad]

Most likely! But color-enhancing gel food wouldn't hurt 'em. They don't seem to like it much, but Gabriel, Uriel, and Michael are spoiled little angelfish.

These guys were between nickel and quarter sized when I got them. There's a fair size difference between silver dollar and nickel/quarter, I'm surprised it's taken me this long to tell they've gotten larger. Haven't missed Michael's threads!

 

[PlantedRich]

Getting them when really small is really the best if you want to grow them to full potential. That probably means they were not kept in small/ crowded tanks which can limit their size. That is part of the reason telling age by size is so much guesswork. I like to feed my fish a variety of things and they will like some far more than others. Even to the point of refusing some things until the get the preferred! Don't do that! Thinking of what variety they will find in nature may help see all the different things they may like. At their size, I would definitely look at some form of brine shrimp whether freeze dried, frozen, or live. I find frozen to be a good compromise between ease of feeding and quality.

 

[Bushkill]

Store-bought angels are pretty close to impossible to age. Cramped quarters usually slows down their growth depending on the wholesaler. But since yours have grown noticeably in a short time, my guess would be between 6 and 8 months at silver dollar size. Probably closer to 8. Wholesalers don't keep fish to grow them out. They demand too much space, cost infinitely more to ship and don't take to shipping as adults very well at all. Most if not all the fish you see in a LFS at that size are coming from private breeders. So many hybrids out there now, it's virtually impossible to tell what genetics a fish carries now. Yours look to be nice examples of Gold Marbles. While color enhancers help (blood worms, beefheart), they won't lose that gold coloring across the head completely. Many color variants will change colors over time: Smokeys will lose a large percentage of the dark smokey patches and Koi will usually show larger patches of white at mid-body.

 

[FuzzyCrawdad]

My LFS's stock sells fast. I just hope that I don't lend any to them being stunted in keeping them in the tank they're in. I currently have no income so I can't afford to purchase, set up, and cycle the larger tank I intend to put them in.

I had been feeding them frozen brine shrimp, I'd hold the block under the surface and they'd eat it from my fingers, but I thought maybe if I stopped they wouldn't view my shrimp as food. Then I realized that's stupid because angels are predators (though they started off terrified of my black skirts) so I resumed their shrimpy treats.

I'm not ultra worried about breed. There are some traits I can pick out, but I'm sure I'll still be able to sell fry if these breed. If I find a breed I'm dead set on, I'll find a breeder.

I guess my age question will be narrowed down if one of these ends up a female and they spawn. Then I'll know they're most likely 10-12 months, correct?

 

[Nordic]

its not the tank that stunts them... it is excess nitrogen in its many forms.
Feed well, keep discus quality water, use a large tank to stabilise parameters, and they will grow... much faster than expected. (oh and keep them from breeding).

If you breed, and don't want to specialise in a pure strain, use mixed angels....and sort the fry out by appearance afterwards, this way you get a few types of angels from a single spawn.
(trick I learned from a fish farmer).

 

[FuzzyCrawdad]

I plan on getting a couple more angels when I have an income again, which I'm sure will make the larger tank nicer, I'll just be on the lookout for some really nice ones. Definitely a veil. Mixed spawning and sorting out fry later does sound a bit easier, thank you for the tip!

 

[Avianwing]

I have 6 angels in my tank; a small platinum angel which has been in the tank for about 10 months and 4 golden and 1 tinfoil angels I had added a month ago. Unfortunately 3 other angels i had added died off within about 10 days of adding them- possibly aggression. Is it wise to add new angels to and existing group of angels.

My tank is 4 by 2 by 2 and besides the angels there are 6 Boesemani rainbows-1 male and 5 females and BN Pleco.

Please do give your thoughts.

 

[FuzzyCrawdad]

From what I understand, add angels that are much smaller or much larger than your existing stock, and do it during something that's confusing for your stock, or feed yours when you add the new fish so they're more focused on something else. If they're much smaller they are faster and can fit in hiding places the others can't, if they're much larger then they can hold their own.

But perhaps someone more knowledgeable can yae/nay this.

 

[Avianwing]

Hi Fuzzy Crawdad

Thanks for the suggestion. I had intuitively guessed about the larger ones which can be introduced because they can hold their own but did not think about the converse. Also I assume it would better to introduce new angels in trios or more rather than as individuals which could get picked on. Would love to hear more from people who have had 10+ angels in their tank.

cheers

 

[Nordic]

I wouldn't add them during feeding, that is when my angels are at their most aggressive.

 

[FuzzyCrawdad]

Probably not during feeding, then. Better safe than sorry!

I don't know if my (arch)angels are weird or if I just got lucky. I added in a fourth angel that's approximately the size of a quarter, not hugely smaller than my other three, and within three hours Lucifer (new mostly-white marble) went from cowering in the corner to swimming around with them as if they were old chums.

I guess it's dependent on the fish, as always, though I might've helped temporarily mask its entry since I put it in after removing a raphael catfish (requiring partial temporary tank rearranging) and doing a water change.

If you decide to get more, I hope everything goes well for you!

 

[Nordic]

My black angels get completely ignored, but they do look ominous.

 

[FuzzyCrawdad]

I'd love to have some completely black angels. Specifically veils. I'm a sucker for impressive finnage on fish.

My eventual plans, way in the future when I'm rich, is to have a 6' cube tank (1600 gallons) for angels and the large array of dithers planned. Hopefully the four I have now will live to see it, but I know for a fact I will definitely have some black veil angels in that tank.

 

[Avianwing]

I'd love to have some completely black angels.

.

Who doesn't? Definitely the most beautiful of all Angels and Arguably the most beautiful Freshwater Aquarium fish that is out there.

Bump: I guess introducing them during the course of a water change may be good because the resident territory gets disturbed and the fish are also a bit disoriented.