Angels - what's your opinion?

[equinom]

Hey guys - My 30 gal tall is ready for fishes. I plan on nothing but angels in there (plus a few corys). I have been reading up on these guys, and before I go shopping I would like opinions on what to get: silvers, veil tails, black, etc.
And what do you consider a decent price - for a small and a more mature fish. I'm not looking to breed them so I don't need a mating pair. I am planning on getting about 6. What do you think?

 

[420Loach]

well idk about great prices but i got mine for around 50 cents each, but they were all babies. start with babies and you get to witness their growth

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Start with small ones.

I personally would do all "flavors" gives the tank differnt patterns.

 

[AmazonTankz]

If you plan on getting 6 I certainly hope that they will be babies.

Personally I love DD(double dark) Blacks and Half Blacks. Kois are also very nice. Also, you can't beat a regular silver angel, especially if they have red eyes like most silvers and HB's do.
There are many different types, and unfortunatly most petstores only sell them in "assorted angel" tanks where most people never learn the real type of the fish.

I would look around for a LFS reather then a LPS to get more types of angels. I paid $6 for my silver as a juvenile, and $4.00 to $6.00 on the others also as juveniles. My local chain petstore sells there dime to quarter size angels for $3.49 but most are not healthy and again they are sold as "assorted". Spend the extra money and get a good quality fish.

I like veil tails but they are more sensitive to water current and my be weaker in general. Right now I have 2 DD Blacks standerd tail, 2 Kois 1 standerd 1 veil, 1 adult silver(who is very impressive with his long tail) and a single half black. These are not all in the same tank. Theres nothing better then to see an adult veil angels with little to no ripps in their fins. Very impressive but difficult to acheive. Good luck!

 

[Igor The Cat]

post pics when its bult

-Java

 

[wayne]

Be aware that you will almost certainly end up with a breeding pair anyway if you grow out 6, but that shouldn't be too big a problem. Give the aquascaping a vertical orientation and it'll look great.

 

[equinom]

As far as the vertical aquascaping - this tank had no other way to go but up! It isn't very wide, but quite tall.

It has a java moss covered piece of drift wood about 24" tall, quite a few pieces of slate - with java moss coming from around the rocks, and a few small spiral vals at the bottom. And for a variation in color I have a few wisteria thrown in. The substrate is a uniform natural tan. The background matches the aquascaping very closely. Once I have the fish I'll look into a floating, hanging plant - any suggestions there? I have an 18 watt on there (sorry, don't know the total wattage for the tank) and currently there is no CO2, but that can be easily changed.

Out of all my tanks I like the cichlid ones the best.

From what I read I figured that I could end up with a pair, but I wasn't going to make an effort to purchase a pair. I don't have the space for a tank to grow those little guys up - and hubby has drawn the line (no more tanks). And I don't like the idea of having the fish spawn simply to feed the fry to my other fish. I understand thats how it goes in nature, but I don't want to do it.

As far as watching them mature, I have had the pleasure of watching a dozen albino tiger barbs grow from about 1/4 inch to over 3/4 inch. Yes - there are still pretty small but so much fun to watch.

I never get live stock from a chain - as in Petsmart. I'm lucky enough to have 6 LFSs within 10 miles from home, 1 of them I have an arrangement where I supply him with a few plants and he trades me store credit.

 

[Carsloverjcl]

The taller the better. I just recently got a new Angelfish at PetSmart. It was a marble. The one I had died of heat when the blackout took out the Northeast in 9 secs. LOL. I'm now considering a 20 Xtra High tank just for the fish maybe another. I now have a standard 10 gallon. The 20 gallon is 24 inches tall. I have the perfect place for that.

 

[Davy]

I hope you don't plan on a 30g with 6 full grown angels in it. They get way to big and you will likely end up with a pair or two. The pair or pairs will never stop attacking the others and it will be WW3 in there. I love angels but plan on only 1 for my 29g. I wish I could have a pair but there is nowhere to buy a pair and I don't have room to let 6 pair off by themselves.

My favorite angels are the natural silver angels. I also like the blacks but not as much as silvers. My angel is a silver but has two more stripes than the natural ones. It looks like he also has red or orange on his dorsal fin.

Mine was $5 at my local Petsmart. I know Petsmart is not the best but the nearest fish store is 45 min. away. Medium sized ones were $8.

 

[equinom]

How about...

After a bit of shopping, reading, etc I have decided on 4 regular silver and black angels. The ones I'll get - hopefully this evening - have bodies larger than a quarter but smaller than a half dollar. Price: $2.50

That particular shop has low prices all the time - and I know when they get their livestock shipments. My hesitation about this place is the store, itself, is not the cleanest shop in the world - and the wife of this mom and pop store must be related to Shrek - such an ogre!
The tanks are O.K., my 2 nephews get their marine fish here and no where else. So I guess I'll drop $10 for 4 angels and see what happens.

 

[AmazonTankz]

Well, its all up to you....how do the fish look?
The only LFS in a 60m radius around here is small and stuffy but the owner is extremly knowledgable and lots of his fish are bred by him in his house. His fish are also always heathly. He bred the angels I mentioned above. I sold him a pair of gold marbles a while ago and I always get the feeling that he took them home, andsome of the babies at the shop are theirs....its kinda neat to know exactly were your fish came from.