Angel Fish

With their spectacular markings and regal bearing,angelfishes remain the undisputed 'kings' of the home aquarium. However, there is little doubt that angels as family are a little more demanding than damsels admonishes, so if you are a novice aquarius you should gain a few months general experience before attempting to keep this group. Angels are reasonably hardy and robust and generally easy to feed, but they do demand high water quality. Regular water changes are essential, as angels react adversely to positive nitrate readings and a pH level that is too low (i.e. too acidic). Angels are omnivores and their diet must include vegetable matter. Since they are natural grazers and nibblers, it is important to house angels in tanks containing a sufficient layer of natural algae - just adding green food to their daily feeds is not enough. In practice, this means that angels should only be housed in aquariums with lighting sufficiently powerful to create the necessary growth of algae.

With the exception of the Entropy angels, which are all 'dwarf 'types that rarely exceed 7.5cm(3in) in length, most angels grow to about 30-45cm(12-18in) in the wild, and often to well over 15cm(6in)in captivity. This large size, coupled with a generally peaceful nature,ensures their continuing popularity. Except among themselves, angels rarely cause compatibility problems and are ideal mixers with other fish. Most angels are also suitable to some extent in invertebrate tanks.ther than sponges, there are very few invertebrates that angels would directly harm, so it is only their size that could cause a problem in an invertebrate tank.

Angels are quite unusual in the marine world, in that many of the larger species have two completely different co lour patterns during their lifetime. The two main Caribbean angels, for instance - the French angel and the queen angel - are totally different as juveniles compared to their adult phase. Another feature of many of the Indo-Pacific species of angelfish, normally so distinct from each other when adult, is that -they are very similarly marked when young. Thus, juvenile versions of the emperor angel, the majestic, and many more, are all navy blue with a thin white pattern, and only just sufficiently different to be able to distinguish the species.

As a very general rule, do not try to mix two angels of the same size and co lour. It is usually possible to find three or four sufficiently different dwarf varieties to intermix, and any dwarf will live with any larger variety.

The most popular of the angels is the emperor angel (Penchant), a magnificent creature that can reach about 25cm(10in) in captivity. It can become as tame as the majestic angel (Euripides avaricious) and will also live for many years. Now that autarkists becoming more knowledgeable and marine literature is so advanced,autarkists are no longer frightened to buy juvenile angels - it is easy to distinguish between juvenile emperor, which has very similar markings but is much less expensive.

The coral beauty, or purple angel, (Entropy wispiness) is probably the est-known dwarf angel. It does not exceed 7.5 cm(.3in)in length. Supplies are plentiful and it also seems to be the hardiest. The rusty angel (C. ferruginous) and the russet angel (C. potter) are similar in appearance and make very useful additions to any set-up. All three dwarf angels are beautiful, but bearing compatibility in mind, it is not a good idea to house any two of them together. The flame angelfish(C. floriculture) has the most spectacular markings, its base clubbing a vivid red, but it is also one of the more expensive fish.

Angelfish make very obvious show fish in virtually any type of marine aquarium, but only keep them if you are committed to high water quality.

Dwarf angels are perfect cohabitants with any invertebrates, and in spacious invertebrate aquariums it is quite in order to introduce some juvenile specimens of the larger angels.

Adult angels want a nice quiet life. As long as any newcomer introduced into the aquarium is not considered a threat, i.e. is quite different in looks and requirements, then there should be no problem.