# Angelfish feeding



## No.92 (May 1, 2016)

General rule of thumb is that you feed them what they can eat in a 3 minute period. If there is food after 3 minutes of feeding then you are giving them too much. I only feed my fish twice a day so you can stick with that if you like.


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## Doogy262 (Aug 11, 2013)

Angel fish are like my dog a black lab who always acts hungry.I have two in different tanks because of the aggression and they will eat anytime you feed them but that is obviously a bad idea,try freeze dried black worms as well as flakes.i have a discus tank that I feed frozen beef heart and always save a little for the hogs and they love it.When young maybe best to feed them often but small amounts.


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## patfat (Oct 23, 2015)

No.92 said:


> General rule of thumb is that you feed them what they can eat in a 3 minute period. If there is food after 3 minutes of feeding then you are giving them too much. I only feed my fish twice a day so you can stick with that if you like.


well I have always followed that rule but these guys just keep swimming to the top or just searching and searching for food lol


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## ichy (Apr 6, 2015)

Don't fall for it! They will trick you into feeding them every time you come into the room!
They will eat until they are barrels with fins!

I feed mine once a day and skip every 4th day. I alternate between flake and frozen foods. In two months mine have about doubled in size.


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## patfat (Oct 23, 2015)

Doogy262 said:


> Angel fish are like my dog a black lab who always acts hungry.I have two in different tanks because of the aggression and they will eat anytime you feed them but that is obviously a bad idea,try freeze dried black worms as well as flakes.i have a discus tank that I feed frozen beef heart and always save a little for the hogs and they love it.When young maybe best to feed them often but small amounts.


I have some left over freeze dried blood worms from my nephews betta fish..work the same way?? None of my other fish like to eat the stuff though so I am not sure if the food is good or bad or if they just dont like it..havent tried it on the angels though!! 




ichy said:


> Don't fall for it! They will trick you into feeding them every time you come into the room!
> They will eat until they are barrels with fins!
> 
> I feed mine once a day and skip every 4th day. I alternate between flake and frozen foods. In two months mine have about doubled in size.



hahah hilarious!! ya I have noticed now every time I come into the living room now those little suckers come out of hiding and right to the front of the glass swimming back and forth and to the top!!

I have never tried frozen food...and I have tried freeze dried blood worms but none of my fish like the stuff...havent tried it on the angels though...but good to know that take my time with feeding them!!


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

How you feed may depend on how busy and what fits your schedule. I'm here so I often feed really young fish more often. The same as we do with human babies? But they will almost always know who feeds them and want more. Part of being a more advanced fish is knowing more about their surroundings. 
At some point, you will have to resist the urge to feed them more as they will not stop begging. Just part of the genes to eat at any time if it is available as that is not true in nature.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Watch their tummy's, you can tell if they had enough food by the bulge.
Remember lots of feeding goes with lots of water changes....if you want them to grow fast.


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## lksdrinker (Feb 12, 2014)

I've picked up juvenile angels from breeders on several occasions and have treated them different with very different outcomes. I essentially purchased them at about the same time (a week or two apart) and they were all pretty tiny with bodies the size of a quarter or smaller. Now they're all about 1 year old or a bit more by now. The first ones I got were put in a planted tank and get fed daily with the occasional day skipped here and there. They now look like pretty decent healthy angels and I have no complaints. I's say their bodies are maybe silver dollar sized or a bit bigger (maybe a standard chips ahoy cookie size lol). The other group were put in a bare bottom tank and I treat them as I do juvenile discus. Feed with an auto feeder 4 times a day and supplemented with something like freeze dried blackworms or frozen beefheart once or twice a day (most days) with daily water changes at the beginning and now more like every other to every third day. These guys are HUGE! I'd say the bodies are easily the size of a human fist and if measured from tip of the fins top to bottom I say easily 6-8 inches plus.


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## mooncon1 (Oct 12, 2011)

What iksdrinker said,i keep discus and angels and they like the same thing as the discus do lots of food and clean water so that means lots of water changes and as always clean up any excess food.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

This is as true for discus as it is for even a guppy. Nitrates stunts growth, very few fish can recover lost growth even if conditions are improved later. Swordtails for example are able to play catch up when they have less than ideal starts.


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## patfat (Oct 23, 2015)

thank you everyone for the advice and experiences with angelfishes...I think I'll stick with the 2 a day feedings since i got a planted tank and i dont want to mess with water chemistry in excess nutrients..i just whipped up some DIY food last night that I got from one of those aquarium boxes that gets sent to your home which is supposed have tones of good stuff to make fish grow and other things..any who ill throw one of those in every other few days and go from there with it..right now there about the size of a nickel or a quarter..once i get home from work ill take a couple of photos of them..I honestly have feel in love with the little guys they being so active..Its actually making my acara be jealous and making him come out to the front of the glass more then ever now hah!! Where I read that angels do that to other fish which is fine with me lol..my acara swims with them and does no harm so thats another good sign


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## WhiteRaven (Apr 12, 2016)

I was hoping to put some angels in my 55ga as my centerpiece fish. I really wanted discus but don't have the time for all the water changes and feeding of the young. So angels were my second choice. Now it seems I need to do that many water changes any way for optimal health? It seems unfair to stunt them. I'd really like the experience of raising the angels rather than buying adults.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

The thing is, you do this for 3 months, and you are going to have angels the size other people have at 6 months plus.
Even better if you can prevent breeding until they are two years old. Again as an example, swordtails grow much faster and bigger when kept separate from the opposite sex, as all energy goes into feeding.

Babies need many small meals a day, because they have tiny tummies.

When they are grown out, they can hold a lot of food, and a single decent meal will be sufficient.


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## WhiteRaven (Apr 12, 2016)

Nordic said:


> The thing is, you do this for 3 months, and you are going to have angels the size other people have at 6 months plus.
> Even better if you can prevent breeding until they are two years old. Again as an example, swordtails grow much faster and bigger when kept separate from the opposite sex, as all energy goes into feeding.
> 
> Babies need many small meals a day, because they have tiny tummies.
> ...


How long should one use a grow out tank before transferring them to the main display tank? What size tank should I need to grow our 5 angels?


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

The bigger the tank, the more stable the water parameters. That being said, Tank height is quite important. I would use at least 1.5 to 2' deep tanks, deeper if you have the resources. Now, it doesn't make sense financially to keep 5 or 6 baby angels on their own in a 4' tank, so try and use some common sense, maybe buy a few extra ( if you can find good quality) you can always sell them off when they reach decent size. People pay a premium for larger angels and even more for proven breeding pairs (i.e. having at least 1 successful spawn with healthy fry). Alternatively scale your tanks as the fish grow. Do your research first into what constitute a good quality angel, both in terms of colouration and fins. (there are basically 3 branches of angels - phillipine, altum and scalare)

Small tanks have the benefit that a small amount of food seems more concentrated and easier to find for baby fish.

The fish farm I got some of my angels from used 55gals for growout tanks, but I use the term loosely as you have seen how small people sell angles these days. Don't move your angels around until they are at least pea sized.


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## Avianwing (Dec 15, 2009)

A lovely Angel fish tank I came cross; burning with envy 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua8_65gT1AM


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Some days I hate them, some days I love them.
My angel fry started free swimming today... well, the eggs I didn't smash when I dropped the egg tile on its face.


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## lksdrinker (Feb 12, 2014)

Nordic said:


> well, the eggs I didn't smash when I dropped the egg tile on its face.


Whoops! I've also wondered why angel breeders use the slate/tile as opposed to a cone like most discus breeders? Everyone has always told me they never drop the slate nor does it ever slip or slide and fall on its own!...seems impossible!


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

Lol, you come and try and find a cone here. I would need to spend 5 minutes explaining what the hell I'm talking about every time.

The slate was doing great, until I decided I was going to change some water using a clumsy siphon while paying more attention to the carpet than the tank.

Judging by how fragile the fry are post hatching, I think the cover from currents provided by the tile is chosen by the parents. It is quite a transition from the day before free swimming. Yesterday I thought mine were sick or something, they just looked so hopeless. Today they are chasing BBS.


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## TINNGG (Mar 9, 2005)

One can try whatever one wants but angels are opinionated and will use what they see fit. I have a female who strongly prefers sword leaves. I think she spawned once on a slate. Most of mine prefer an upright tube - like you know, the intake to your filter (face palm). Fortunately, I have a spare intake. Ran into someone whose pair used the magna float. I currently have a pair of geniuses who used the heater CORD.

ETA, it isn't easy to keep a female from spawning. In trying to do so, you risk her becoming egg bound. Just something to keep an eye on in attempts for really huge angels.


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## ichy (Apr 6, 2015)

WhiteRaven said:


> I was hoping to put some angels in my 55ga as my centerpiece fish. I really wanted discus but don't have the time for all the water changes and feeding of the young. So angels were my second choice. Now it seems I need to do that many water changes any way for optimal health? It seems unfair to stunt them. I'd really like the experience of raising the angels rather than buying adults.


AngelFish don't need nearly the amount of water changes that discus do.
If you have good filtration and stick to normal aquarium practices angels will do just fine.
I have 10 angels in a 50 with an internal coast to coast skimmer into a big sump. I change water every other week and my angles are perfectly happy.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

I sometimes stretch two weeks, any more and you can see the burns on their fins.


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## patfat (Oct 23, 2015)

Well I'm glad this thread kept progressing further into another subject...luckily the two I got from my LFS was from a breeder in the area..her pair had a really good spawn since the tank at the store had at least 40 little dudes spilt into two tanks..then going on to water changes knowing that my weekly water changes for the tank will be ok for the Angels makes my day haha!! I was starting to plan a routine of doing a water change mid week on my weekly water changes!! Again great information being put out!


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