# Not new to the hobby, new to Angelfish



## katanamasako (Jun 29, 2012)

This morning i got a scare from my new angelfish, I've only kept angelfish since about march of this year, so i have a lot to learn. I was wondering if this had ever happened to anyone else. I turn on the light to my aquarium, and all five of my green leopard angelfish were sitting on the bottom. now. In the past, when a fish is on the bottom,e ither it's a catfish, or it's crashed out in my experience. i test the pH, it's 6.0, the ammonia and such are normal, nitrites are a little high for my tank, about 30ppm, usually it's about 25, anyway, i leave to get the bucket for a water change, come back, and all five are now swimming around perfectly normal. I think they were just sleeping, but i've never seen angelfish sleep on the bottom of the tank before. i'll include a picture of on of them so you can see that there is now nothing wrong with them, i took a picture a few minutes after i came back and saw them swimming around. My question is, Is this normal behavior, or are my angelfish hiding an issue?


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I have never seen that, and I have kept and bred angels a few times over a long enough period. I've usually had Corydoras in with them though, and maybe the catfish disturb that behavior enough that they sleep higher up. Interesting.

I would do a water change (you have a good pH for angels, but probably limited hardness and a built in tendency for pH shifts. You will have to be extra careful with making regular water changes as your water may tend to be unstable and inclined to becoming more acid). Then I would see if the behavior repeats itself regularly. 
Why? I dunno. It's just curious behavior...


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## SueD (Aug 4, 2012)

Can you explain a little more when you say "ammonia and such are normal"? What is such and what is normal? You mention that nitrites are at 30, but 25 is normal? Nitrites are toxic and should be at zero as well as ammonia. Did you mean nitrates? 

How large is this tank and was it cycled before adding 5 angelfish? What else is in there?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

It would sound like what many fish do when the lights go out, but I've never seen my Angels do that either. They usually stay about mid-level in the water. 

I agree with NB. I would test my ph a few times during the day. You may have a fluctuating ph that is causing some stress. I would also test my tap and then set aside a small sample and test it about 24hrs later to see if it changes or not. Once you have that you can compare it to what you have in your tank. Will usually show the issue if there is one.


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## katanamasako (Jun 29, 2012)

yes, i meant nitrates, ammonia was zero, nitrites were zero, sorry i get the two confused, the pH is actually fairly normal, as i have aldercones in the tank. the angelfish are all acting fine too, no stressful behavior like flicking fins, flashing, clamping, flipping out, or abnormal behavior for how they usually act. Let me clarify one more thing: they were not on their side on the bottom, they were upright, just sitting on the bottom of the tank. I have three pictus catfish that don't really b other anyone, and stay on the other side of the tank. i did do a water change already because that's my first instinct in situations like that. the water was fairly low, and i do have a bubble stone to produce current, that might make it hard for them to actually stay higher up at night, because they are very small, about half an inch long without counting fins.


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## katanamasako (Jun 29, 2012)

SueD said:


> Can you explain a little more when you say "ammonia and such are normal"? What is such and what is normal? You mention that nitrites are at 30, but 25 is normal? Nitrites are toxic and should be at zero as well as ammonia. Did you mean nitrates?
> 
> How large is this tank and was it cycled before adding 5 angelfish? What else is in there?


the tank is 55, I'm just using it to grow the angelfish up to a larger size, I have about five 40 gallon tanks i'm building for them once they reach about two inches long. the pictus are very docile, they've never harmed any angelfish, and yes, the tank was cycled, i've had it for two years.


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## WhiteGloveAquatics (Sep 3, 2009)

two of my phillipine blues sleep on the substrate but my f2 wild type hangs out in the water column all night long. Most my angels have done this over the past 20 years, the corydoras,SA bumblebee cats and my banjo cats are not an issue, Ive seen the SABB slam into the side of one of the angels at night and the angel backs up a smidge and thats that.

Its normal for a fish to rest on the bottom. however if its there in the daylight there might be an issue with the swim bladder.


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## SueD (Aug 4, 2012)

Five 40 gallon tanks, all with angels in them? - I'm jealous. I only have two in one tank and they are my favorites. They have spawned about 4 times so far and I once had free swimmers for about 3 days, until the parents started to pick them off. But it was exciting to see them get that far. 

Love the color of yours. Good luck with these.


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## katanamasako (Jun 29, 2012)

I've sorted out the problem, it's just natural sleep habits, they start moving about five minutes after the lights come on, they're not morning fish XD


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