# Angelfish Slow Growth?



## bab (Nov 8, 2008)

Hello Everyone,

I'm getting back into fishkeeping after being out of it for a few years. I have a 29-gallon planted tank with: five angelfish, six neons, two rams, four hatchetfish, and two algae eaters; three amazon swords, one hornwort, one small mondo grass, and two other plants (can't remember the name). 

I feed the fish twice daily, either high-protein flake food (regularly) or freeze-dried brine shrimp (2-3 times a week), and have an 11-hour photo period at about 0.7WPG (the tank isn't near a window). I perform 33-50% water changes weekly, using water conditioner and Leaf Zone at the recommended dosages.

I've had most of these fish for about three months know, and have noticed very little growth. My water chemistry & temp is:

NO3: 20ppm, NO2: 0ppm, GH: 150ppm, KH: 80ppm, pH: 7.2, F: 79

I realize the pH is a touch high, and the hardness is way up there for Angels. But as they are domestic Angels, I don't think those factors would be limiting their growth. They're about 2" nose-to-tail, which is about the size they were when I purchased them. I've also been fighting brown algae on my plants (which is why I added the algae eaters this week).

Why aren't my fish growing?


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

Becky is one of our resident Angel experts, she used to have a _farm_ of them. 
Aquarium Forum - View Profile: Mystique 
I've pinged her to check out the thread for you. We'll get to the bottom of this!


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## Mystique (Jun 12, 2008)

bab said:


> Hello Everyone,
> 
> I'm getting back into fishkeeping after being out of it for a few years. I have a 29-gallon planted tank with: five angelfish, six neons, two rams, four hatchetfish, and two algae eaters; three amazon swords, one hornwort, one small mondo grass, and two other plants (can't remember the name).
> 
> ...


I would feed brine often and add bloodworms. pump up the foods! lower the Ph if possible as they like soft water. plecos would be a better choice for the algae. Becky


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## bab (Nov 8, 2008)

Becky,

Will do. Thanks for the advice! I'll post back here in a couple months and let you know how it went.

/bab


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## oscarbartoni (Nov 9, 2008)

It could be that the angelfish were stunted when you got them. If they were not raised in water that was changed often enough then they may not grow well.I have 7 angelfish in a 75 gallon tank and they are growing like weeds but I got them from the breeder and I know that he was taking good care of them and so am I. I am not trying to get my half black angelfish pair to spawn and take care of their eggs (they had spawned a few times in the 75 gallon tank but the other angelfish were too much for them , now they are in a 40 gallon long tank wit a few corydoras cat to help clean out the uneaten foods.


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## archer772 (Nov 8, 2008)

Dont worry about your PH I have raised them in ph of 7.8 several times with very rapid growth. I would reduce your number to 3 for now and then to 2 if a pair forms. I would also feed 3-5 times a day with several different types of food with one being beef heart and make sure you keep up on the WC's like 10-15% per week.


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## Mystique (Jun 12, 2008)

:angel-fish:


Mystique said:


> I would feed brine often and add bloodworms. pump up the foods! lower the Ph if possible as they like soft water. plecos would be a better choice for the algae. Becky


True, they may be stunted...my first thought was more surface area is needed as we had bare 50's to get them to selling size. as they get bigger these fish will pair off and one of them will become dominant. best to keep one pair for a 29 especially if they're spawning.
as to the slow growth, increase foods and in turn, H2O changes. sexing young fish is next to impossible so in keeping 3 you have a decent chance to come out w/a pair.
it is difficult to keep a community of angels as they are still cichlids and territorial.


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## flricordia (Nov 8, 2008)

I would be glad they are not growing. That is quite an angelfish/fish load for a 29gl.


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## lohachata (Nov 8, 2008)

there are a number of things you can do to accelerate fish growth.and it applies to almost all species.when i kept angels,this was my standard routine..
temps=82.did not bother with PH or other parameters.40-50% water change twice a week.feeding was 3-4 times a day using a variety of foods..staple was flakes..also gave them Plecocaine,frozen mysis,frozen brine,frozen bloodworms and spirulina flake once a week the day before a waterchange.
here is a pic of part of one of my 75's......yeah;i know;it's a little crowded..they like it that way.you will have to pardon the dirty glass..my daughter didn't do such a good job...lol


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## Fishboydanny1 (Jun 13, 2008)

I have 9 angels in my 55 (see http://www.aquariumforum.com/f30/attention-school-project-sorta-599-new-post.html) and I do 5 gallon water changes EVERY DAY, MON. - FRI. only had them for two months, and they are already half dollar size!


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

bab said:


> Hello Everyone,
> 
> I'm getting back into fishkeeping after being out of it for a few years. I have a 29-gallon planted tank with: five angelfish, six neons, two rams, four hatchetfish, and two algae eaters; three amazon swords, one hornwort, one small mondo grass, and two other plants (can't remember the name).
> 
> ...


Do a 25% water change weekly or you can to a 5-10% water change daily. I usually do water changes often all the time and all of my fishes are starting to grow very fast.

My gold angel is fairly big right now, and I have really tall ruffle swords that the angel likes to hang out around..

I also have two other angels. I believe that one is black lace angel, and one half black angel.

So they are still fairly small when I bought them, and they are as big as my fully grown black skirt tetra. And, they are still growing well.

Lots of live plants, lots of flake food and/or blood worms are best for an angelfish diet 

Oh, and soft water and 84ºF of temperature is best for them


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

I have 3 in my 50 gal. got them in blackwater. Tank mates are 11 bolivian rams and 2 bristlenose. The 2 older angels are hitting 7 inches from the tips of the top fin to the tip of the bottom fin. The pair is laying eggs every 2 weeks. good thing the rams are in there or I would be overrun with them.


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

susankat said:


> The pair is laying eggs every 2 weeks. good thing the rams are in there or I would be overrun with them.


What do you mean by "the rams are there" do they eat the eggs?? 




susankat said:


> The 2 older angels are hitting 7 inches from the tips of the top fin to the tip of the bottom fin.


Wow 7" angels!! I heard they grow up to 6" - 6.5" but the ones in the wild are huge!! like 12"

How long did you have your angelfishes for? You must've had them for a long time xD mine aren't that big yet


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Yes the rams will eat the eggs, they will also eat any hatchlings.

I have had a pair of angels years ago that I used to breed that with the finnage almost reach 10 inches. but that was before they were so inbred as they are now. This pair here I got when they were the size of a silver dollar about 8 months ago. Size of tank, water changes and good variety of foods, and also how crowded the tank is has a lot to do with how well they grow.


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

Yeah  

I've heard about if you don't have a lot of fishes in a tank then your few fishes will grow really big.

Like, my 29 gallon doesn't have a lot of fishes, so most of the fishes I house are dwarf fishes, and the only ones that can grow up to 7 - 12" are the angels. But mine are FAR FAR FAR away from getting to that large.


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## lohachata (Nov 8, 2008)

you are the number one factor in how fast your fish will grow.. and how big they get... even in crowded conditions they can get quite large.the altum angel is the largest, reaching 20 inches from fins tip to tip...i have har a couple of pairs of angels that reached more than 16"..the female of one pair would lay about 600-800 eggs every week.i do not normally measure a fish with the fins included unless i state as such..a "big" angel should have a body diameter of at least 4 inches...and that is on the low end of "big"....and for good fin development your tank should be at least 18"........
angels should reach a body diameter of about 4" by the time it is 9 months old..(from the time it started freeswimming) 
there are 4 major factors for getting good size at a rapid rate...
temps at 82F.......feed at least 3 time a day with high quality flakes, pellets,frozen and live foods.......at least 25% water changes every other day..or 50% twice a week...once a week feed them spirulina flake.... then do not feed them at all the following day.they need to have their systems purged to avoid getting bound up...


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

Yeah I heard about Altum angels growing like that.

if you ever go to the aquatticcommunity they are just a bunch of low life crazy freaks. They don't believe that altum angels can grow bigger than 6" and some other moderator was like "you should change your about me stuff because nobody can speak 80 languages" 

Trust me you people shouldn't go there unless you want to be harassed by other people who aren't as respectful as here  I love this forum!!


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