Freshwater Fish · Cichlids

Angelfish

Pterophyllum scalare

Tall, graceful South American cichlidsIntermediate

Lifespan: 8-12 years
Size: 6 in long, up to 8 in tall
Social needs: Group of 5-6+ when young; pairs form bonds
Time: Moderate
Cost: Medium
Diet: Omnivore (flakes, pellets, frozen and live foods)

Overview

What is this animal?

The freshwater angelfish is a tall South American cichlid from the Amazon basin, known for its laterally compressed body and trailing fins.
Despite a calm appearance, it is a cichlid with genuine territorial instincts, especially when breeding.

Angelfish reach around 6 in long and up to 8 in tall, so they need a deep tank to accommodate their height.
They are rewarding intermediate fish that pair-bond and breed readily in the home aquarium.

Temperament

Angelfish are semi-aggressive cichlids that establish hierarchies and become territorial, particularly when spawning.
Raising six or more juveniles together lets a natural pecking order and pairs form, which reduces bullying.

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Avoid keeping them with fin-nippers such as tiger barbs, or with tiny fish such as neon tetras that may be eaten.
Suitable tankmates include larger tetras, corydoras and peaceful catfish.
A bonded breeding pair will defend its eggs firmly and may need its own tank.

A good fit for

Aquarists wanting a centrepiece cichlid
Keepers interested in breeding behaviour
Those with a tall, roomy tank
Community keepers who avoid tiny or nippy fish

Common mistakes to avoid

Tanks too short for their body height
Housing with fin-nippers or bite-sized fish
Underestimating cichlid territoriality when breeding
Buying many juveniles without space for adults

Enclosure

Minimum 63 gallons, for a group of 5

Cannot be kept alone. The minimum is 5, and the space above is for that group.

Provide a tall, well-cycled tank of at least 63 US gallons for a small group, at least 4 ft long and 20 in tall, the size Practical Fishkeeping gives for a group; a standard 75-gallon tank qualifies, and a 55-gallon tank falls short on volume.
Keep water warm at 77-82°F, soft to moderately hard, and slightly acidic to neutral (pH 6.5-7.5), with gentle to moderate flow.

Decorate with tall plants, driftwood and broad leaves that mimic their flooded-forest home and provide spawning sites.

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Keep ammonia and nitrite at zero, nitrate low, and perform regular partial water changes.
Stable, warm, clean water is essential.

Check your enclosure

Supplies

Setup

Tank and stand
Filter
Heater and thermometer
Substrate, plants and decor
Liquid test kit
Dechlorinator and starter supplies

Ongoing

Quality cichlid pellet sized to your species
Tropical flake as a secondary staple
Frozen bloodworm, brine shrimp and daphnia
Spirulina or vegetable flake
Live blackworms for conditioning (optional)

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Small thawing cup
Turkey baster for target-feeding shy fish
Fine net for removing leftovers

Safe substrate: Fine, smooth sand · Smooth, rounded fine gravel (not for loaches or sand-sifting cichlids; sand is better for corydoras) · Bare bottom (quarantine and grow-out only)

Work out the cost

Care routine

Daily

Check temperature and equipment
Feed
Head-count and look everyone over

Every few days

Top up evaporationevery 3 days

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Weekly

Check territories and pairing
Partial water change, 25-30% weekly (discus: several changes a week)
Test the water
Wipe the front glass only

Every few weeks

Trim and thin the plantsevery 2 weeks

Monthly

Check supplies and reagent dates
Replace or recharge chemical media, if you use any (skip it in a blackwater tank)
Rinse the filter media

Health review: Quarterly water and territory review, every 3 months

Tools

Is your enclosure big enough?Check your measurements against the recommended size What will it cost?Setup, monthly and over its whole life, itemised Is this ammonia reading dangerous?Works out the toxic part from your pH and temperature

Care in depth

Diet

Omnivore (flakes, pellets, frozen and live foods)

Angelfish are omnivores that do well on a varied diet built around a quality cichlid or tropical pellet and flake, supplemented with frozen and live foods such as bloodworm, brine shrimp and daphnia.
Some plant matter rounds out their nutrition.

Feed once or twice daily in modest amounts.
Quality protein supports growth and colour, while variety helps bring fish into breeding condition.
Avoid relying solely on flake, and do not overfeed, as uneaten food degrades the warm water quickly.

Health

Signs of good health, and the common problems

Angelfish are generally robust when well kept, but are prone to hole-in-the-head disease, ich, fungal infections and an angelfish-specific virus, often triggered by poor water or stress.
Watch for clamped fins, loss of appetite and white spots.

Maintain warm, stable, clean water and quarantine newcomers, as angelfish can carry disease without obvious symptoms.
A varied diet and low stress keep them healthy.
Treat ich and parasites promptly, and avoid sudden parameter swings that weaken their immune response.

Is this urgent?

6 warning signs and how fast to act, 3 of them right away

In a fish tank the patient is usually the water. Test before you treat: dosing a healthy tank for a disease it does not have makes things worse.

Go now

Any detectable ammonia or nitrite in a stocked tankLarge water change now with dechlorinated, temperature-matched water. Stop feeding. Test again in 12 hours. Both are directly toxic. How toxic the ammonia reading is depends on pH and temperature, so the same number can be harmless or lethal.

Now

Fish gasping at the surface with fast gill movement, or crowding the filter outflowIncrease surface movement now (gently in a betta or gourami tank, without creating a strong current), then test the water. Either the oxygen has crashed or the gills are being chemically burned. Both are hours-scale problems. Bettas, gouramis and corydoras rise to gulp air as part of normal breathing; the warning is constant gulping, fast gill movement, or the whole group hanging at the top.

Now

Sudden deaths, more than one fish in a dayTest ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and temperature before doing anything else. Do not add medication yet. Multiple simultaneous deaths usually point at the water or the equipment rather than a pathogen, so rule those out first.

Now

Today

Flashing: repeatedly scraping against decor or substrateTest the water, then look closely for parasites. Irritation is either chemical or parasitic; the test tells you which before you medicate.

Today

White salt-grain spots over the body and finsBegin the appropriate treatment today and check the temperature. The parasite's life cycle is temperature-driven, and it multiplies with every cycle you wait.

Today

Soon

Clamped fins, hiding, or refusing food for more than two daysTest the water and review recent changes. Usually the earliest visible sign of a parameter drifting.

A few days

Never add a new fish to a tank that is not fully cycled, and never treat blind. A test kit is cheaper than the fish.

This is general guidance for a healthy adult, not a diagnosis. An exotics vet who knows your animal always overrides it, and the time to find one is before you need one.

Bedding and substrate

3 safe, 4 with a caveat, 2 to avoid

Substrate in an aquarium is a filter as much as a floor. Most of the biology lives in and on it.

Safe

Fine, smooth sandCorrect for corydoras, kuhli loaches, eartheaters such as rams and acaras, and anything else that sifts or burrows. Barbels wear away on sharp gravel.

safe

Smooth, rounded fine gravel (not for loaches or sand-sifting cichlids; sand is better for corydoras)Rinse thoroughly before use. Grain size should be too large to swallow and too small to trap food. Kuhli loaches need sand to burrow into and rams and acaras sift mouthfuls of it; bronze and panda corydoras manage on smooth fine gravel, but sterbai corydoras need sand.

safe

Bare bottom (quarantine and grow-out only)Legitimate for quarantine and grow-out tanks. Easy to clean, but it holds far less biological filtration, and it is no long-term home for burrowing loaches or sand-sifters.

safe

With a caveat

Crushed coral or aragoniteDeliberately raises hardness and pH. Correct for rift-lake cichlids, wrong for soft-water species.

with a caveat

Aquasoil for planted tanksExcellent for plants, but most active soils soften the water and pull pH and KH down for months, and many leach ammonia for the first weeks. Right for soft-water species; wrong for hard-water animals (livebearers, rainbowfish, goldfish, and snails, whose shells erode in soft, acidic water) unless you test GH and KH and remineralise. Cycle around it; do not stock into it.

with a caveat

Very deep sand bedsAnaerobic pockets form below about 2 inches in still sand. Either keep it shallow or keep it stirred.

with a caveat

Painted or coated gravelUsually fine, but coatings chip. Test a handful in a jar for a week first.

with a caveat

Never

Sharp or angular gravel with bottom-dwellersWears down barbels and leads to infection in corydoras and loaches.

never

Anything containing metal, limestone of unknown origin, or shells in a soft-water tankSlowly alters chemistry in ways that are hard to diagnose later.

never

This is our general list for freshwater fish. We have not built one specific to Cichlids yet.

Top resources for more info

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