New Angelfish In The Tank...with A Story And Some Advice Needed :)

HI all -
I decided a while ago that I'd like two Angelfish as a feature fish in my 38 gallon tank. I went back and forth with a breeder - there is a lot to the story that I don't need to share, but long story short - he moved and had a lot of fish die - I only wanted 2 young ones, he suggested getting 4 and waiting for them to pair off and he'd take them back - because so many died, he gave me his last 6. I don't have room for 6 Some pics are attached - does anyone have any specifics based on what you see? Once I post the pics, I'll do an immediate follow up post regarding the pics you see

James

 

Pic 73 - A closeup of the biggest (about 1 1/2 inches). Is it possible to sex him yet?
Pic 80/81 - a few just swimming to see them - I think they are beautiful
Pic 82 - The smallest only has one eye. I didn't notice that until today, but I'm guessing he came like that. I'm guessing the fish world is "Only the strong survive" - is there something I should do with him?
85 - I got a closeup of the small guys actual eye - it's the big closeup you see (I was trying to make sure I wasn't seeing things).

I now have 6 fish in a tank that will only have room for 2. Hopefully, someone on here is local enough to want some and will take the remainder off of my hands.

QUESTION:
- At about what size/age do they pair off? It seems they have formed two minI schools - one of four swimmers and one of two, but I'm assuming that the 1 inch ones don't yet pair off?

Thanks I'm glad to have Angelfish in the family

James

 

Those guys look very tiny. So obviously far too soon to try and sex them. In fact, they look small enough that they might benefit from some freshly hatched baby brine shrimp. Which is what I feed my babies and juviniles.

When giving the size of angelfish, the best way to do that is to compare their body size only, to a coin. Like Dime sized, or quarter sized. Body only.

Are you sure the smallest one only has one eye? And not just one black eye and one white/silver eye?

They will not start pairing off until they are 8-12 months old. Sometimes they can be as small as a half dollar and start spawning. It's more of an age thing than a size thing. Do you know how old they are?

When you decide to rehome 4 of them, you have lots of options. The methods I have used are local fish stores, local fish groups, craigslist and facebook.

 

I will also add you have two that have bent analfins in the pictures, which doesn't look like they are able to spread them, these shouldn't be allowed to pair and breed.

They look tiny and like they need small foods like bbs. I'd say they are right at nickel size?

 

Some great info here, thanks!

A few follow-ups:
- I didn't know that it was possible to have two different eyes for fish - I will check a little closer on the small guy to make sure there are actually two there...
-Regarding food - I have flakes and brine shrimp...it's not fresh, basically bought it at PetSmart or one of those. Is that adequate? If not, is there somewhere special I'd have to go to get a more 'fresh' product?
- When you say I shouldn't let them breed, I'm guessing it would be better to rehome them as solo's? I'm concerned that my tank balance may be out of whack since I can only really have two at max size. Would it be best to rehome only two and keep four, and once two of them pair I can rehome the last two? I've never considered breeding before...I'm not dying to breed them, I just want to make sure the two I keep get along and are compatible with the other members of the tank.

Thanks so much for the comments and advice so far

James

 

If you are only looking for a male/female pair so that they "get along" and are "compatible with other members of the tank", you aren't going to accomplish what you are hoping. They will spawn every couple weeks and be very aggressive with any other tank mates they have in their efforts to protect their spawns. A breeding pair will make your tank far from peaceful. Not only that, but quite often, breeding pairs get "divorced" over time and start attacking each other and can be known to murder their mate. Its just not the scenario people are making it out to be when they suggest a breeding pair for compatibility reasons.

A pair of males would actually be better if breeding isn't your goal. And I agree with Mcasella ...they don't look like stock you should really be breeding anyway.

As for the eyes, yes, they can also be red, or gold, or silver or black etc. And it is very common for their eyes to be different colors. If that guy has no eye, you would see a hole there....or an indent of some kind.

I suggested BABY brine shrimp because those fish are small. The frozen adult brine shrimp would likely be too big for them still. You just want to make sure they get lots of protein in their diets. It doesn't HAVE to be live baby brine shrimp. That is more critical when they are in their first month or two of life.