2x Angelfish Gold - Pterophyllum scalare - DNZ

Pterophyllum scalare, the sailfin is an old acquaintance in aquaristics and has successfully established itself in the tanks of domestic aquarists since its first import around 1900. After more than 100 years in aquaristics there are now several breeding forms and colors and even today ambitious breeders still create new ones, the Golden Angelfish is one of them. Today it has a similar degree of popularity as the Neon or Guppy and is today hardly to be thought away from the aquaristics. The angelfish is a classic representative of the cichlids and has a quite large distribution area in South America. The best known are probably the occurrences in the lower Rio Negro. Further localities are also known from the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon as well as the Oyapock in French Guyana, the natural habitats here are classically the calmer shore zones of the rivers.

Our Golden Angelfish are German offspring, which you will receive in pairs.

The sexes are, especially with young animals hardly to differentiate, even with adult animals you can sometimes experience a surprise when the supposed male suddenly begins to lay eggs. A possible recognition feature to estimate the sexes would be the "beefier" appearance of the males, often in combination with a prominent hump on the "forehead". But also the females can sometimes show these characteristics, absolute certainty one has only when the animals begin with the spawning business.

If conditions are suitable and both sexes are present, regular courtship and the reproductive ritual can hardly be prevented. This is initiated by a thorough "cleaning" of the chosen spawning substrate, whereupon the female places her eggs in rows on the substrate, followed by the male giving his milk over them. In the community tank the rearing of the young is not very promising, for this it is recommended to transfer the pair into a separate tank.

It is recommended to keep them in a group of 5 animals or more, first of all to increase the probability to get both sexes for the care in the home aquarium. The  tank size should also be based on the final size of the animals: Pterophyllum scalare and its breeding forms can after all reach up to 15 cm in length and 26 cm in height, higher tanks from 60 cm are definitely advisable here. If you can meet the requirements of the angelfish, the animals have a life expectancy of about 8-10 years in the aquarium. In general, angelfish should rather be kept in larger aquariums from 300 liters, also so that the animals have enough space to get out of the way in case of possible quarrels. The planting of the tanks should be done classically with different Echinodorus species and other not too densely growing plants, because the animals need enough free swimming space. The leaves of larger sword plants also serve as a possibility for the animals to lay their eggs.

Corydoras, Ancistrus and larger tetras would be classic by-fishes in an Angelfish aquarium, here the predatory nature of the animals should be taken into account and, depending on the size of the Angelfish, only appropriately large fellow fish, especially no fin-nibbling ones, should be used. You can orientate yourself by the size of the mouth; what fits in, will sooner or later disappear in it. The question of socialization with shrimps is therefore superfluous; what seems quite peaceful with small angelfish and large Amano shrimps can quickly turn into a tragedy as the angelfish grow larger. Crayfish can also catch and injure the golden angelfish, which is why they are not well suited to the angelfish aquarium either.

The carnivorous golden angelfish can be fed prima with a high-quality dry food such as flake food or granulated food in the aquarium, it is also recommended to hand various frost foods and live foods, such as mosquito larvae, daphnia, water fleas or artemia.

Our food recommendation: The NatureHolic Cichfeed has a grain size of 1.5 mm and is therefore also suitable for larger fish. NH Cichfeed is a soft granulate for predominantly carnivorous fish. It has the same consistency as small crustaceans and insect larvae that the fish eat naturally, and the soft granules protect the fish mouth from micro injuries that can be caused by hard feed granules.

Our plant recommendation: For planting, use NatureHolic InVitros. These are free of snails, planarians and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free of algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend for fish keeping the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.