BACK AFTER A LONG ABSENCE

Hi It's Helen aka endlessendlers again.

I sold all my tanks and angels a couple of years ago in favour of breeding hamsters and as soon as I did, I regretted it.

So, I bought a used Juwel 180 only to find it was leaking. Anyhow I've successfully resealed it and now have 2 X Sunset Angel, 1 X Paraiba Angel and 3 x platy in residence.

I'm not going to be breeding, this is purely for relaxation purposes.

I hope I'll be a valuable member of this community and will help wherever possible.

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/yob38cca8w41vcj/AAASvM7oGjmByDZ1TC-SkVlNa

Angels look great.

Hamsters? Really?

frapadoodle wrote: Angels look great.

Hamsters? Really?

Yes. Hard work. Can't breed females until 6 months and they can only have two litters!

No more hamster breeding now though. They are all OAP'S.

d'aww those little angels are well cute, I can already see they are gonna be really stunning fish. Best of luck with them and nice to have you back

Akasha wrote:d'aww those little angels are well cute, I can already see they are gonna be really stunning fish. Best of luck with them and nice to have you back

Thanks. I think they have a great body shape.

I'm sure they'll turn out perfect. They look lovely now! I hope to see lots more photo's of them growing up. I really enjoyed watching mine grow up and watching how much they changed as they grew

Welcome back moderator!

Thankfully, in your absence, the forum hasn't been invaded by too many idiots, just me really

I'm sure you'll really enjoy keeping your new angelfish and think you've made a good pet choice :-)

lol Dean ... and there was me thinking I was the village idiot lol

Yes. It's been so long since I was on here that I'd almost forgotten I was a Mod. Lol. You'd all best behave now Helen is back.

Akasha wrote:I'm sure they'll turn out perfect. They look lovely now! I hope to see lots more photo's of them growing up. I really enjoyed watching mine grow up and watching how much they changed as they grew

Yes, I'm lucky I found a good small breeder very close to home.  

I'm hoping to get a baby Koi from him in the near future and a Blue Eyed Lemon Ancistrus or two also.

I agree Akasha.  It's great to watch them grow. You never quite know how they're going to turn out.

The Angels are eating well and seem very active.  I'll keep posting up-to-date pics.

endlessendlers wrote:Yes, I'm lucky I found a good small breeder very close to home.

Yes you are!

For some... angel fish (if they're in stock) are only distinguishable by their body shape, fins aren't high on the agenda or even considered a requirement in some cases. If I wanted a discus, I'd buy one!

Deans_Angels wrote:

endlessendlers wrote:Yes, I'm lucky I found a good small breeder very close to home.

Yes you are!

For some... angel fish (if they're in stock) are only distinguishable by their body shape, fins aren't high on the agenda or even considered a requirement in some cases. If I wanted a discus, I'd buy one!  

You're right Dean. Good fns are very important. These three have nice, straight fins. I've noticed quite a Few American Veils have dorsal fins with a very noticeable bend in the top! Personally, I don't like it.

I wish I'd spent more time checking the fins on my angels cos if I had I might have noticed that my male has a wonky one. One of his side fins (sorry I'm no good at remembering the names for all the fins) points upwards and he can't move it. The other one is fine and it doesn't bother him and so it doesn't bother me. I just wish I'd seen it when I bought him.

It was a lack of experience on my part and so there's no wonder you see angels in stores with defects. If I didn't notice something wasn't right then it's unlikely most other prospective owners will. It's only the really experienced like you guys on here that bother about checking all is perfect

That's the thing Akasha. If you're inexperienced you wouldn't necessarily notice these imperfections. What does matter is that you're not bothered by your angel's little quirks.

If a fish has a wonky fin it doesn't really affect the fish unless you'd want it as a breeder. Some fin imperfections are caused by water quality as a fish is growing up and you could use it as a breeder, but obviously if it's genetic you can't. The only problem is until you breed it you won't know.

I've had no luck breeding my two at all. I'm now of the mind that - if it happens it happens, if it doesn't I'm not bothered. I'm not into breeding seriously. I don't have the space for one thing - I'm also not up for all the water changing and messing about when I'm not really well enough for it.

IF they have some babies then I'll take care of them - I'm currently taking care of a baby fish that appeared from nowhere. I have him and so I'll raise him the best I can. But I can't do that week in week out, as a one off it's fine.

I have no idea if this fin problem is genetic - the female is fine. I got 4 originally from the same source though and there was one other angel that had the exact same problem but with BOTH side fins. She did struggle to swim a little. I had to re-home her and the other 'spare' female when my smokies paired up and things started turning too aggressive.

What will be, will be

I think your attitude is spot on.  Don't actively breed Angels, but if it happens,  deal with it.  After all, no one could just let fry die without trying to help.

Akasha wrote:What will be, will be

Que sera, sera.

Aye, the flappers (pectoral fins) can be the easiest not to check, they're usually (always?) see-through and have to be viewed on a different angle to all the others. That said, it's worth checking the long feelers (ventral fins) from the front too, firstly to check that there are two, but also to make sure they're angled evenly in an inverted 'V' shape...

...what I mean by this is that sometimes a ventral can head straight down and the other one sticks out to the side, so it's the same inverted 'V' shape, but rotated. It doesn't seem to affect the fish swimming, but is still a defect.

Viewing the fish head on is always a good idea, to check for any unusual lumps and bumps on its body, but also, you can check that its other fins are vertical, that is, in line with its body and not set on a weird angle or even curved or bent.

It's too late now, as you have the fish, but in future, you will most likely look twice, or three or four times.
Anyway, we're all still learning Akasha, picking a good fish is only a small part of fish keeping. The best place to pick your own fish, is from those you've just raised. You can be sure of getting the best 10%.

my male smokey was fully grown before I even noticed his wonky fin. Before that point I'd taken tons of photo's of him and still not noticed. I only noticed when I was up close taking photo's (or trying to!) and he turned a certain way and then I noticed his wonky fin. Once I had noticed I couldn't believe I hadn't seen it before! As you say though Dean - they are see through and so not something obvious.
The rest of the fins are fine on both the female and the male. The ventrals look perfect (to me anyway) both sit straight and don't stick out. Both have nicks to their dorsals though but that's self inflicted damage and I can do nothing about it - beyond seperating them!

I won't be having any more angels. So there will never be an opportunity to scrutinise a possible new addition. I like the pair I have but there are other cichlids out there that I'd like to try in the future. I'm interested in Discus and also Severums. I also drool over Apistogramma Hongsloi's

I have a mental 'want list' but too little space to bring any of it into fruition at the moment. Give me time though

You could always try hamsters for a year or so, but I know you'd be back - right Helen?

Deans_Angels wrote:You could always try hamsters for a year or so, but I know you'd be back - right Helen?

Darn right Dean.

I've had two hamsters - both silver satin grey's, both males. The first one was a dream - he would sit on your lap and watch telly with you. The second one got re-named within a week. I re-named it Tootles cos it had completely lost it's marbles. I think it might have had a blow to the head or something. It was mental. It would climb to the top of it's cage, go to the middle bar and hook it's teeth around it and start swinging back and forth!! Mental. It was also vicious and refused to be tamed. It wasn't just the bars it swung from - it swung from my fingers several times! That hamster was enough to scare anyone off ever keeping them again.

I think I'll stick with the dog and the fish thanks lol