Tank Set for the Angel

[Impudence12]

Coworker gave us a tank or 2, if we adopt her (huge) angel. I quickly set it up. The wood could be roots, and there's plenty of tall plants, so I think it's pretty decent for what an angel wants. One problem is the water is like 7.5 instead of slightly acidic (which I heard was what an angel needs) Anyway to adjust that naturally? The wood might lower the PH, but it's been soaking, and hasn't been bleeding more tannins out recently (altho that longer tendril was out of the water the whole time so it's making the wood not settle right, hence the mug)

What do you guys think?

It's 32 gal tall with a 70 aquaclear and a 20 aquaclear on the back. I've been cultivating that java fern for a while so I'm a bit proud of myself, I bought it as 1 rhizome, with 4-5 leaves on it. The rest are random swords from petco.

[scott-kim]

Looks good. Try to find out what your coworkers pH was and go from there.

[Star_Rider]

just to clarify. angels do not need slightly acidic water. more specifically Domestic Angels.

Angles raised and bred in captivity have adjusted to higher pH. 7.5 is not that bad..I have seen angels raised in pH much higher(in the 8's)

more important is what is the pH of the water they are coming from..if it's close to the pH of your water you should be fine..if it's not you may need to acclimate the angel more slowly.

that said..larger adult angels do not transport as well as younger angels.

so keep a watchful eye out .

btw, I have one of those driftwood logs like that with javafern..it has filled in so much you can't see the wood and gives a ton of plantlets

[Impudence12]

She said to let her know and she'll bring it over. What should I tell her about transporting it?

[Star_Rider]

the big thing seems to be stress from capture..make sure it has plenty of water..that way you can test the water and the more water the easier it is to keep the water stable for transport.. how far away(how long) is this person?
do you know how old the angel is?

[Impudence12]

my girlfriend has been over there and she describes it as a very large angel, body being as big as her hand with huge tendrils. Not sure how much is exaggerated since I haven't been over there. (I plan to go and check the water etc some time soon tho) I do know this lady has kept angels for some time, at least a couple years. This one is the last one she has left, the rest have died of old age and she didn't replace them. She's 15-20 mins away.

[Star_Rider]

'ventral' fins ;)

they can get really large I have seen angels hit 11-12" with a 7" body..they can live over 10 years.

the big thing is catching it and minimizing stress.

[Rbishop]

If possible, test their water when you go over.

Depending on their tank, try to trap it in a large container vice netting it.

I like your tank set up.

[Coler]

^ that's how I'd go about it - the net is stress.

Very pretty tank set up by the way.

[wataugachicken]

don't worry about the pH, just acclimate slowly as you would any new fish.

[DavidZ]

If that her last angel why not get the whole set up, less stress on the fish???

[Star_Rider]

you would still need to move the angel out to transport. and the tank would also need most of the water out.
the stress would be virtually the same.