New to Angelfish

[Alicia]

Ok. I have wanted Angelfish for a long time. After doing a lot of reading on here, I made my 72 gallon bow front to be just for Angelfish. Today I went to Petsmart and bought 2 Black Marble Angles (very pretty) and planted my tank for them too. Right now they are both just hanging out in the back corner of my tank and from what I have read on here they are just afraid and this should pass... how long could this be and will they eat while they are doing this? Also, is it possible for me to have too much light in my tank for them? I have about 120 wats because of my plants. They are in a 72 gallon bow front tank and the temp is 77 degrees.

[Slappy*McFish]

Give them a couple of days to adjust. They're probably just frightened and stressed. I don't think it's too much light at all but you can dim or turn off the lights for a day or so during this time (the plants should be fine.)
Frozen blood worms would be a good food to start them on and to bring them out of hiding. Can you post a pic of your setup?

[Alicia]

Here are a few pics. I posted some of these over on the planted tanks forum too. It looks kind of plain right now, I am hoping to put more in it in the next couple of weeks to make it look better. Plus, the plants will grow out eventually :)

[Slappy*McFish]

They certainly have plenty of room. ;) Try putting a dark background on there, as well.
The plants in the back are plastic right? I'm guessing the sword plants may not do as well in the large gravel but you might be able to add some sand to it for their root systems along with some root tabs if you haven't already. Overall, it looks like your angels have a great home to grow out in.

[lilim10]

Not sure if too much light's a problem, but adding a background would be nice. They look like they have a lot of room; are you planning on adding anything else?

[Alicia]

Added root tabs when I added the plants :) How do I add sand when the tank is already full?

I was thinking about adding about 3 more Angles this week if it is possible. Otherwise, I don't know what else I am going to add yet. I haven't really thought about it; and be honest, I don't really want anything else yet.

[Slappy*McFish]

How do I add sand when the tank is already full?

Very carefully..lol. Seriously though, it's easier to do with the water level down and using your gravel vac as a funnel. Scoop the sand up with the big end of the vac and slowly pour it directly over the gravel. I've done it in both fresh and salt tanks while the fish were still in there without too much issue. :) I'm afraid it would require quite a bit of sand, however. Probably at least 25 lbs, though 50 lbs would be better. I'd probably remove some of the gravel to make room. That's entirely up to you, though. Another option would be to plant the swords in pots.

[Alicia]

Yeah, I think I will wait to do the whole sand thing until my fish adjust a little bit better lol. I think that I will put the swords in pots for now and put sand under my rocks in a couple of months. I think that the pottted plants would look unique :) One question about doing the plants in the pots though... Do I add the root tabs to the pots?

I will get a background, just not too sure what kind I want. I don't know if I want a solid color or if I want an aquascape looking one.

[BettaFishMommy]

definitely go with a solid colour background! being that your angels are dark you might want to go with a lighter colour backing, such as blue or a really nice light sage green. i have a light green background (my kiddo's construction paper, lol) on my lil betta tank and it looks great!

[Slappy*McFish]

I'm a big fan of green backgrounds. ;)

[Alicia]

I can ado light colors :) Thank you for all of your advice :) I really appreciate it :)