Question on Angel size

[Xielos]

I currently have an old Angel fish (the one in my avatar) thats about 5 years old. She is 4" long and about as high, and I was wondering is this is considered "large". I was the pet store today and I saw 3" Angels labled as "large" going for $12, and ones labled "small" for $3. The small ones were about the size of a quarter. Now my question is, are the "small" ones just babies and will eventualy get as big as my current one, or is that they're full-grown size?

[mooman]

all angels should reach six inches (snout to tip of tail) when full grown.

[Dangerdoll]

I agree, there's no such thing as a small angel that stays small. I suppose that the sale for larges and smalls were just noting on the sizes they had available, not considering their full grown size.

[TipStylez]

dont they get bigger when you put them in a bigger tank?

Mine was only 1inch all around when it was in my 10gal, then i put him in my 30gal a few weeks later and it grew so quick in only 2months, being about 4 inches and havent grown any bigger since.

[ghinksmon]

Xielos,

A tank larger than 20 gal would help your angel attain it's full size but at 4 yrs old it may be too late for this fellow. In a previous post you mentioned he is the only inhabitant? Have you not had success with other fish? Angels do need room to develope to their full potential especially their fins. An angel could potentially be as tall as a 20 gal. (long) tank.

As for the "small" angels they're only young. Given enough room, good food and quality water angels will get to a body length of +/- 4" then their fins go well beyond that.

[Xielos]

Thanks for clearing that up for me :idea2:

Well, I haven't bought a fish in 3 years. The last fish I bought was a black angelfish with silver splotches and one yellow streak on its front, but sadly she died just a month and a half ago, right before I moved to a new house. I had her in a 2.5 gallon tank with my current angelfish, becuase I really had no where else to put them. I used to have a 10 gallon I would have used, but my dad sold it in a garage sale with out telling me :mad:. I had only planned them to be in that tiny thing for a max of 3 days untill I moved and I could re-set up my 20 gal, but problems with the house forced me to leave them in there for over a week, and the black one died the day before I moved in. :(

[Xielos]

One more question - If I get some new baby angels and put them in the same tank as my 4" angel, will they get along or is that a recipe for disaster?

[ghinksmon]

I'd expect the senior to trash the little ones.

[HanZsvo2]

Genrally Angels are peacefull fish but like any cichlid they will be territorial from time to time in my opinion if there's enough room and hiding spots the little one's will be able to take shelter intill the adult Angel gets use to them...