Couple questions on angelfish

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EBJD

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Simple enough question for the first one, what foods do angelfish tend to enjoy most, and what is most nutritional for them?

Secondly what size can I expect common angelfish to get? (the ones found in any lfs)
There is a very nice lfs about an hour away that I will have to go to for the rams and apistos, so will look there as well if there are any specialty species to look for, I want the angels to be the main star of this "show" tank

Tank mates will be many mixed tetras, apistos, rams, Cory cats, maybe some swordtails? L series pleco? Otos? and I'm planning on 8-10 angels (120 gallon)

Tank is probably 1-2 months away from setting up(I have some media from a 55 to jumpstart) and adding fish so just chalk this up to research
 

NoahLikesFish

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1. Small food, gold pearls brine shrimp flakes vibra bites they should have high nutrients but small food so don’t do like pellets or anything really, the best foods would be frozen and things like gold pearls 2, don’t do apistos or rams in low ph unless though, you could try apistogramma borellei and Bolivian rams, also you don’t wanna have like 5 species of apisto in one tank as it isn’t natural.
 

Wyomingite

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Typical domestic-strain angels will have a body diameter between 3 and 4 inches, with another 2-1/2 to 4 inches each for the dorsal fin and anal fins and another 1-1/2 to 2 inches for the tail. A lot of this will vary based on the quality of the fish, variety and to some extent the individual (just like not all people are the same size). As for feeding, I've always fed my angels a good quality flake food as a base, small floating pellets, a variety of frozen foods and live food occasionally, especially when trying to get them into breeding condition.

Wild caught angels can be quite a bit larger, just FYI (even though you didn't ask).

Most apistos and both types of rams actually do best in slightly acidic water, with a good pH range of 6.0 to 7.5. Some species of apistos actually live in and do well at a pH below that range. I think common sense generally suggests not to try multiple species of apistos in a single tank.

If your going to keep angels, select your tetras carefully. Quite a few tetra species will nip at the angel's long fins.

Blue rams (Mikrogeophagus ramirezi) and their color variants can be difficult to maintain. They can be picky about water parameters. Bolivian rams (Mikrogeophagus altispinosa) are supposed to be a lot more forgiving, but I've honestly never kept them so that's based on general research and not experience.

WYite
 

NoahLikesFish

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Typical domestic-strain angels will have a body diameter between 3 and 4 inches, with another 2-1/2 to 4 inches each for the dorsal fin and anal fins and another 1-1/2 to 2 inches for the tail. A lot of this will vary based on the quality of the fish, variety and to some extent the individual (just like not all people are the same size). As for feeding, I've always fed my angels a good quality flake food as a base, small floating pellets, a variety of frozen foods and live food occasionally, especially when trying to get them into breeding condition.

Wild caught angels can be quite a bit larger, just FYI (even though you didn't ask).

Most apistos and both types of rams actually do best in slightly acidic water, with a good pH range of 6.0 to 7.5. Some species of apistos actually live in and do well at a pH below that range. I think common sense generally suggests not to try multiple species of apistos in a single tank.

If your going to keep angels, select your tetras carefully. Quite a few tetra species will nip at the angel's long fins.

Blue rams (Mikrogeophagus ramirezi) and their color variants can be difficult to maintain. They can be picky about water parameters. Bolivian rams (Mikrogeophagus altispinosa) are supposed to be a lot more forgiving, but I've honestly never kept them so that's based on general research and not experience.

WYite
+1 German and blue rams are super dramatic, Bolivian rams are basically tiny geophageus but they don’t eat substrate, apistogramma borellei are as hardy if not hardier than Bolivian rams and can go like 6-8.5 like 50-90 degrees and like 5-30 hardness
 
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jake72

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Male angels seem to be 1 to 2 inches larger than female angels and just eyeballing i would say the females are running around 3 inches for the body and the males 4 to 5. I'm just estimating by looking at the ones i have and haven't taken a ruler to them. Mine love shrimp pellets and bug bites and oddly they really go after flakes (i tried to stop feeding them flakes for 3 months because it is a bit messy). They are not esp fond of nls and krill pellets - not sure it is the best thing for them but they are quite fond of frozen bloodworms. Also from time to time they will go after the zuc i put in for the pleco and they love nipping at each other.
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The angels i raised from frys seem to be a bit larger than their parents and perhaps a bit more passive.
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Also angels will go after any tetra they can fit in their mouth so avoid small and young streamline tetra unless the angles are young. Cardinals are borderline with angels the triangular tetra (white fin rosy (or candy), serpae , black/white phantom, ...) are safer - black neon are a bit larger than cardinals - neon smaller - ember no chance.
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Rams require 82 min temp and prefer 84 also soft water (tds 50 is a good target); bolivian are hardier and more temperate so probably better tank mates with angels but not as spectacular. Rams are more likely kept with discus than angels but it can be done. I'm partial to gold rams (a colour morph not found in the wild)
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Apisto - there are 100+ species with different behavior and requirements - some quite hardy in clear water others require blackwater for long term survival. Temp range from cool to warm to hot (if we consider 82+ hot) depending on specific species. I have a special liking for Hongsloi and Nijjensi -the Niijensi are more demanding. trifasciata, borelli, cockatoo among others are quite hardy. I'm not a fan of my cockatoo and will not go that route again.
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Another dwarf cichlid i quite like are nannacara (golden eye). Not the splashiest fish but a lot of personality.
 
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NoahLikesFish

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nannacara are jerks if you want dwarf chiclids in hard water and high ph you are basically restricted to Bolivian rams celithacara and lateacara kribensis apistogramma borelli and a few other apisto i forgot
 
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jake72

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If you get a pair of Kribs they can be quite aggressive at least mine were by far teh most aggressive fish in my tank. Even solo females can be a bit aggressive establishing territories. Another dwarf cichlid that is known to be relatively peaceful is flag cichlid. Also i'll stand by the statement that the nannacara would be fine with angels and most tetras. All the dwarf cichlid will chase the cory out of their territory if you get a pair - solo males are less of an issue. Borelli have a reputation of being fine - my kribs loved to bite the tails off of cories and guppies. Careful to not over fill the 120 - i have a 120 with 11 angels and 22 cardinals (I do not recommend cardinals with angels) along with a number of other fishes - this is what i ended up with:

1.jpg
 
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Wyomingite

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nannacara are jerks if you want dwarf chiclids in hard water and high ph you are basically restricted to Bolivian rams celithacara and lateacara kribensis apistogramma borelli and a few other apisto i forgot
Nannacara anomala is a great fish, and highly adaptable, from clear, hard water, high pH, coastal streams to soft, low pH, inland streams and pools in the Iwokrama forest. They breed easily and have a great personality, like Jake said. Their colors are subtle, but all in all they're a good all around fish. A good-sized keyhole male will hit 5" easily and hardly qualifies as a dwarf cichlid in my book, ad though they're hardy and adaptable, hard water as such is not their default. Laetacara curviceps and L. dorsiger are hardy and easy enough to care for. I've never kept any of the others. Laetacara in general can be hard to find. Jake alreagy laid out what I wasn't going to take the time to say about apistos. I just laid out the very basics, but there is a lot of variety and a wide tolerance for varying condition by species.

WYite
 
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jake72

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One correction - i think there are some varieties of the flag cichlid that can run close to 8 inches but the standard size is 4. Not sure about that.... so double check.
 
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Wyomingite

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One correction - i think there are some varieties of the flag cichlid that can run close to 8 inches but the standard size is 4. Not sure about that.... so double check.
By flag cichlids are you talking about the festivums, Mesonauta spp. (that's what we call flag cichlids in this part of the country)? If so you're right. The different species range from 4' to 8".

WYite
 
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