Dying Angelfish

[Andy Sager]

Here in VA a few of my privately owned lfs have almost baseball sized angels. I saw some black veils that really caught my eye! They were gorgeous!

The larger chain stores out here only sell the quarter sized ones.

Yes, when I was in Va Beach last year, I say a variety of larger fish that I would have liked to take with me but because I was driving them back to FL, I needed to stay with smaller fish. Selection for that size however was minimal

 

[Dallascowboys16]

I have never had this issuer in the Denver area. All of the angels sold at my LFS are all at least half dollar size and a few quarter size. I'm glad I don't have to deal with being forced to purchase fish almost destined to die.

 

[Andy Sager]

I have never had this issuer in the Denver area. All of the angels sold at my LFS are all at least half dollar size and a few quarter size. I'm glad I don't have to deal with being forced to purchase fish almost destined to die.

I understand but wouldn't it be nice to have a "small" Angelfish that didn't cost so much yet still have the odds in their favor for surviving? This would open up many more newer hobbyists who don't want to spend say, $6, $8, $10 per fish to the specie.
Before I started breeding Angels, I always enjoyed watching my small fish grow into large fish. Many other hobbyists feel this same way. It develops a sense of accomplishment within the hobbyist as well as teaching the hobbyist about making a stable, sound environment to make this happen. I believe we need to have "small" fish available again that have better odds of being able to do that. That will help grow the hobby as well as have a greater effect on the natural world we live in. Many naturalists or scientists I'm sure, started out as either tree enthusiasts, or rock enthusiasts or fish enthusiasts, etc. They spent the time to learn what the item of interest does, or did, or how it got there, etc. Understanding HOW things survive will better enable those, willing to do the work, keep the planet alive. ( IMO )

 

[Angelbreeder]

It's normally the move that kills small angels, or food bein fed that's to large ,lights too strong, properly cared for they all have the same chance of survival

 

[Andy Sager]

It's normally the move that kills small angels, or food bein fed that's to large ,lights too strong, properly cared for they all have the same chance of survival

I would agree with you on the moving part but this experiment was done without moving the fry and they were fed proper foods. In my own experience and current breeding program, I am having small numbers of deaths of younger fry by self infliction. By that I mean, when I diagnosed the dead fish, I saw that they had over eaten and had huge guts filled with brine shrimp. These would, I'm sure, be catagorized as "Natural Deaths" in the experiment. There was no way to prevent this, the other fish didn't lose food because of it, and they were all in perfectly shaped with no missing parts so predation by their siblings can be ruled out. Then again, in another batch of small Angels, I had the first death in almost a month occur yesterday. These fish all feed like pigs ( so to speak) and the dead fish was full bodied but not bloated and the eyes had been eaten by other fish in the tank. Again, this would have to be considered a "natural" death.

But again, even with the best of conditions, not all fry become free swimming. Why not? What makes 20% ( arbitrary number) of a spawn go through the experience of hatching, absorbing their yolk sac, then never become free swimming when 80% of the spawn does? My theory: It's in the genes.

 

[Tommy10]

At my LPS the angels are awesome they had a koi angels, and many other gorgeous angels all about ping pong ball to golf ball size here's the one i just picked up