Angelfish
Pterophyllum scalare
Tall, graceful South American cichlidsIntermediate
- Lifespan
- 8-12 years
- Size
- 15cm long, up to 20cm tall
- Social needs
- Group of 5-6+ when young; pairs form bonds
- Time
- Moderate
- Cost
- Medium
- Diet
- Omnivore (flakes, pellets, frozen and live foods)
Overview
What is this animal?
- The freshwater angelfish is a tall South American cichlid from the Amazon basin, known for its laterally compressed body and trailing fins.
- Despite a calm appearance, it is a cichlid with genuine territorial instincts, especially when breeding.
- Angelfish reach around 15cm long and up to 20cm tall, so they need a deep tank to accommodate their height.
- They are rewarding intermediate fish that pair-bond and breed readily in the home aquarium.
Temperament
- Angelfish are semi-aggressive cichlids that establish hierarchies and become territorial, particularly when spawning.
- Raising six or more juveniles together lets a natural pecking order and pairs form, which reduces bullying.
- Avoid keeping them with fin-nippers such as tiger barbs, or with tiny fish such as neon tetras that may be eaten.
- Suitable tankmates include larger tetras, corydoras and peaceful catfish.
- A bonded breeding pair will defend its eggs firmly and may need its own tank.
A good fit for
- Aquarists wanting a centrepiece cichlid
- Keepers interested in breeding behaviour
- Those with a tall, roomy tank
- Community keepers who avoid tiny or nippy fish
Common mistakes to avoid
- Tanks too short for their body height
- Housing with fin-nippers or bite-sized fish
- Underestimating cichlid territoriality when breeding
- Buying many juveniles without space for adults
Enclosure
Minimum 200 litres (53 US gallons) — for a group of 5
Cannot be kept alone. The minimum is 5, and the space above is for that group.
- Provide a tall, well-cycled tank of at least 200L for a small group, with enough height to suit their body shape.
- Keep water warm at 25-28C, soft to moderately hard, and slightly acidic to neutral (pH 6.5-7.5), with gentle to moderate flow.
- Decorate with tall plants, driftwood and broad leaves that mimic their flooded-forest home and provide spawning sites.
- Keep ammonia and nitrite at zero, nitrate low, and perform regular partial water changes.
- Stable, warm, clean water is essential.
Supplies
Setup
- Tank and stand
- Filter
- Heater and thermometer
- Substrate, plants and decor
- Liquid test kit
- Dechlorinator and starter supplies
Ongoing
- Quality cichlid pellet sized to your species
- Tropical flake as a secondary staple
- Frozen bloodworm, brine shrimp and daphnia
- Spirulina or vegetable flake
- Live blackworms for conditioning (optional)
- Small thawing cup
- Turkey baster for target-feeding shy fish
- Fine net for removing leftovers
Safe substrate: Inert aquarium gravel · Fine, smooth sand · Aquasoil for planted tanks
Care routine
Daily
- Check temperature and equipment
- Feed
- Head-count and look everyone over
Weekly
- Frequent partial water changeevery 3 days
- Top up evaporationevery 3 days
- Check territories and pairing
- Clean glass and clear algae
- Test the water
Monthly
- Trim and thin the plantsevery 2 weeks
- Check supplies and reagent dates
- Rinse the filter media
Less often
- Replace chemical filter media (Carbon/Purigen)every 2 months
Vet: Quarterly water and territory review — every 3 months
Top resources for more info
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Diet
- Angelfish are omnivores that do well on a varied diet built around a quality cichlid or tropical pellet and flake, supplemented with frozen and live foods such as bloodworm, brine shrimp and daphnia.
- Some plant matter rounds out their nutrition.
- Feed once or twice daily in modest amounts.
- Quality protein supports growth and colour, while variety helps bring fish into breeding condition.
- Avoid relying solely on flake, and do not overfeed, as uneaten food degrades the warm water quickly.
Health
- Angelfish are generally robust when well kept, but are prone to hole-in-the-head disease, ich, fungal infections and an angelfish-specific virus, often triggered by poor water or stress.
- Watch for clamped fins, loss of appetite and white spots.
- Maintain warm, stable, clean water and quarantine newcomers, as angelfish can carry disease without obvious symptoms.
- A varied diet and low stress keep them healthy.
- Treat ich and parasites promptly, and avoid sudden parameter swings that weaken their immune response.
Is your enclosure big enough?
Is this urgent?
In a fish tank the patient is usually the water. Test before you treat — dosing a healthy tank for a disease it does not have makes things worse.
Go now
Today
Soon
Never add a new fish to a tank that is not fully cycled, and never treat blind. A test kit is cheaper than the fish.
This is general guidance for a healthy adult, not a diagnosis. An exotics vet who knows your animal always overrides it — and the time to find one is before you need one.
What it really costs
Setup, monthly, first year and across a whole life, itemised and with the electricity worked out from the actual wattage. Published figures for the same animal disagree by a factor of four, so the calculator shows ranges rather than picking one.
Bedding and substrate
Substrate in an aquarium is a filter as much as a floor. Most of the biology lives in and on it.
Safe
With a caveat
Never
This is our general list for freshwater fish. We have not built one specific to Cichlids yet.
My kit says 0.25 ppm. Is that dangerous?
A liquid kit measures total ammonia, but only the un-ionised fraction is really toxic, and that fraction is governed by pH and temperature — each whole pH unit multiplies it roughly tenfold. So the same reading can be nearly harmless in one tank and lethal in another; this works out which one you are in.
Compare with other animals
The same axes for every animal, side by side — the way the guides are written makes that a fair comparison rather than two articles.
Cichlids, side by side
Same axes, same care guides — the honest way to choose between types.
See all Cichlids side by side →
