Angel Fish

Angel Fish (Pterophyllum scalare) is a popular tropical freshwater aquarium fish, and they are considered to be one of the most beautiful kind of tropical freshwater aquarium fishes. They also have a strong personality and it is a pleasure to care for them. They like to attract attention when somebody is nearby, or at feeding time. They are one of the first fish which were brought from America and they are very popular. They were brought to Europe around 1820 and in 1930 Angel Fish were bred in captivity in the United States for the first time. Because of the mentioned advantages and extraordinary look, Angelfish are highly demanded and are for sale in almost every pet shop.

They have a quite round and flat body, but their dorsal and ventral fins are long, each is almost as long as the body is. They can grow up to 15 cm vertically. There are many freshwater variants such as:

1) Golden - a light shade of yellow.
2) Silver - silver bodies and black vertical markings. They can be dark, light, solid, or broken.
3) Koi - red-white with patches of black or gold markings. Young fish can have red markings under the eye.
4) Smoky - a shade of silver on one half, and a dark grey or ebony on the other half.
5) Pearly Gold - a dazzling shade of gold.
6) Black - solid ebony.
7) Black Lace - black, but sporting wide light to dark stripes.
8) Zebra - a black body with white stripes.
9) Marble - marble-like swirls of silver and black on their bodies, black markings on their fins and some have golden patterns on their heads.
10) Blushing - a shade of white, and golden markings on their heads. Young fish can have a red marking under the eye.
11) Blue Blushing - grey in colour, outlines in black. Young fish can have a red marking under the eye. Amazing on this variety is their ability to become darker or lighter according to how they feel.
12) Veiltail - very elongated fins and they can be in many colour variants. 

Habitat

In nature Angel Fish live in the Amazon River in South America. They can be found in bulrushes where they can find shelter. They grow and live in big crowds but this fact doesn’t mean, that they can’t swim free. Because of their flat body they have no problems if they are squeezed close to each other. They come out from the bulrushes when they want to play. But when there is any sign of an enemy, they swim back into the rushes. There they are well protected, because it is like they are behind a fence, so the enemy can’t get through to them. 

Diseases

Some diseases which attack Angel Fish are:

• Exophthalmia or Pop-Eye. The symptoms are: bloody spots, tumors, body sores, black spots, loss of fins. Causes are: not enough cleaning fish wastes, infection by some parasites, bacterial infections. Another cause is worm cataracts, when the eye becomes cloudy.
• Ichthyophthirius or Ich - white spot disease. It is caused by parasites.
• Hunger Strike; lost of appetite.