Angelfish
Angelfish are a very beautiful and vibrant semi-disc shaped fish. Depending on the sub-species, they can either live alone or in small groups. Angelfish species enjoy lots of shelter and coral overhangs in a saltwater aquarium environment.
Most angelfish exhibit territorial tendencies towards their own species. If your tank is 100 gallons or less limit your aquarium to only one Angelfish.
Diet
A standard Angelfish diet can consist of mussels, brine shrimp, and chopped up cooked vegetable matter. Different angelfish species might have differreing diet requirements, so you do further research on the best diet for the particular species you are keeping.
Angelfish Species
There are a number of different reef Angelfish. Some of the more popular Angelfish species for your saltwater aquarium include:
- Regal Angelfish
- Singapore Angelfish
- Young Blueface Angelfish
- Black Velvet Angelfish
- Rock Beauty Angelfish
- Astur Angelfish
- Queen Angelfish
- African Angelfish
- Annularis Angelfish
- Purple Moon Angelfish
- Emperor Angelfish
- Majestic Angelfish
- French Angelfish
- Raccoon Angelfish
- Gray Poma Angelfish
- Flagfin Angelfish
- Lamarck Angelfish
One of the easier Angelfish species to keep is the Singapore Angelfish (Chaetodonplus Mesoleucus). The Black Velvet Angelfish (Chaetodonplus Melanosoma) also is a hardy Angelfish which can be kept with other species, but is territorial against its own. It enjoys tubifex worms and will graze on algae.
The Queen Angelfish is for experienced aquarists only. Their water requirements are demanding and even juveniles are highly territorial. They enjoy a diet rich in brine shrimp, sponges, algae, and mussels.
One of the largest and most impressive reef Angelfish is the Purple Moon Angelfish. Growing up to 30cm long, it enjoys feeding on sponges and coral. If you have a tank full of coral as they will eat it.
Even larger is the Raccoon Angelfish (Pomacanthus Semicirculatus) which can grow to 40cm. They are a striking fish with beautiful curving lines. They enjoy a varied diet of shrimps, fish pieces, tubifex worms, algae, lettuce, mussels, nereis and riccia.
Angelfish make a colorful and interesting addition to a saltwater aquarium. They can be a challenging fish to keep so you should have experience with medium to difficult fish before adding an Angelfish. Because they are territorial you will want to begin with one fish only, although most will mix fine with other species.
Only buy fish from reputable sellers to ensure that you are getting healthy species which have preferably been bred in captivity, as the worldwide trade in marine fish species is causing a rapid decline in the wild of many species.
