Tuesday, November 20, 2012

A Siamese Angel

This is a rare blue Siamese angel.

I received this male a few months ago with several other blue angels and a group of koi angels.

As he had grown (he is now around 7 inches tall) the base of his fins are very vivid ice blue. They then turn to black as they stretch toward the ends.

He has selected this blue angel as his mate. They hang out together and have chosen one corner of the 60-gallon tank as their honeymoon suite. They have not laid eggs yet but may in the coming weeks.

What kind of habitat do angels have in the wild?

They generally live in brackish waters near the roots of trees. They eat smaller fish (such as neons and cardinal tetras) and plants. They also love bloodworms and any kind of fish eggs. Caviar!

But most angels sold in shops today are tank bred. The wild angel, also known as the altum angel, is very difficult to keep alive in fish tanks.

You can tell if a grown angel is from a tank or from a breeding pond by the way it acts around humans. I once bought four angels from breeding ponds and it took weeks before they were unafraid. They were used to swimming where there were no glass walls - and they were not accustomed to humans.

In contrast, the angel babies I am raising come to the glass when I approach because they know it's probably feeding time!