🧴Water care for a Angelfish: 24 to 28°C, pH 6 to 7.5
Angelfish : Prefer soft, slightly acidic, well-filtered water with a 25 percent weekly change. Its long fins are vulnerable to nipping: avoid fin-nipping tankmates such as some barbs.
🩺 Our hygiene and health advice stays general: it never substitutes for an examination by a veterinarian, the only person qualified to advise on your animal.
In short: 15 cm long and up to 20 cm tall, 240 to 300 L for a group, water between 24 and 28 °C. A majestic, slow cichlid, peaceful in appearance but territorial when breeding and a predator of very small fish. Its tall silhouette demands a tank at least 50 cm high; do not mix it with neons or shrimp, which it eventually eats.
The Angelfish’s water: its real parameters
The Angelfish’s water contract has four clauses: 24 to 28°C, pH between 6 to 7.5, zero detectable nitrite, nitrates capped at 25 mg/L. A drop-test kit (NO2, NO3, GH, KH, pH) beats any strip — and the nitrogen cycle, three to four weeks before any fish, is non-negotiable.
Water changes and tank upkeep
10 to 20% of the volume weekly, with water pre-heated to tank temperature: thermal shock stresses more than imperfect water, gentle substrate siphoning as you go and filter media rinsed in tank water, never under the tap: chlorine sterilises your filter.
Health: what stalks the Angelfish
Known watch-points: hexamita (hole-in-the-head) in loaded water and white spot disease after a temperature shock. Nearly every aquarium disease stems from degraded water or chronic stress: test the water BEFORE treating — medicine poured into loaded water makes everything worse. Well kept, a Angelfish lives 8 to 12 years.
Frequently asked questions
What water parameters for a Angelfish?
24 to 28°C, pH 6 to 7.5, zero nitrites and nitrates under 25 mg/L — checked with drop tests, not by eye.
How often should a Angelfish tank get water changes?
10 to 20% weekly, water brought to temperature, filter rinsed only in tank water. Consistency beats volume.
The guides that apply to you
- Changing filter media too often: the mistake that wrecks your aquarium's cycle
Why you should never replace all your filter media at once: nitrifying bacteria, replacement frequency and the right habits.
- Can You Hold an Axolotl? Handling, Risks and the Right Moves
Should you handle an axolotl? Fragile skin, protective slime coat, when and how to move it without harming or stressing it, and why to avoid taking it out of water.
- Bacterial Biofilm on Aquarium Glass and Decor: Normal or a Sign of Trouble?
A clear, slightly slimy film often appears a few days after filling a new tank. Most of the time this bacterial biofilm is perfectly normal — here's when it actually deserves concern.
- Old tank syndrome: why a sudden big water change can do harm
A long-neglected aquarium adapts to high nitrates. A sudden large water change can then shock the fish rather than help them. Understanding this risk and avoiding it.