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Here is a pretty poor picture of our new tank mates. At this point I would have to say that I recommend AngelsPlus with no hesitation whatsoever. The owner (Steve) is very responsive and provides a great service to people desiring Angelfish of greater diversity and higher quality than you would find in your LFS (local fish store).

I went so far as to order some food from Steve today. It will greatly benefit the koi angels as they will loose their orange coloring over time if their diet is not up to snuff.

I’m going to read up a little on fish photography, re-install my backdrop and take some more pictures later. I still have to catch my marble and silver pearlscale on film.

The angelfish arrived as advertised today. I followed the instructions provided by the owner (Steve) explicitly.

The new additions acclimated very well. I am very happy with my purchase.

I would recommend Angels Plus without a moments hesitation. They are as advertised. If anything they over delivered.

For some reason I found an extra ‘koi’ angel in my bag. I emailed Steve to let him know. These angelfish are far and away better than anything I have ever encountered in a local fish store. Steve’s website warns buyers to expect fish that are rather small. This was not the case for me. I would say that the smallest fish I received was ‘nickel’ sized. Most were ‘quarter’ and one was ‘half dollar’ in size.

I hope these angels last a long time in my tank. I will try to catch some pictures of them this weekend.

Today I placed my order for mail order Angelfish. I ordered the following:

1 – Dark Marble Angelfish

1 – Silver Pearlscale Angelfish

2 – Silver Angelfish

1 – Koi Angelfish

I would host the pictures from the site directly but I did not get permission from the owner to do so. The images are pretty small so take a look.

They will be shipped tomorrow and should arrive Friday via UPS next day air. I will shoot straight home from work on Friday and take some pictures of getting them in the tank.

photo credit: Andy Isoft, isoft@kbb.ru

Last Thursday we added our second group of fish to the tank. It was interesting to watch the new neons explore the tank. I’ve never purchased this many of one type of fish before. As a group they moved from end to end of the tank and within the next hour they were exhibiting many of the signs tetras will display when spawning. I was surprised to see this as our water is supposed to be harder than what a neon tetra prefers. I will be very surprised to see fry. Between the 12 neons and 11 black neons I’m guessing any eggs were gobbled up quickly.

I’m debating adding one more type of tetra before placing the order for the angelfish. I’m going to read up this afternoon and possibly buy the last tetras tonight. I’m looking for a tetra that will occupy the mid-range of the tank. The black neons hang out at the top and the neon tetras school along the bottom. I also want to be certain that this last group of tetras is on the peaceful side. If I can’t find one that fits my criteria then we may just move on to the next type of fish.

This means that in as little as one week I will be shopping at Angels Plus for our angelfish. This company specializes in breeding angelfish. I’ve never ordered from them before. However, they have been in business for several years so I trust in their breeding stock.

Last weekend I cleaned out my 55 gallon freshwater fish tank and moved it from the workshop side of the basement into the Man Room. First I emptied the tank, drug it outside and scrubbed it. I rinsed off the existing gravel. I wiped down the stand, placed the tank on top of it and leveled it. I then placed the rinsed gravel and several smooth rocks on the bottom of the tank. I cleaned out my canister filter and reloaded it with fresh Ammo Carb. After the two younger guys were in bed Son #1 and I filled the tank with fresh water, set the heaters, set the light, restarted the filter and walked away for 48 hours.

As soon as I got home from work last night we all piled into the van and headed out to one of three local fish stores. This was supposed to be an exploratory expedition. After visiting the other two it became pretty clear that this would be the place to purchase our fish. The tanks were very clean, prices clearly marked and the fish seemed lively according to their species.

Son #1 decided that Black Neon Tetras would be the first new residents of our tank (I did not take this photo):

Eleven of these guys currently inhabit our tank. They are schooling quite nicely. Their presence results in a very small amount of movement in the tank. We plan to add another 10-12 of two other species of tetra to the tank bringing the total number of tetras in the tank to roughly 30.

Once all of the tetras are in place we will at 4-5 angelfish to complete the tank. When we purchase the Angels they will be on the smaller side. This will keep them from intimidating the tetras. By the time they are mature they will get along nicely with their tank mates.

I’m a firm believer in the theory of keeping similar types of fish together. For that reason we will stay away from some of the faster moving or aggressive species of fish. I also will not overstock the tank. Many people will keep far too many fish requiring massive water changes to keep water quality to an acceptable level. Light feedings coupled with smaller numbers of smaller fish can make keeping an aquarium and easy to enjoy hobby.

I spent some time downstairs watching the fish after all of the guys were in bed. What struck me as amazing is the lifespan of the filter I am using to keep this tank clean. This ties back into my thoughts regarding keeping the hobby simple to enjoy.

While expensive (over $180.00 wholesale) this filter has run almost continuously since 1995. At 251 gallons per hour this pump has moved over 1,187,330,400 gallons since I plugged it in. What is truly amazing is this pump has required NO maintenance whatsoever other than changing the media. An amazing piece of engineering to say the least!

If you are thinking about getting into this hobby, don’t go cheap on the filter, go with something like my Eheim, you won’t regret it.