I USE ANGEL FLAKE mail ordered from Angels Plus at www.angelsplus.com/food.htm, only $9 per pound, for juveniles and adults, or $37.50 for 5 pounds. I transfer it from the plastic bag to coffee cans, when the first batch attracted mice. I also feed Brine Shrimp flake as an occasional treat.
Feed once or twice daily, only what is consumed in 5 minutes. Healthy angels will beg when they're not hungry, and won't digest excessive food. I might drop in a flake or two when they act real cute. Siphon off any excess, or your water will cloud. Healthy fish can go a week without feeding when you're on vacation. Never allow feeding by anyone who won't be around to siphon off the excess. You could leave pre-measured portions for your fish-sitter.
Some breeders use frozen brine shrimp, beef heart, mosquito larvae, daphnia, etc. I find these a bother, and not really necessary. For a treat, I slice a frozen shrimp into small bits and feed them from my fingers. I store leftover shrimp in a zip-lock bag, excluding air to avoid freezer burn. Avoid live wild food, or you may introduce dangerous parasites.
FRY SURVIVE BEST on live, newly hatched brine shrimp (Artemia nauplii) at least every 12 hours. Frozen baby brine shrimp may also work, though I read that freezing lessens the food value. A less messy alternative is decapsulated brine shrimp eggs -- but with these, my yields are only 25-50 fry per spawn, versus 200-500 with live nauplii. Fry feeding on 'decaps' are sluggish and may be subject to attack from bacteria in the detritus that accumulates on tank bottoms. You can buy decaps from Brine Shrimp Direct, 800-303-7914, www.brineshrimpdirect.com/product.htm#dcbs-egg. If you feed live nauplii, you can switch from live nauplii to decapsulated eggs after two weeks for convenience.
I've used Liquifry, boiled egg-yolk suspension, or Micro-Feed (available from Angels Plus, URL www.angelsplus.com/food.htm#Micro-Feed) for the first few days to help fry that are too tiny to eat the shrimp hatchlings or decapsulated eggs. After 3 or 4 weeks, force some flake through a fine screen, and put a pinch under the surface an hour before the nauplii feeding. Siphon off uneaten flake before the regular feeding. Discontinue Artemia when the fry are getting their fill of dry flake food.
If you want quick help from the experts, please go to The Angelfish Forum!
Topic: What to feed my Blue Blushers.
Author: Bill Dawes
Email: wmdawes@email.com
Date: 6/11/99
Time: 6:35:18 PM
Comments
I wish someone would leave good links on raising worms and other live goodies for my angels. I've been told that that my German Blue Blushers need live food -- not Brine Shrimp -- to show their true-blue color. Another friend said, avoid RED foods. Hmmmm.
Topic: What do Angelfish eat in the wild?
Author:
Email:
Remote User:
Date: 05 Oct 1999
Time: 23:26:15
Comments
I was doing a project and I was looking up what angel fish in the real ocean eat. But this page didn't tell me anything.
Topic: What do Angelfish eat in the wild?
Author: Bill Dawes
Email: bill@XXXdawesbiz.net
Remote User:
Date: 08 Oct 1999
Time: 21:54:18
Comments
The anonymous author above may be asking about the salt water Angel, since he mentions the ocean... but perhaps he meant freshwater angelfish. What a great question!
What do angelfish eat in the wild? Not only what do they eat! I want to know -- what are the average and extreme conditions to which Angels are naturally exposed?
Suppose we want to breed Angelfish strains that are hardy. Stressing fry and juveniles with 'natural' events that actually kill weaker individuals may lead to generations of stronger fish. What are the typical and survivable ranges in nature? Or in your own experience?Conditions I'm curious about: temperature, pH, dH, light, algae, bacteria, parasites, diseases, prey.
Topic: Live Food
Author: Johnny
Email: jdkiv@erols.com
Remote User:
Date: 26 Dec 1999
Time: 14:48:59
Comments
I try to maintain a diet based on live foods use flake and freeze dried food only to supplement my angelfish diet. I have found that the best way to bring my fish into top condition is with live food. Presently, I have only been able to procure Black worms for my fish. I have never had a problem from feeding them other than the occasional fish who might eat him self sick. Feeding my fish live foods have always improved growth and general health.
I have fed my fish Brine shrimp with good results. I fed newly hatched Brine shrimp to my fry. In fact I have found them to be a must for raising fry. Everything else fed to them is only fed to supplement the fry diets.
I have had such great success with live food for my fish that on the lookout for new sources of live food for my fish.
Topic: Micro Worms
Author: Eric Carter
Email: ericcarter@onebox.com
Remote User:
Date: 27 Dec 1999
Time: 02:23:54
Comments
Oodles of Angels http://www.oodlesofangels.com/ has micro worm kits for $3.50 I have not tried them but saw them listed and thought I'ld pass it along. Go to the "food" link and scroll down.
Topic: Raising 0 to 3 week old angel fry
Author: Peter LeBoulluec
Email: minialps@flash.net
Remote User:
Date: 10 Jul 2000
Time: 23:32:17
Comments
I have 2 adult angels who've laid eggs numerous times. Unfortunately, within 1 to 3 weeks after hatching, the fry die.
I keep the fry with their mom in a 55 gallon tank, halved by a divider to keep away their carnivorous dad and other community fish. I feed them "liquid small fry baby fish food", purchased from Petsmart. The pumps are left on and the food stays on their leaf for a few seconds. Is it best to turn off the pumps at dinner time? Maybe the food I'm using is just for generic fry thus not good for angel fry? Note, the food is 4 months old and kept on the shelf.
After hatching, the 1st week the fry attach themselves to a leaf. After this, they swim around mom if they make it that long. Eventually, they get weak and hid in the gravel at the bottom and die.
I've thought my water is not clean enough. Should I change my water more frequently with fry? Currently I change the water once a month and I know I leave some food on the bottom from overfeeding.
I'll keep reading to find out more but any help will be appreciated by me and my fry.
Topic: Tubifex worms???
Author:
Email:
Remote User:
Date: 21 Jul 2000
Time: 17:58:53
Comments
Topic: Tubifex worms???
Author: chris
Email: enenue@aol.com
Remote User:
Date: 21 Jul 2000
Time: 18:02:04
Comments
I bought some freeze dried tubifex worms from the petshop for my other fish, and i decided to see if the angels would eat it. So i put it in the angels seemed to eat a few then spit it out. Does it take them a while to get used to it or do they just not eat it???