"Mister Gardener" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 06:39:29 -0400, Mister Gardener
wrote:

I returned to the original scene of my ill fated angel fish yesterday
morning, I'm still convinced that they were good fish and I killed
them by messing around with too many ferts and not watching my pH and
other water parameters. There were 4 left in the tank from which I had
originally purchased, and they have grown noticeably in size. The girl
who had sold them to me previously came over and told me she
remembered me from before and I explained briefly what had happened to
them and she seemed really interested and pulled a little notepad from
her pocket and wrote down some stuff. She seems to be interested in
learning. I spent about a half hour studying them. Walked around the
store to change my focus and returned every 10 minutes or so. Each of
the four looked good. I got the girl to feed them. I did the quiet
little look at my finger on the glass, little fishy, and follow it
around, to which they all responded will. Each had a very small amount
of fin damage, that thin tissue between the rays, mostly caudal. The
original tank had been a mixed bag of more than one shipment, and the
remaining 4 were all very different. A gold, a black marble with a
strong orange cap, a smokey looking zebra, (I have to look this one up
for a better ID), and an ordinary silver angel. Obviously none of them
are pure anything. I asked the girl who asked the guy if there have
been any problems with this tank over the past couple of weeks. I told
him I was wondering about the fin damage. He went and brought over a
clipboard with the ammonia readings done daily and a pH and Nitrates
here and there, showed it to me, and everything looked good. So at
least he knew what he was looking for. We both knew the tank had been
grossly overstocked for a while - - I told him I think I can repair
the fins and I will hold him to his 48 hour guarantee and if they die
a week from now I will still be back to demand a refund. The fin
damage is very minimal, can barely be seen unless one is really
looking for it. I checked my tank's numbers, I had just done a water
change two days earlier, and at the last minute, I dumped in 25 mls of
Melafix. These angels got the most gentle and loving acclimation that
any fish has ever enjoyed in my home. They are hanging together in a
very quiet corner of the plant amongst some Vallisnaria. A couple of
hours after introducing them, I fed the tank and watched as the other
fish did their darting about and the angels, one at a time, left the
corner and cruised the length of the tank for their share of the food.
I just peeked into their dark tank this morning and they are hanging
in their quiet corner. And I hope there sinuses are as clear as mine
after breathing in that awful smelling Melafix.

-- Mister Gardener
Well, not will. They responded well.

Day has begun, lights are on, feeding time. I have some tetra bits
that I seldom feed because they are too large for most of my fish.
Bright red. I tossed some in at the angel end of the tank and within
minutes they were chasing those red bits all over the tank. One seems
a little slower to move out and about, the golden, she waited several
minutes before venturing out from her plant cover to get a bite to
eat. But, she did get a bite to eat, and that's what I'm watching for
now, how they're feeding. I need to stop referring to them as he and
she, I haven't a clue as to their sex, and I won't for a while.

-- Mister Gardener

Know what you mean about the melafix smell, my husband ask the other day
what the heck was that smell in the house in the last couple weeks I opened
the bottle and he got a good smell... and he said yep that's what it
was.....
How big are the angels? You got me hooked.... mine will be going in the 120
gallon soon enough it has to cycle so I am taking my time, I would like to
get a few more angels, but not sure what else will go in the 120 gl with
them, my husband wants different cichlids, but as far as I know there is
only a couple that could live with them, maybe I am wrong I got to do some
reading.
I have come across a few stores with angels but they did not look healthy so
I passed on them, the store I told you about that had all the angels and
cichlids (the all oddball place) have very nice looking angels but they are
bigger then what I want, he said he will be having babies for sale soon so I
might just wait.
Nik
Good luck with the new guys or girls hopefully both..did you notice if they
were staying together at the store much.. is that how you can tell if they
are a pair, keep us posted, I was going to ask you before but I did not
want to make a new post ...I have one of those little light houses in the
tank, not very big, one of my angels goes in it all the time and will stay
there for a couple hours mostly in the morning, is that normal or should
he/she be swimming around more.
nik