Introduction
Angels are from the South American rainforest, ranging from Brazil over to Peru and up to Guiana. Different species are found in different parts of the river.

The Pterophyllum genus is very wide ranging and extremely diverse in appearance. This diversity has caused some speculation when it comes to identification of any wild collections.

Domestic strains are most likely a collection of genes resulting from more than one species of wild angelfish combined with the selection of mutations in domesticated lines over the last 60 or more years. All this makes the domestic angelfish a true hybrid with little more than a superficial resemblance to wild species. It is strictly a man-made ornamental fish that is not meant to be re-introduced to the wild or to represent any one species of angelfish.

Angelfish systematics is currently being studied and there is reason to believe that there will be some adjustments to the species level nomenclature in the near future. Incorrect names from importers are common, therefore using this information when breeding wild types is likely to be incorrect.

There are currently three species of Pterophyllum recognized. They are P. scalare, P. altum and P. leopoldi.Naming Synonyms for Wild Species; Pterophyllum scalare - Pterophyllum eimekei, Plataxoides dumerilii, Pterophyllum dumerilii, Zeus scalaris, Pterophyllum leopoldi - Plataxoides leopoldi

Tank Setup
Good biological filtration is key and it can be easily obtained a number of ways. Angelfish body shapes are not designed for efficient swimming, therefore gentle filtration is preferred. Strong water movement will stress them somewhat and cause slower growth due to the increased energy expended to swim against a current. Sponge filters are ideal for hatchery situations.

Dissolved organic material will cause high bacterial loads that develop from keeping too many fish in a tank, overfeeding or changing too little water. Large, frequent water changes are the easiest way to lower these bacterial levels. Sophisticated systems will sometimes incorporate the use of ozone, foam fractionation and to accomplish the lowering of these organic and bacterial loads, but most of us will rely upon water changes to accomplish this.

For a mature pair, a 25 gallon "tall" tank is best, or if more are added, 5-10 gallons for each fish. A fully planted tank is best, although this is not necessarily their natural habitat. If you want to keep it natural, large pieces of driftwood, and root caves to imitate mangroves would do.

Community Tips
Angels do well in a community, but should not be kept with Neon Tetra, Barbs or aggressive fish in general. They will of course eat other fishes fry.

When breeding they will become aggressive and do a spectacular horizontal attack. This attack does not usually hurt any fish, but serve to scare it away from their territory.

Feeding Tips
They are generally always hungry so care must be taken not to over-feed. They will actually stuff themselves too full and just sit at the bottom trying to digest, and they can become constipated! We suggest feeding once in the morning and once at night. Baby Angels should have nice orangy bellies to let you know they are nice and full.

Sexual Identification & Breeding
It is impossible to sex a juvenile angel. If it is laying eggs, then it is a girl! They will become sexually mature at 6-8 months.

When they are ready to breed they will pick a partner and territory to defend. It should be fairly obvious when they are going to spawn. The ventral fins will emerge from the bottom a few days in advance, at this point you can try to sex them. The females organ will be shorter and more rounded at the end. the males will be skinnier and come to more of a point at the end. You can not see his sprerm, it is clear like the water so is really hard to tell. Over head filters should be turned off so as to not sweep his sperm away. Use Amazon swords that are growing nearly to the top of the surface, or a piece of slate angled at 45° to the side might work. Angels are prone to spawn wherever they want, and then to eat the eggs/fry.

You will find it difficult to raise any number of high quality fish with anything other than live baby brine shrimp for the first 3 weeks of their life. You can feed bbs exclusively for the first 6 weeks. Artemia is critical at this point. Introduction of new foods usually requires that it be introduced gradually. Angelfish should be voracious eaters when they are healthy and properly fed.

Angels are an ornamental fish that have acquired many problems from improper breeding over the years. It is important to cull any fry that are not ideal. Degradation of your strains will happen very quickly without a vigorous program of eliminating flawed fish. It is equally important to not keep any spawns from imperfect adults. As exciting as raising young angelfish can be, it is a great disservice to the fish and the hobby to perpetuate the genes of lower quality fish.The first culls are easy to see, they will be bottom sliders, meaning they can hardly swim, maybe come up for eating and right back to the bottom sliding around. Their fins will not develop properly.The others are the ones that stay on the bottom on their sides, they eat and maybe swim to eat but back on their sides. Strange when they do this as all other symptoms look good, they eat and seem pretty but just can't swim. This is where they get the old saying of only the strong survive.