Species · Aquatic pet

Angelfish

Pterophyllum scalare

Tall-bodied cichlid of slow Amazonian water, bred in aquaria for a century.

The angelfish glides around the aquarium looking like the reason aquariums exist, and new keepers routinely mistake the elegance for gentleness. It is a cichlid: it pairs off, claims territory, squabbles with its own kind, and regards anything that fits in its mouth — a neon tetra, famously — as an option. Give it a tall, calm, roomy tank and appropriately sized company and it is a magnificent centrepiece for a decade.

At a glance

Lifespan: 8–12 years
Adult size: 15 cm tall, and they use the height
Minimum tank: 200 L, taller than it is fashionable
Water: Tropical fresh, warm and calm
Weekly upkeep: Weekly partial water change
Diet: Quality flake or pellet plus frozen food
Company: A pair, or a group raised together
With children: Watch, don’t touch
Tankmates: Nothing mouth-sized; no fin-nippers

Varieties · 4 listed

Silver is the wild pattern; the rest are aquarium strains of the same fish. Fancier fins mean slower fish — factor that into tankmates.

Silver
Marble
Gold
Koi

Right for you if

A tall 200-litre tank is realistic, cycled and waiting.
You want one showpiece species and will choose tankmates around it.
A decade of the same quiet routine appeals.
Watching behaviour — pairing, courting, mild politics — is the entertainment you are after.

Wrong for you if

The tank is short, small or already full of tiny fish.
Neon tetras were the plan; angels consider them catering.
You want a peaceful community centrepiece that never starts anything.
Water changes will slide — big cichlids in old water is how fins rot.

Welfare and sourcing — read this part

Most of what goes wrong with fish traces to stress, poor water quality, overcrowding and skipped quarantine — before any disease gets its turn.¹ For a ten-year fish, the fortnight of quarantine for every newcomer is the cheapest insurance in the hobby.
Buy young angels from a tank you can inspect: upright fins, eager feeding, no white spots or clamped posture anywhere in the system — the seller’s whole rack is the health certificate, not the one fish.
Plan the community on paper first: everything must be too big to swallow and too placid to nip trailing fins. The fish shop will sell you incompatible neighbours without blinking.

Sources

Disorders and Diseases of Fish. MSD Veterinary Manual 2026. Accessed 2026-09-05. International MSD Veterinary Manual Many of the disorders and diseases that occur in fish are the result of stress, poor water quality, overcrowding, and failure to quarantine. New tank syndrome is ammonia accumulating when fish are added before the biological filter works, typically in the first one to three weeks. Ich (white spot) is a common protozoal infestation whose fast reproduction is what makes it deadly.

Every source here was checked, not recalled. Where this page makes a health statement and no source appears against it, that is not an oversight we have hidden — it means the claim is not yet sourced, and the build reports how many are in that state.

Availability, registration and keeping requirements differ from place to place. Check the rules where you live before you commit to any animal — we describe animals, not law.