Sal Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 Is there such a thing as a dwarf angelfish? Back in November we picked up several young angels from our LFS for quarantine. We did lose a couple, but the remaining are all doing well. One is just... Tiny. They were all tiny when we got them, but this one stayed tiny while his "siblings" are now all 2-3 times his size. He is eating fine, swimming happily, holds his own against the gang, and seems to be thriving, he's just... Tiny. Is that a thing? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 On 3/21/2022 at 12:05 PM, Sal said: Is there such a thing as a dwarf angelfish? Back in November we picked up several young angels from our LFS for quarantine. We did lose a couple, but the remaining are all doing well. One is just... Tiny. They were all tiny when we got them, but this one stayed tiny while his "siblings" are now all 2-3 times his size. He is eating fine, swimming happily, holds his own against the gang, and seems to be thriving, he's just... Tiny. Is that a thing? We found with our batches that there were always "runners" -- who grew large fast, and "runts" who seemed to stay small much longer. Over the span of several years, given space and good care, perhaps they might arrive nearer an equal size. But maybe not. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sal Posted March 21, 2022 Author Share Posted March 21, 2022 On 3/21/2022 at 12:07 PM, Fish Folk said: We found with our batches that there were always "runners" -- who grew large fast, and "runts" who seemed to stay small much longer. Over the span of several years, given space and good care, perhaps they might arrive nearer an equal size. But maybe not. Very interesting! Thanks @Fish Folk will be interesting to see if he catches up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anewbie Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 If the small one has abnormally large eyes it is likely a runt and will never grow to normal size; otherwise it might be as @Fish Folksaid a slow grower. There is actually a species of Pterophyllum that is a bit smaller called leopoldi but they are rarely seen in the trade. My understanding is they can be quite a bit more aggressive than domestic angels and since they are frequently wild caught (as oppose to tank bred) require a bit more delicate handling. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sal Posted March 21, 2022 Author Share Posted March 21, 2022 (edited) I snapped a pic while feeding them just now... These angels were the same size when I got them in Nov. The black one is now about 3-3.5" top to bottom, the little guy is only about 1.5" I'd say, maybe slightly smaller. I don't think his eye looks abnormally large? What do you guys think? I'm not great at identifying species, they were sold as "assorted angelfish" but we did get it from a store that carries a lot of odd/harder to find fish too. Do you think it could be the leopoldi? It doesn't look like it via google, but I am no expert! Edited March 21, 2022 by Sal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy's Fish Den Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 The small one is not a leopoldi, they are a silver base with black vertical stripes like the common silver angel, but the face has more of a pointed nose. They have only been spawned a few times in captivity, one of our own members @Danielhas been one of the lucky one. I have a group that I have tried all kinds of tricks trying to get them to spawn, and have had no luck. I have decided after trying for a few years now, to just keep them in a planted community tank, and who knows, maybe they will in there. As for your small guy, as @Fish Folksaid, you will have in a batch of angels ones that grow really fast, and others that just don't grow much at all. When I was raising angels 15+ years ago, I had a few 55 gallon tanks that I would use to grow out angels, I would separate by sizes so that the younger ones would not be out competed for food, but even then there would sometimes just be one or two "runts" in a batch. I know they say discus can put out a pheromone that will cause smaller discus to not grow, I am not sure if angels will do the same thing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beardedbillygoat1975 Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 Leopoldi are expensive and hard to get. As indicated above they have a very distinct appearance. It would be rare for a breeder to cross breed with domestic scalare because they could get so much more for pure Leopoldi. "Dwarf" sells fish so some fish stores that are somewhat unscrupulous will label things in this way to move stock. The vast majoprity of people in the hobby have tanks 75 g and less. The worst I have ever seen in a store was a "dwarf oscar," I called them on it and left the store. Or some stores like old mom and pop places who don't use the internet and do research maybe they just don't know better. It is still a very beautiful angel and hopefully you get a breeding pair and that could earn you a few bucks if you want. Have fun!~ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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