queen angel fast grower?

[barrycuda]

I have a blue angel that has grown fast! In appox 19 or 20 months he has gone from 1 1/2" to 6" in a 180g. my other angels have not grown very much.

[reefmvp]

i have a french, emperor, and a queen. when i bought the queen he was the same size as the emperor but a year later the queen is 1" bigger than the emperor. maybe its within the queen or gene that they grow faster than others.

[DamnPepShrimp]

Mine grows slow! Had it for about 6 months and I haven't noticed it growing at all, if anything less then a half inch.

[lfduty]

Mine grows slow

[DamnPepShrimp]

Glad I'm not the only one! I wish mine would color change. But they grow slower in captivity. I guess if you have a big enough tank, it will grow faster.

[SDguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9610721#post9610721 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by barrycuda
I have a blue angel that has grown fast! In appox 19 or 20 months he has gone from 1 1/2" to 6" in a 180g. my other angels have not grown very much.

Not sure if you are asking about a blue or a queen. I had a blue that grew from 1" to 8" in just a few years. Very, very fast grower. I'd guess a queen wouldn't be too different. And that was in a 60g tank :eek1:

[gab24m3]

I think some factors to consider would be how much the tank is fed and how many tank mates the Angels have?

More feeding = more growth

More tank mates = less fish for Anels

[DamnPepShrimp]

What do you mean by more fish less fish for angels? I think tank size has something to do with it. A juvi queen should grow nicely in a 180g. Mine started in a 75g and now in a 125g. I feed a lot twice a day, she eats like a pig but doesn't grow all that much. That's fine with me though, because I will just have to upgrade quicker then, but I do want her to color change!

[scoutmaniak]

WOW, ok I know im way off subject here, but when you guys say super fast grower, and say 1 1/2" to 6" in a year or two that just sound really really slow!! When I think of fast I think of the freshwater oscars that ive had that go from 1/2" to 12-14 inches in like 8 months!! All angels IMO grow very slow. The majestic ive had for a few months has not grown at all. And seeing the pics of angels around this site show they take years to reach maturity. If you feed them like crazy and give them a 1000+ gallon tank you mite see better growth. barrycuda I would say you are seeing very normal growth rates, and have nothing to worry about. Angels are very beautiful fish, and wish you the best of luck. Me and DamnPepShrimp are haveing bad luck with them at the moment...

[DamnPepShrimp]

Haha, you got that right scout! I hate ICK! But anyway, I'd be happy with your growth of your angel. I wish mine would grow period! I want her to have her crown! So I am assuming your queen is fully color changed? That is awesome!

Gab24m3 what did you mean by more fish less fish for angels?

[scoutmaniak]

I think they mean less food for the angels because all the other fish eat it, so less growth...

[mattsilvester]

As angels go, I think it really does depend on the conditions. They are funny creatures - the slightest thing can have the biggest effect on them, and major things can have very little effect on them.

I have kept 3 different angefish.

1. Emporer Angel - grew from about 2 1/2" to 6"+ in about 2 1/2 yrs, got to about 90% colour change.

2. Queen angel - I had her for about 18 months to 2 yrs, got her at 5-6" and I don't think she grew at all.

3. Maculosus - grew from about 1.5" to about 4" in 6 months, then died due to my stupidity (long story, too embarassed to repeat)

I think the main factors effecting growth, apart from the obvious like water quality are diet and the psychological well being of the fish. Tank size, while important later (as in 6"+) has in my experience/opinion had less impact than the other two. Diet is of course important to anything that grows - supplying a good quality vareid diet of the correct make up and in sufficient quantity is essential. Too many people feed there fish once a day, or maybe twice and when they do feed, they don't feed enough. a 6-8" angelfish is gonig to need a couple of cubes of food to himself...... plus nori..... I am of the opinion that people just do not feed them enough. While most feed the right thing, most simply do not feed enough of it. The second criteria that I feel effects growth is the psychological well being of the fish - this is a wide and vague heading, but bascially the happier he is the healthier he is and teh faster he will grow...... in my opinion, for the fish to be happy he needs to be in a tank where:
1. He does not feel threatened "personally" - i.e. is that clown trigger gonna bite me in half.
2. He does not feel his territory is threatened - i.e. if he shares his space with half a dozen other similar sized fish like triggers / tangs / other angels then he will constantly be in "display" mode, and constantly on gaurd - this is a very stressful activity, and never allows the fish to relax - angels should be foraging, picking at rocks, looking for food - not chasing other fish and proving who is boss. If you have ever seen wild angels on a reef you do not see them dashing around chasing other fish - you see tehm going about their business, foraging on the reef. Where a "big tank" comes into play (and by big most people of a 240 as big) is that there is more space and the angel cannot constantly see all the tankmates....... so he feels more secure. Other factors that make an environment better for a fish like an angel include effective aquascaping to provide refuge, good water circulation and clean water.

It is my view that if you provide an angel (any type) with these conditions they will grow quickly. The more you compromise on these conditions, the slower they will grow. If you took two small juv. angels, say 2.5" - put one in a 240 with average water conditions and half a dozen tangs etc, then put the other in a 120 with similar water conditions but no other territorial tank mates (say a school of chromis and a pair of gobies) - and feed both of them well with what you would determine as the same amount of food - I would bet my money that the fish in the smaller tank will outgrow the the fish in the bigger tank - and I would bet this because it would be less stressed and better fed - I say better fed because although you think both fish are getting the same amount of food, during a 5 min period the fish in the 120 will spend all its time feeding while the fish in the 240 will spend half of that asserting dominance, while the all others (except the one that is being chased) consume his "share".

Anyway, that is my thoughts / views on the matter. I have arrived at this opinion through observation in both my own tanks and observing trends from all the "angel" posts that I have read here on RC. It is not meant to be a rule of thumb or anything like that - just my thoughts.

HTH

Matt