# Veggy angelfish?



## beeky (1 Oct 2007)

Does anyone know whether angelfish like veg in their diet? I know most fish are omnivore, but do angels need greenstuff?

The reason I ask is that my Hygro stricta and polysperma have chunks taken out of the leaves, and I wondered if the angels were doing it (they are the most recent additions). I also have a bristolnose plec, some tetras and a red tailed black shark. I don't think it's the plec or shark as I've had them for some years and never had a problem, apart from the plec who turns my sword leaves transparent with its rasping.


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull (1 Oct 2007)

all fish need some kind of greenary in their diet, some take it from just algae, some plants, some rely solely on the broad content of flake.

angel fish can be big plant nibblers though, as can barbs.. so much so that my angel fish had to go on holiday after they managed to chomp through an 8 inch floating raft of riccia in only 48 hours!!!  a real shame cos i love angel fish.. some poeple do fine with them, but i wonder if theyve used fish from babies in the planted tank.. it seems that when you throw in an adult to a planted tank it becomes a salad bar for some reason.


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## beeky (1 Oct 2007)

I'll put some boiled spinach in there, see if I can give them something else to get their teeth into....


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull (1 Oct 2007)

also try weighing down some cucumber, cut along its length.. but take a spoon and remove the seeds and mush that surrounds them, when they decay they can send the tank cloudy.  all my fish love it when i feed my snails cucumber


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## Ed Seeley (1 Oct 2007)

Frolicsome_Flora said:
			
		

> all fish need some kind of greenary in their diet,



Sorry to disagree Flora but many fish do not need to eat any kind of greenery at all (and that's not even talking about strictly piscivorous fish or oddities like scale eaters)!  
Many cichlids will eat it if it's there, including angels, but in a number of waters, especially the very acidic black waters some species of angels come from there is no greenery there to eat apart from the odd piece of fruit that may fall in!!!  Cardinals are another fish from these water that I doubt ever eat much in the way of vegetable matter in the wild.  
Of course many, if not most, fish will eat it fairly happily in the wild or captivity but they certainly don't need it.


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