Paraiba Smokey Angelfish 3.5cm

Paraiba Smokey Angelfish

The Smokey Paraiba angelfish is a stunning new strain of the beloved angelfish that takes a very different spin from the normally bright and contrasting fish. Their blend of blue and grey blotched along with broken bars gives these fish an ominous look which will contrast amazingly in a planted aquarium. Because this is a relatively new strain there is a lot of room for breeders to experiment and develop the patterning and level of smokey patterning.

The name for these fish is pretty self-explanatory as they genuinely have a fog-like smokey patterning that ranges in shades of grey. Because this strain was likely derived from the sapphire blue angelfish they also do carry a lot of similar features like the black body barring and metallic blue sheen. What’s great is that there is a lot of variation in this strain currently which opens a lot of room to pick a favourite and work on the genetics. This could involve breeding out the black bars and increasing the greys or having a more defined level of barring and blues, the options are endless.

Trying to find the males and females in not only the paraiba smokey angelfish but angelfish, in general, is somewhat difficult when they are small, however dominant males will develop a small nuchal hump on their head. One can be 100% certain only when a breeding pair is formed. The best way to ensure this happens is to start with a small group of 5-6 fish and let them pair off naturally. Paraiba smokey angelfish are not found in the wild as they are a captive-bred and man-made colour variation however the angelfish, in general, is from South America.

Tank Recommendations for your Paraiba Smokey Angelfish

As the paraiba smokey angel is a colour variation of the common scalare angelfish species meaning it has the same aquarium needs as any other angelfish variety. At full adult size, they reach around 15 cm long, and a decent 20 cm tall, because of this they would need to be kept in a tank that is at least 100 litres.

Paraiba smokey angelfish are not exactly a solitary species and should be kept in mated pairs or shoals. However, they will need space as they can be territorial at times, so having a good footprint in the aquarium is always best. A sand or gravel substrate is perfectly fine, but a well-planted aquarium with lots of branching driftwood and rock will be greatly appreciated by these angelfish.

Suitable Tank Buddies

The Paraiba smokey angelfish is fairly peaceful with aggression only ever coming out during breeding males however they may eat very small fish fry and shrimp. With adequate space, these fish will get along with a wide range of community fish. it has however been noted that angelfish can be aggressive against fish species that look similar.

Usually Compatible

Other angelfish, tetras, gouramis, corydoras, angelfish, barbs dwarf cichlids such as rams, and large peaceful cichlids such as uaru or Severums.

Sometime Compatible

Semi-aggressive or territorial cichlids like fire mouths, convicts cichlids, and similar species.

Rarely Compatible

Large aggressive species such as African cichlids, Oscars, and Jaguar cichlids.

Feeding your Paraiba Smokey Angelfish

Angelfish in general are a very easy species to feed that will take to a wide range of aquarium foods like pellets or flakes. They are naturally omnivores that feed off plant matter like algae, small insects, and crustaceans. This means a well-balanced aquarium food that has good protein and green content would be best.