Lightly Medicated | Assorted Veil Angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare)

What “Lightly Medicated” means

This is the same animal as our non-quarantined listing, held briefly in our systems and given one short prophylactic course — a light treatment for ich and for internal and external worms — then observed eating in front of us before it goes home.

A light course knocks the parasite load down. It does not guarantee full removal, and we will not pretend otherwise. Ich is only killed in its free-swimming stage, and a short treatment window can miss cysts entirely; worm burdens can survive a single dose. Clearing an animal takes the full quarantine window — 40 to 90 days depending on the species — which is exactly what the Quarantined listing is for. This tier buys you a lower parasite load and a fish we have watched eat, not a cleared animal.

We condition the fish on our end. Every animal we medicate is brought back onto prepared food on our own systems and is eating before it leaves — in practice it is rare for a lightly medicated fish to ship out and arrive sick. Do the same at your end: get it eating in your aquarium before you count it settled.

When it ships

Plan on 3–5 days on our systems for the treatment course, and it does not leave until it is eating. If the animal is not already in our systems we source it first — allow up to two weeks for it to reach us before that clock starts. From the day you order, plan on roughly two and a half weeks in total.

The guarantees

• Shipped orders: 24-hour live guarantee from confirmed delivery.
• In-store pickup: 7-day live guarantee — bring a water sample from your aquarium so we can test it before your livestock goes home with you.

Want the full program — treated, observed, confirmed eating, and covered for 28 days on pickup? That is the Quarantined listing. Run your own quarantine and just want the fish this week? The non-quarantined listing is cheaper still. The whole ladder is explained in Quarantined vs Non-Quarantined.

Veil Angelfish are Pterophyllum scalare carrying a recessive fin-extension gene that pushes the fin rays well beyond their natural length, producing trailing, billowing fins that move with every current change in a way the standard fin type doesn’t match. The effect is particularly dramatic in a school moving through a planted tank — a lot of motion, a lot of visual mass, and an elegance that’s hard to replicate with any other freshwater species.

The biology under the coloring is standard Pterophyllum: tall, laterally compressed cichlids from slow Amazonian water, built to slide sideways through submerged root systems and dense vegetation, using their body shape as camouflage rather than relying on speed. They need tall tanks more than long ones — standard 55-gallon tanks are too short for them to develop properly. They’re peaceful in a community setting until they’re not, which usually means pairing off and claiming territory, or encountering a fin-nipper that sees those long veils as an invitation.

This listing is assorted color variants — a mix of silver, marble, koi, gold, or other patterns that came out of the same spawn. If you’re building a planted community and want a centerpiece species that grows into the aquascape rather than competing with it, a small group of veil angels is one of the better answers in freshwater.

Scientific name: Pterophyllum scalare (veil fin strain)
Origin: Amazon River basin, South America — slow-moving, heavily vegetated blackwater and clearwater rivers
Water parameters: Temp 76–86°F · pH 6.0–7.5 · Soft to moderately hard water
Tank requirements: 30 gal minimum; tall tanks with 24"+ depth preferred
Diet: Omnivore — quality flake, pellet, and frozen foods; supplement with bloodworms and brine shrimp
Compatibility: Peaceful community when young; semi-territorial when paired and breeding
Husbandry note: Avoid tankmates that nip fins — those long veil fins are a magnet for barbs, danios, and serpae tetras especially. Fin damage on veil angels is severe and heals slowly.