Lightly Medicated | Black 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.

Black Angelfish are a melanistic strain of Pterophyllum scalare — pigment cells pushed toward full black expression, producing a fish with a genuinely deep, dark body that reads as velvety under aquarium light. There are degrees of “black” in angelfish breeding: a true genetic black is uniformly dark with minimal pattern; a dark marble or smoky variety looks almost black but shows structure through the coloring. These fish span that range, and the exact expression varies between individuals even from the same spawn.

In a planted tank with a dark substrate and background, an all-black angelfish uses the visual environment brilliantly — visible primarily through movement, which is exactly how the lateral body compression evolved to work in submerged Amazonian root systems. In a bright bare setup, it reads very differently, standing out starkly without vegetation to give it context.

They’re peaceable community fish when young and more territorial once paired off, which typically happens somewhere between 6 and 12 months. A bonded pair will clean a smooth surface and guard the spawning site with real cichlid intensity — other fish in the tank, including former tankmates, will be actively driven off. Give them enough space for multiple pairs (55+ gallons) to avoid constant territorial disputes.

Scientific name: Pterophyllum scalare (melanistic/dark strain)
Origin: Amazon River basin, South America
Water parameters: Temp 76–86°F · pH 6.0–7.5 · Soft to moderately hard water
Tank requirements: 30 gal minimum; tall tank preferred
Diet: Omnivore — flake, pellet, and frozen meaty foods
Compatibility: Peaceful community when young; territorial when spawning; avoid fin-nippers
Husbandry note: True black coloration intensifies with high-quality nutrition and good water conditions — thin, washed-out black usually points to a diet problem or suboptimal water quality. Dark substrate and slightly lower lighting shows the coloring at its best.