Quarantined | Freshwater Angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare)

What “Quarantined” means

Every animal sold under this listing goes through YoCamron’s Aquatics full quarantine program — treated preventively for the common pathogens, observed daily, and confirmed eating — before it goes home with you.

Most livestock losses in this hobby aren’t bad luck. They’re pathogens that arrive with a new animal — ich, velvet, gill and body flukes, internal parasites — and stay invisible for the first 1–2 weeks while the animal is stressed from shipping. By the time you can see the problem, it’s in your display tank, and every animal you own is in the fight. Quarantine exists to run out that clock in our tanks instead of yours.

Our process

• Dedicated quarantine systems, separate from our display and sale tanks.
• Preventive treatment for the pathogens that actually kill new arrivals, instead of waiting for symptoms.
• Daily observation — breathing rate, body condition, behavior — so problems get caught while they’re still small.
• Feeding confirmation. Nothing goes home until it’s eating in front of us. An animal that eats is an animal that travels well.

Quarantined to order

Nothing we sell online is pre-quarantined and waiting on a shelf. Every quarantined animal is quarantined to order — your purchase starts the process, and the clock starts the day your animal reaches our facility.

For a freshwater animal like this one, plan on up to 60 days before it goes home.

Add up to two more weeks in front of that. If we do not already have the animal in-house, sourcing it is the first step — and that time sits on top of the window above.

This is not a rush purchase, and it can’t be turned into one — the entire value of quarantine is time. If you need your livestock by a particular date, contact us before you order and we’ll schedule the arrival around it. If you need something this week, the non-quarantined listing is the honest choice. The full process — and how to decide which tier is yours — is explained in Quarantined vs Non-Quarantined.

The guarantees

• Shipped — Early AM Overnight only: 48-hour live arrival guarantee from confirmed delivery. Next Day Air (standard Overnight), 2-Day and USPS Priority carry no live arrival guarantee, on any tier.
• Local pickup or delivery: 28-day live guarantee — bring a water sample from your aquarium so we can test it before your livestock goes home with you.
• Maintenance clients: 60-day live guarantee on any livestock you buy from us, for as long as we service your aquarium on a plan of at least twice a month — weekly, every 10 days, or biweekly. Monthly plans carry 28 days. Nobody else in the trade puts that in writing.
• Sourcing: if the animal is not already in-house, add up to two more weeks in front of the window above — that applies on every tier.
• Claims: video of the sealed, unopened bag, opened on camera, with the animal on a white paper towel, inside the window.

Why quarantined is the right choice

If you have an established display tank, the math is simple: the premium on a quarantined animal is small next to the cost of treating — or losing — everything already in your tank. It also means you can skip running a hospital tank at home, which done properly is its own aquarium, its own months of patience, and its own chance to get something wrong.

The honest caveat: many of these species are also available from us non-quarantined for less. Those carry a 1-hour live arrival window on Early AM Overnight — or 24 hours on local pickup or delivery with a tested water sample — and no refunds, returns, or credits beyond that. There is also a middle rung: the Lightly Medicated listing gets one short prophylactic course and is covered for 24 hours on Early AM Overnight, or 7 days on local pickup or delivery with a tested water sample. Next Day Air (standard Overnight), 2-Day and USPS Priority carry no live arrival guarantee, on any tier. If you already run a proper quarantine setup at home, that’s a fair trade and you should take it. If you don’t, this listing is the right one. (You’ll sometimes see “quarantined” abbreviated as QT — same thing.)

Angelfish are cichlids wearing a disguise — that tall, laterally flattened body shape is built for slipping between root systems and dense vegetation in slow-moving Amazonian water, not for open-water speed, and it’s exactly why they look so striking gliding through a well-planted tank. Pterophyllum scalare evolved in the blackwater and clearwater river systems of the Amazon basin, habitats characterized by warm temperatures, soft acidic water, and dense overhanging vegetation that filters light into the slow current below.

They’ll pair off on their own given the chance, and a bonded pair will pick a broad leaf or flat surface and guard it fiercely once they start spawning — a genuine window into cichlid parenting behavior in an otherwise peaceful community fish. Both parents fan the eggs with their fins, pick off unfertilized ones, and move the wriggle-phase fry to pre-dug pits in the substrate before guiding them as free-swimming fry. It’s one of the more complete parenting behaviors you’ll observe in a freshwater tank.

Their patience runs out with anything that nips fins, and their mouths eventually grow large enough to consider very small fish a meal — stock tankmates with their adult size in mind, not their size on day one.

Scientific name: Pterophyllum scalare
Origin: Amazon River basin, South America — blackwater and clearwater rivers, flooded forests, and slow tributaries
Water parameters: Temp 76–86°F · pH 6.0–7.5 · GH 3–10 (soft to moderately hard)
Tank requirements: 30 gal minimum; tall tanks (24"+ depth) critical for proper development; groups of 4–6 juveniles to allow natural pairing
Diet: Omnivore — quality flake and pellet; supplement with frozen bloodworms, brine shrimp, and daphnia
Compatibility: Peaceful community fish when young; semi-territorial when paired; avoid fin-nippers and very small fish
Husbandry note: If you want breeding behavior, set up a dedicated pair tank with broad-leafed plants (Amazon sword, Anubias) or vertical slate tiles for spawning surfaces. In a community tank, spawning attempts usually fail but the pair will still defend their site aggressively.