Angelfish hobby has kept local couple busy for over 30 years

RANDOLPH — Bill and Jamie Fye have a lot in common with the pets they chose to surround themselves with.

Angelfish are among fish that live in monogamous pairs. The Fyes have also celebrated a number of anniversaries together — 30 in fact.

The couple raise the fish as a hobby in addition to their full-time work in operating Jim’s Food Center in downtown Randolph.

“We have always had fish. When Bill and I got married, we had angelfish. Since the angelfish laid eggs I wondered if we could raise angelfish,’’ Jamie said. “When we lived in Scottsbluff, we first tried to raise the fish in 1990.”

Angelfish can be kind of expensive to buy so many people don’t own them. Each fish can be $5 to $10.’

She has been successful at raising fish three times since 2019.

“Jamie does most of the work to raise the fish,’’ Bill said.

Jamie said she’s studied how to care and raise the angelfish on “YouTube.’’ She said the fish can lay 300 to 400 eggs, however, they don’t all survive.

“I discovered that one of our fish was eating the eggs so you have to remove them,’’ she said. “I did research on how to feed them. You have to feed them brine shrimp which look like sea monkeys.’’

She said when the angelfish get bigger they look like tadpoles at one of the first stages.

“I have liked the different shape of the angelfish and how they swim about in the tanks,’’ she said. “I really enjoy the look of the fish.’’

Jamie said she quit trying to raise them for a long time then all of a sudden they started laying eggs again.

The couple now have seven aquariums in their home.

Although the fish or “science project’’ as she likes to call it, is a hobby, she recently sold a quite a few of the angelfish to a store owner in Yankton, S.D. This was from a batch when she was able to get 193 fish to live.

“The fish store owner only takes appointments to sell fish due to covid restrictions,’’ Jamie said. “I sold 150 and have about 20 left. I have a few for sale and put an ad in the newspaper. It is not a business for me, just a hobby, so it doesn’t take all that much time like any hobby.’’

With all these fish around, she still treasures the ‘Mom and Dad’ fish that helped get things started.

She said she balances the fish hobby with work at the store and stays up later at night to fit it in whether changing aquarium water or removing young eggs. It also requires feeding the fish three times a day.

“It has been fun to watch the fish grow. It is amazing. A lot of people don’t raise fish from an egg. It is fun to see them get to the wiggler stage,’’ she said.

The freshwater fish are from the Amazon basin. The fish are ambush predators and prey on smaller fish.

“I found the angelfish are territorial. I read they are like chicken because they have a pecking order. They look like they are fighting but they are just territorial. If you have angelfish and one is hiding it is likely it is getting picked on,’’ she said. “We have 12 downstairs that live together in a tank and get along just fine. They must have their order figured out.’’

The fish are laterally compressed and frequently striped for camouflage. They lay their eggs on leaves or logs. There are also marine angelfish.

The angelfish we see in warm aquariums began to be bred in captivity in the 1920s and 1930s.

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