Angel Scalare

[newfishaddict]

Hi I have a scalare angel in a 29g alone, no other fish, is this ok? are they ok alone?

Also can I keep discus with Scalare angels?

 

[nmonks]

Hi I have a scalare angel in a 29g alone, no other fish, is this ok? are they ok alone?

Yes. Angels school when young, but become territorial as adults. Single specimens are just fine, and adding one or two more may result in the existing fish bullying the newcomers.

Also can I keep discus with Scalare angels?

No. Angels carry a variety of diseases than discus succumb to. They are also much more aggressive, and the discus respond poorly to that.

Angels are New World cichlids, and you should probably post your questions there, rather than in this section of the forum.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Lateral Line]

Moved to NW Cichlids.

 

[Lynden]

Hi I have a scalare angel in a 29g alone, no other fish, is this ok? are they ok alone?

Yes. Angels school when young, but become territorial as adults. Single specimens are just fine, and adding one or two more may result in the existing fish bullying the newcomers.

Also can I keep discus with Scalare angels?

No. Angels carry a variety of diseases than discus succumb to. They are also much more aggressive, and the discus respond poorly to that.

Actually, I find that Angels are always happiest in pairs. Even if they are all the same sex, an odd number of angels will always have a death.

The statement "Angels carry a variety of diseases than discus succumb to" is a myth. The Discus carry all of the same diseases that Angels carry. In fact, the worst disease known to Discus, called Hexamita (or Hole-in-the-Head) is carried by all cichlids and some gouramies in the intestine.

An ideal tank setup for Discus and Angels is a pair of each species, and a shoal of Glow-Light tetras or similiar as dither fish.

-Lynden

 

[jayjay]

I agree single angels are best, you need shoals of discus aswel. Angels are too aggressive normally to be kept with discus.

 

[newfishaddict]

Hi I have a scalare angel in a 29g alone, no other fish, is this ok? are they ok alone?

Yes. Angels school when young, but become territorial as adults. Single specimens are just fine, and adding one or two more may result in the existing fish bullying the newcomers.

Also can I keep discus with Scalare angels?

No. Angels carry a variety of diseases than discus succumb to. They are also much more aggressive, and the discus respond poorly to that.

Actually, I find that Angels are always happiest in pairs. Even if they are all the same sex, an odd number of angels will always have a death.

The statement "Angels carry a variety of diseases than discus succumb to" is a myth. The Discus carry all of the same diseases that Angels carry. In fact, the worst disease known to Discus, called Hexamita (or Hole-in-the-Head) is carried by all cichlids and some gouramies in the intestine.

An ideal tank setup for Discus and Angels is a pair of each species, and a shoal of Glow-Light tetras or similiar as dither fish.

-Lynden

Lynden, you are telling me just what I wanted to hear! But is a 55g big enough for a pair of each I have heard that rams are ok with angels and discus but only if you have two(rams same sex) in a 55g or bigger and with two or more good hiding spots.... Is this true?

 

[Tolak]

Hi I have a scalare angel in a 29g alone, no other fish, is this ok? are they ok alone?

Yes. Angels school when young, but become territorial as adults. Single specimens are just fine, and adding one or two more may result in the existing fish bullying the newcomers.

Also can I keep discus with Scalare angels?

No. Angels carry a variety of diseases than discus succumb to. They are also much more aggressive, and the discus respond poorly to that.

Actually, I find that Angels are always happiest in pairs. Even if they are all the same sex, an odd number of angels will always have a death.

The statement "Angels carry a variety of diseases than discus succumb to" is a myth. The Discus carry all of the same diseases that Angels carry. In fact, the worst disease known to Discus, called Hexamita (or Hole-in-the-Head) is carried by all cichlids and some gouramies in the intestine.

An ideal tank setup for Discus and Angels is a pair of each species, and a shoal of Glow-Light tetras or similiar as dither fish.

-Lynden

Angels can have such different aggression levels from fish to fish it is amazing. I've had pairs that could only be kept in the same tank when actively spawning, the rest of the time they were tearing each other from fin to fin. I have other pairs that get along quite well with other angels in the tank. With angels, if it looks like an angel, it will get treated like one. Discus are tall & narrow, so they are bound to get treated like an angel by an aggressive angel.

The odd numbers thing is a myth. I have a 65 with 7 angels, 2 pairs & 3 unpaired fish. It's been that way for a couple of years now, it took a bit of switching to find compatible fish. I also have a 29 with 5 angels, been waiting for a pair to form for a few months. It used to have 6, but one of them was getting harassed for whatever reason, so he got retanked, only to pair up with another angel.

Hex is a disease that affects most all cichlids. Discus are more sensitive than angels. A discus will be affected by hex easier than an angel will. This applies to most all diseases, the fish most likely to carry a disease is wild caught.

One of the things not mentioned is eating habits. Angels gulp their food, eat like pigs. Discus tend to graze more. Their diets, water parameters & such are the same, so they could be, and have been kept together, provided you get past the eating differences. Keep the tank as you would a discus only tank in regards to maintenance.

Since smaller angels are more comfortable together, as are smaller discus, I would get 6 of each. You wouldn't want to go much smaller than half dollar body size with the discus, smaller ones don't do well. Dime body size angels would be ideal. This would give the larger, slower eating discus a better chance at getting to the food.

As they grow, you will see aggression, or lack of it, in the fish. There are a few ways of going about dealing with this, some is just luck. You can sell off the larger, more aggressive fish, hoping to end up with a couple of each that are compatible. You could wait for a pair to form with each species, and sell the rest, hoping the pairs will be compatible in a larger tank. You could keep the 4 largest best looking fish, hoping that everyone will play nice. A portion of each way is where the luck comes in.

The 7 angels in the 65 took work, I went through 15 different fish. The 29 with 5 angels was luck, I only had to move one.

 

[part-timer]

You can keep them with neons, other small shoaling fish as well without any problems despite what general consensus is - if you provide a decent planted tank with a few mid level plants and the odd tall plant they'll get along fine - I've got 4 angels with a group of neons and haven't suffered a loss in ages - and in the past I've always kept tetras with my angels, with very low losses.

Obviously avoid sharing a tank with any tempting long finned mates such as guppies etc - Angels are nowhere near as bad as some might suggest but don't push it too far.....