Angelfish - Basic Care And Set-up?

[Winterlily]

I'm in the process of setting up a 55 gallon tank and would love to have angelfish (just angelfish - perhaps a couple/few corys) in it. I don't want to breed them. I've read somewhere along the way that I'm best off, in this situation, with all males or all females to avoid anyone getting picked on. Is that true? And if so, assuming I'm starting with the small, young ones, it's nearly impossible to sex them at that point, right? So what do I do? I don't want anyone harassed.

I've tried to find a basic "guide" to angelfish on here - you know, general temperament, about how many I could reasonably have in a 55 gallon, whether it's true that I need to have all the same sex to avoid aggression if they do pair up etc, but I can't find anything like that.

So! My questions are:

• How many angels can I house well in a 55 gallon?
• Do they have to all be the same sex?
• If they do, how old/big do they have to be for me to accurately sex them?
• Do they have any special requirements as to filtration? (Meaning, for example, fish like fancy goldfish are so messy that they require filtration over and above the "norm")
• Any special requirements for substrate?
• What is their temperament like with their people? Meaning, do they tend to be skittish, bold, "friendly", etc?
• Do they do okay with hard water? (Water here is pretty hard, with a ph of about 7.5.)
• How do I find local breeders?
• Anything else I need to know or consider before jumping in with both feet?

Thanks SO much ahead of time!
Samantha

 

[meguro]

You need a tank that's roughly 18" high. 55g should be able to house up to around 6-10 full grown adults. There's some more info here

angelfish