Angelfish Tank What To Add?

Alliecat420 · Dec 4, 2009

I have a 55 gallon tank that ive only had set up since June
I bought it to move my adult angels into, and now ive sort of run into a rut. My two angels where the primary occupants and i never put much thought into what else to put in with them, now that it's fairly well established i'd like some ideas as to what i could put in to make it a little more lively
current stock:
2 angels (full sized)
4 cories
1 pleco
6 danios
lots of live plants

i'd like to add something with color and personality, such as a ciclid. except if it could cause problems for my angels its out of the question
what kinds of fish can i add worry free to my tank?
some fish i have in mind are catfish, ciclids, and loaches... if anyone has any ideas, i would greatly love to hear them

meguro · Dec 5, 2009

Bolivian rams around 2-4 would work. Or 2 more similar sized angelfish. Or for non-cichlids, a group of swordtails/platies.

GAB99 · Dec 5, 2009

a chocolate chiclid will go great with the angels, but it will steal the spotlight. they are usually more colorful and larger.

try to get fish that wild angel tend to interact with.

mattlee · Dec 5, 2009

how about a few more corys and a group of bosemani rainbows? i have praecox rainbows with my angels and they are fine too. loach wise i have polka dot loaches in the same tank that stay fairly small (5 inches) for loaches and are always out and about and fun to watch :good:

Wills · Dec 5, 2009

Chocolate cichlids get waaayyyy to big for a 55, stunning fish but they need a 75 minimum.

First of all I would up the cories and danio upto 12 each, what kind of pleco is it? If its a common maybe think about rehoming it they get huge and need a 6ft tank. Also in a 55 I think you could add more angels or an alterative cichlid could be the festivum. I think anything from the Aequidens family would work apart from things like green terrors try and get things more like blue acaras or A.Diadema or A.Courlipunctatious (spelling) Dwarf acaras would work nice as well.

I would stay away from blue rams as they need higher temperatures but bolivan rams would work well as would various apistos.

fiskkeeperpro · Dec 5, 2009

I kind of think you are lucky, due to the danios growing up with the angelfish- have you noticed angels eating any danios? If not, then I think cardinal tetras would look nice, however, danios prefer the cooler water I think.

I would definitely suggest increasing your cories, they are much nicer fish when there are 6+, so much interaction imo.

I agree with rams, bolivion or german blue, but Ive found bolivion to be much hardier.

MyraAlam · Dec 5, 2009

Yup, increase your cory and danio shoal I'd say.

Boesemani rainbows are some of my favorite fish ever, you could try them. I agree with mattlee regarding the polka dot loaches though, those guys are fun to watch.

Bolivian rams are fantastic fish and I think they're usually overlooked in favor of blue rams, and although the latter is awesome in its own right, they're demanding and also require higher temperatures. Bolivian rams have a lot to offer!

Alliecat420 · Dec 5, 2009

thank you guys for your ideas.. i will keep in mind the Bolivian rams.. and do some research on them.
i also always liked botia loaches do they go well with cories?
as for increasing the schols.. i had planned that.. my danios get along pretty well with my angels.. i know they do have a habit of eating small fish at night, but my angels are pretty tolerant of them

the pleco is only arround 4 inches right now.. and im not positive of his species yet.. the place i bought him is notorious for mislabling fish (and underpricing expensive ones) so i bought him up cause he was diffrent.. i was told on a forum that he was a bristle nose.. but i had a bristle nose before, and he dosnt look like one.

there's also a few fish i've always liked and i wondered if they could go with the current tank (not all of them of corse), including:
a raphael catfish?
Paradise fish? are they more or less aggressive than a normal gourami?
Convict cichlid? too mean?
Kuhlii loaches?
Badis? or are they too small?

thanks for your help!

fiskkeeperpro · Dec 5, 2009

I have botia loaches, corys and angelfish in the same tank- no problems

No convict cichlids imo, you have nice community fish there, id keep it a friendly tank. If you want Khulis you should have an escape proof tank, hiding palces and small substrate as they bury and escape