Angels Best Kept Alone Or In Pairs?

[pkppv]

whats best in a community tank, 1 angel or 2, or even 3, for happiness and minimal aggresion and such?

 

[onidrase]

I don't think the amount matters very much, but I do believe they eat neon tetras as a natural foodsource, so if you have those, I don't think a angelfish would be compatible. What do you have in this community tank?

 

[karin]

This is a good question. I have had one, a bonded pair and several. But still not tons of experience. First my bonded pair spawn eggs every 14 days. I find it to be a pain in the you know. Why? Well initially it is all exciting, but really I don't want to deal with baby angels. Finding a place for them is not my idea of fun. So this pair deposits egges every two weeks an they go back and forth from being mellow with each other to full on war. Love and hate is a fine line with cichlids. They tend to do some damage to each other so I don't think they ever look tip top. Now I've had single angels too and they do okay. But I've had one that was very lethargic and never did a thing and was uninteresting as well as one in a big tank with other cichlids that was having some fun and was fun to watch. I also had several once and my only comment here is that you need 5 or more to disperse the aggression and you need a big tank.

P.S. My bonded pair live with neons and flame tetras and others and never both them. It does depend on the individual cichlid. Neons are their natural food, but if raised with them, sometimes it works.

Big question is the size of the tank. Depending on the angel a bare minimum for a pair would be a tall 40 or 50 gallon I think.

 

[ZoddyZod]

1 is fine (although I think it's always better to give social fish others of their kind to interact with).

a mated pair is fine (buy a known pair)

2 is risky - it's pretty impossible to sex angels, so if you buy two you can never know if you have one of each sex. Even if you do, there is no guarentee they will pair up - which means one could become more dominat and harrass/attack/kill the other.

3 is even riskier, as with the above the weakest could be ganged up on by the other two.

What size tank do you have?

 

[kribensis12]

As previously stated, 1 angel in a community tank should be fine. You do need to remember that Angels naturally eat neons in the wild and you might want to switch out for something larger such as lemon tetras or cardinal tetras. There is a golden rule for angels and tank size. For the first 20 gallons, 1 angelfish, then for every 10 you can add another one. Angels develop high fins and need a tank that is 18 inches tall, or their fins can be damaged by brushing against the rocks ect. Angels are almost impossible to sex, so buying 2 random ones is probably not going to work. If you do get a breeding pair they will torture your other fish and you need to usually raise the babies buy hand because angels have all but lost that ability. If you possess more than two, the strongest will beat up the weakest.

If you want to do a breeding pair a 20 gallon will work if that's all you intend to do is breed them. Keep in mind that angels are sensitive to water quality and require a mature, cycled tank before adding and don't handle poor water quality too well.