Capacity Question

[elliott78]

I have a 55 gallon tank w/ live & fake plants, bogwood, driftwood. Tank has been setup for about 3.5 months. Fish I currently have are a few feeder guppies, 1 mollie, 3 platies, 5 white clouds, 6 neons, 8 head & tail-lights, 1 bristle nose cat, 2 clown plecos, 7 corys, and 3 angelfish. The angelfish are my prized specimens. They are thriving in this setting. I would like to add a couple more but am wondering if this may be too many fish. The tank as is does not seem packed at all. I am running an undergravel filter and an external power filter. Thanks.

 

[Tolak]

It is workable, depending on the size of the power filter. The only problems you may have is the angels seeing the neons as food, and some aggression issues if the angels start getting territorial, typical pairing behavior. Introducing new ones to a tank with settled in angels can be tricky at times. Remove the existing angels, rearrange the decorations. This removes old territories. Let the new angels settle in for a couple of hours, with the tank lit by only room light.

If the existing angels are prized specimins do not forget to quar the new angels.

 

[elliott78]

My external is a rena smartfilter 55. It seems to do a pretty good job. I think I'll try for a south american blackwater biotope next time though! If only I could convince the wife for another tank! In regards to the neons, I hear ya, I recently purchased 12 and now I count 6. I had heard accounts both ways regarding angels feeding on them and had to experiment for myself. Thanks for your help. I have read multiple sources suggesting full-grown angels need anywhere from 4 to 15 gallons of tank space a piece. Two more would be nice. Right now I've got 2 calico kois and 1 gold.