Fish Friends Question

[kristiaan_d]

Hi All,
got a question regarding angel fish, when i started my tank it was full of lovly fish and i came home one day to find out that as a present for my new tank my sister had introduced 2 angel fish into the tank, over the course of 2 years they have activly killed all the fish i have put into the tank, short of introducing some pirahana or ocars i am lost.

recently one of the angels died after i disposed of the body (that the other angel was trying to eat) i have noticed that the one angel seems quite depressed.

my question is now there is only one in there is it likly to continue its rampage against any new fish i introduce, i was thinking on a nice little school of neons, some tiger barbs, mollies and swordtails (this is more of less what i had before the angels and they all got on well together)

i even put a siamease (hope thats spelt correctly) fighting fish (which i was told can be very agressive) in there and 6 months down the line they had killed it!!!

failing that does anybody know of a good fish dish that i can make with angel fish

please any help would be great as i am desperate to get my tank stocked again but i am afraid of throwing money away with this angel terrorising them.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yes angelfish are not the most peaceful of fish out there- in the wild, they actually eat neon tetras, so neons will probably not last long in angel tank. Betta's and angels don't mix either (betta's have pretty much no defense against nippy or agressive fish)- mollys could go with angels, but are not an ideal match due to different habitat requirements (generally speaking, mollys do better with salt in the tank while angels don't), and tiger barbs might be too agressive for the tank (you'll need to see if anyone's kept these two types together as i don't know of anyone who has).
Its posible your angels were so agressive towards other fish was because they were trying to breed;

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=35001

How many gallons is the tank and what are its dimensions (length, width and height) and what sorts of fish do you currently have in it?

 

[kristiaan_d]

Yes angelfish are not the most peaceful of fish out there- in the wild, they actually eat neon tetras, so neons will probably not last long in angel tank. Betta's and angels don't mix either (betta's have pretty much no defense against nippy or agressive fish)- mollys could go with angels, but are not an ideal match due to different habitat requirements (generally speaking, mollys do better with salt in the tank while angels don't), and tiger barbs might be too agressive for the tank (you'll need to see if anyone's kept these two types together as i don't know of anyone who has).
Its posible your angels were so agressive towards other fish was because they were trying to breed;

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=35001

How many gallons is the tank and what are its dimensions (length, width and height) and what sorts of fish do you currently have in it?

2 foot long by 1 wide by 36CM high, i belive its 86 Gallons?? at present i have a bottom feeder that i always manage to forget its name (pic avaliable) and one solitary angel fish as i mentioned it was a pair that tended to kill everything i put in the tank...

when i first started the tank i did have 5 tiger barbs in there with 2 mollies and they got on fine never had a dead fish from aggression, fish only started dying after the angels were introduced, i know that the angels are both males as she checked at the time of buying them, but i only found this out after they were in the tank!

 

[gpgscott]

Oh Yeah, to angels neons are bright little lunchboxes without the box. If want peaceful fish you have to trade the angel, however there are lots of semi aggressive fish that will do well with the angel such as; giant danio, austrailan rainbow, larger gouramis, many tetras, ie skirt, buenos aires, lemon, serpea, many barbs the list is long... Also I have always been told do angels as singles a pair or 4 or more, if you do three two will gang up on the weakest. Hope this helps. Scott

 

[bmcelfresh]

You need to be sure the sex of your angels. Males will fight until the bitter end. I have three large males and one female. The breeding pair that are in one tank do not let anyone else swim around. The others are fine, but there are no other angels in the tank. Beautiful fish, but should be thought out before purchasing. They come from the same family as oscars and dempseys.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

How many gallons is the tank and what are its dimensions (length, width and height) and what sorts of fish do you currently have in it?
2 foot long by 1 wide by 36CM high, i belive its 86 Gallons??

no way thats 86 gallons, its more like 18

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yes angelfish are not the most peaceful of fish out there- in the wild, they actually eat neon tetras, so neons will probably not last long in angel tank. Betta's and angels don't mix either (betta's have pretty much no defense against nippy or agressive fish)- mollys could go with angels, but are not an ideal match due to different habitat requirements (generally speaking, mollys do better with salt in the tank while angels don't), and tiger barbs might be too agressive for the tank (you'll need to see if anyone's kept these two types together as i don't know of anyone who has).
Its posible your angels were so agressive towards other fish was because they were trying to breed;

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=35001

How many gallons is the tank and what are its dimensions (length, width and height) and what sorts of fish do you currently have in it?

2 foot long by 1 wide by 36CM high, i belive its 86 Gallons?? at present i have a bottom feeder that i always manage to forget its name (pic avaliable) and one solitary angel fish as i mentioned it was a pair that tended to kill everything i put in the tank...

when i first started the tank i did have 5 tiger barbs in there with 2 mollies and they got on fine never had a dead fish from aggression, fish only started dying after the angels were introduced, i know that the angels are both males as she checked at the time of buying them, but i only found this out after they were in the tank!

How many gallons is the tank and what are its dimensions (length, width and height) and what sorts of fish do you currently have in it?
2 foot long by 1 wide by 36CM high, i belive its 86 Gallons??

no way thats 86 gallons, its more like 18

Nope, tank is a lot smaller i'm afraid;

Dimensions 60 x 30 x 36cm/24" x 12" x 14
Surface area 0.18 sqm/1.94 sq ft/ inches sq in
Volume 65 l./14 gal. (17.17 US gal.)
Probable volume 59 l./13 gal. (15 US gal.)

Ideally you should have a longer and taller tank for tiger barbs and angel fish- angelfish are very "tall" fish and a tank at least 18inches high is very good for them, while tiger barbs are very active fish which will grow 3inches long each and need to be in decent size shoals of their own kind (6 to 8 or more is good) and thus a tank 3ft or more long tank is the best for them . I would advise upgrading to a larger tank before you get anymore fish .

 

[gpgscott]

231 cubic inches = 1 gal u.s.

24x12x12=3456/231=14.96 us gallons

 

[kristiaan_d]

Yes angelfish are not the most peaceful of fish out there- in the wild, they actually eat neon tetras, so neons will probably not last long in angel tank. Betta's and angels don't mix either (betta's have pretty much no defense against nippy or agressive fish)- mollys could go with angels, but are not an ideal match due to different habitat requirements (generally speaking, mollys do better with salt in the tank while angels don't), and tiger barbs might be too agressive for the tank (you'll need to see if anyone's kept these two types together as i don't know of anyone who has).
Its posible your angels were so agressive towards other fish was because they were trying to breed;

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=35001

How many gallons is the tank and what are its dimensions (length, width and height) and what sorts of fish do you currently have in it?

2 foot long by 1 wide by 36CM high, i belive its 86 Gallons?? at present i have a bottom feeder that i always manage to forget its name (pic avaliable) and one solitary angel fish as i mentioned it was a pair that tended to kill everything i put in the tank...

when i first started the tank i did have 5 tiger barbs in there with 2 mollies and they got on fine never had a dead fish from aggression, fish only started dying after the angels were introduced, i know that the angels are both males as she checked at the time of buying them, but i only found this out after they were in the tank!

How many gallons is the tank and what are its dimensions (length, width and height) and what sorts of fish do you currently have in it?
2 foot long by 1 wide by 36CM high, i belive its 86 Gallons??

no way thats 86 gallons, its more like 18

Nope, tank is a lot smaller i'm afraid;

Dimensions 60 x 30 x 36cm/24" x 12" x 14
Surface area 0.18 sqm/1.94 sq ft/ inches sq in
Volume 65 l./14 gal. (17.17 US gal.)
Probable volume 59 l./13 gal. (15 US gal.)

Ideally you should have a longer and taller tank for tiger barbs and angel fish- angelfish are very "tall" fish and a tank at least 18inches high is very good for them, while tiger barbs are very active fish which will grow 3inches long each and need to be in decent size shoals of their own kind (6 to 8 or more is good) and thus a tank 3ft or more long tank is the best for them . I would advise upgrading to a larger tank before you get anymore fish .

thanks for all the info and yes i dont doubt i got the gallon measurement wrong as i always screw that up. or forget it, i get some wierd looks when i quote that gallon measurement to my local fish shop everynow and then..

unfortunatly a larger tank is out of the option as i have no more room for a larger tank ( but i would love one )

back to my original question what are the chances of the angel getting agressive again and now you guys are aware of my tank size and correct gallonage could you suggest some calm colorful fish that i could populate the tank with?

 

[kribensis12]

You can put mollies in there, but you must get rid of the angels!!!!

 

[Tolak]

That tank is too short for that angel, and being 15 gallons it considers the entire tank its territory. Aggressiveness in angels is a tricky thing, sometimes they do find other tankmates compatable. You may have a rough time finding any compatable tankmates for that tank & fish.

What you can try is taking the angel out, housing it in a bucket of water with an airstone & a top for a couple of hours. Rearrange the tank, this destroys old territories. Add your new fish, let them settle in for a bit, then add the angel back in. There are no guarantees with this, but it's something commonly done.

You could try a small group of corys for the bottom, anything that swims higher is bound to aggrivate the angel in a tank that small.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yes i agree with Tolak, part of the Angelfishes agression is most likely down to the lack of territory space in the tank (which can only be sorted out if you get a larger tank). If you manage to get around to upgrading the tank, a 36inch long by 12inch wide and 18inch high tank (30gals) would be excellent for the angelfish and should offer more than enogh space and sufficient territory to help calm it down around other fish and thus make it mcuh easier for you to stock a wider variety of other fish with the angel .
As it stands though, maybe you could get a trio of oto's or 3-4 corys or khuli loaches (only if the substrate in your tank is very fine rounded gravel or sand- sand is best though) or perhaps a small pleco like a clown pleco (only if you get mopani and driftwood for it to eat though) .