Fish Living Together

[Zikofski]

Hello,

I have currently 1 Angel Fish and 3 Red Line Torpedos living together in an 85L tank (fish are babies) will be upgrading to a 420L tank over the next few months did have loaches but they all died sadly

just wondering what sorta fish can live with the current fish we have

i was thinking on getting a red tail shark?

 

[KittyKat]

Red tail shark would be nothing but trouble. What will the dimensions of the new tank be?

First, I recommend that you improve your current stocking: angels are social fish and red line torpedo barbs are schooling fish. So, I would start by adding at least 5 more angels if your new tank is at least 4 ft long, more if the tank is 5-6+ ft long. Then I would add another 7 torpedo barbs because these are schooling fish.

Next, I'd want to know your pH and temperature because these affect the fish that will do best in your tank.

 

[Zikofski]

Red tail shark would be nothing but trouble. What will the dimensions of the new tank be?

First, I recommend that you improve your current stocking: angels are social fish and red line torpedo barbs are schooling fish. So, I would start by adding at least 5 more angels if your new tank is at least 4 ft long, more if the tank is 5-6+ ft long. Then I would add another 7 torpedo barbs because these are schooling fish.

Next, I'd want to know your pH and temperature because these affect the fish that will do best in your tank.

thank you and yes our new tank is going to be around 400L dimensions are 48" x 16" x 20" maybe 25" tall because of angels and yes was thinking on more angels just how many as we had 5 loaches sadly all died apparently due to to small tank hence the upgrade will all those fish fit into and be fine in that size tank for at least a few years

P.S water temp was at 26 raised to 28/29 due to ich infection once treatment for that has complete we shall drop back down to 26oC is that even okay for the angels and torpedo barbs, i also LOVE the torpedoes so more of them would be amazing i don't know exact PH level but its between 6 and 7 i think what ever dark blue is on my ph card not with the tank at moment as i am on a course and yes i will be getting a full test kit this weekend

 

[Mowbz]

Sounds like you've learned the hard way with the loaches (assuming they were clowns? Orange and black?) and would bet this was on bad advice from someone either at a lfs, about dealing with snails, or both?

Cant disagree with Kat on the stocking, its a bit odd, but with a 85l, you cant doo too much about it until you've got your new tank running. Also sounds like you've got your head screwed on about meds

I think 26'C might still be a little high post the meds, but not sure, someone else will no doubt be able to jump in with that (hint.. )

pH would be handy

 

[KittyKat]

our new tank is going to be around 400L dimensions are 48" x 16" x 20" maybe 25" tall because of angels and yes was thinking on more angels just how many as we had 5 loaches sadly all died apparently due to to small tank hence the upgrade will all those fish fit into and be fine in that size tank for at least a few years

The angel and the barbs would have almost certainly also died (directly or indirectly) because of tank size eventually, so it is very good that you are upgrading. While a longer tank would be ideal, the tank you have should suffice in the long term. It should take 6 angels and 10 barbs without problems. For angels, I recommend that you get ones of the same size as your existing one, try to get similar colour and avoid ones with different fins.

P.S water temp was at 26 raised to 28/29 due to ich infection once treatment for that has complete we shall drop back down to 26oC is that even okay for the angels and torpedo barbs, i also LOVE the torpedoes so more of them would be amazing

That's a bit on the high side for the barbs, they prefer cooler water: I recommend you aim for 23-24 C in the long term. I once heard reports that in very large groups (30+) torpedo barbs actually become aggressive, so be careful if you plan to go over 15 or so, but do go up to at least 10 because the fish will benefit from that.

i don't know exact PH level but its between 6 and 7 i think what ever dark blue is on my ph card not with the tank at moment as i am on a course

If you have sand, I recommend a school of 15 Corys of one species, if you have gravel, a trio of plecos. I'd probably leave it at that after the extra barbs and angels, maybe considering a school of 15* 2" tetras in the longer term once the tank is heavily planted.

 

[Zikofski]

Sounds like you've learned the hard way with the loaches (assuming they were clowns? Orange and black?) and would bet this was on bad advice from someone either at a lfs, about dealing with snails, or both?

Cant disagree with Kat on the stocking, its a bit odd, but with a 85l, you cant doo too much about it until you've got your new tank running. Also sounds like you've got your head screwed on about meds

I think 26'C might still be a little high post the meds, but not sure, someone else will no doubt be able to jump in with that (hint.. )

pH would be handy

yes we did learn the hard way they seemed fine had a tiny tiny tank like 25L had 3 of them in there and we wanted more so we got a bigger tank the 85L looked okay in there was only going ot keep them in that one for a year untill the get a tad bigger but ye shame we lost them, stick with the ones we got our angel is amazing love its colour trying to get a gd pic of it think its marble type black with white stripes and abit of yellow ontop looks amazing under our light

26hmm okay I know the torpedo's top temp is 26 unsure on the angels temp he seems happy tho

pH level i shall try to get this weekend but i think it is normal what it should be

 

[Zikofski]

The angel and the barbs would have almost certainly also died (directly or indirectly) because of tank size eventually, so it is very good that you are upgrading. While a longer tank would be ideal, the tank you have should suffice in the long term. It should take 6 angels and 10 barbs without problems. For angels, I recommend that you get ones of the same size as your existing one, try to get similar colour and avoid ones with different fins.

okay everyone keeps telling us to upgrade tank way to small so if your saying its fine then i don't know but yes i would like to upgrade tbh and yes we will look for similar colour and size different fins sorry what do you mean i thought they all had the same fins just different colours XD

That's a bit on the high side for the barbs, they prefer cooler water: I recommend you aim for 23-24 C in the long term. I once heard reports that in very large groups (30+) torpedo barbs actually become aggressive, so be careful if you plan to go over 15 or so, but do go up to at least 10 because the fish will benefit from that.

okay i think we set it for the loaches so i shall set it at 24 then for the barbs do you know what the temp for the angel should be at? and we don't way to get more than 10 barbs there gd but there price is way to much 7 more for me is another £77 at our lFS if they have them in stock

If you have sand, I recommend a school of 15 Corys of one species, if you have gravel, a trio of plecos. I'd probably leave it at that after the extra barbs and angels, maybe considering a school of 15* 2" tetras in the longer term once the tank is heavily planted.

we have gravel at the moment, and we are debating gravel or sand? not sure what is better for the fish and we are planning in then ew tank to be planted currently our tank is not planted just got a fake red plant and a very small cave

i shall look into the cores, plecos or tetras altho at some point i would like to get some loaches again maybe in 4 months time once the tank is fully setup and all is gd for that i shall only get about 5 or 6 of them

okay i have done some research and angels website say between 25 to 28 temp so would you say 25 being happy medium to set the tank at?

 

[KittyKat]

different fins sorry what do you mean i thought they all had the same fins just different colours XD

Angels have also been bred for long fins, I think they're referred to as "veil tail". Long fins generally invite nipping, so it's usually better to keep only veil tail angels or only normal angels.

okay i think we set it for the loaches so i shall set it at 24 then for the barbs do you know what the temp for the angel should be at? and we don't way to get more than 10 barbs there gd but there price is way to much 7 more for me is another £77 at our lFS if they have them in stock

Angels should be good at 24 C as well, although a little higher would be ideal, but for the barbs, ideal is lower, so 23-24 C should be a good compromise. I did keep angels at 22-23 C before and they did well at that temperature.

we have gravel at the moment, and we are debating gravel or sand? not sure what is better for the fish and we are planning in then ew tank to be planted currently our tank is not planted just got a fake red plant and a very small cave

There is no doubt that it would be beneficial for the fish if the tank was planted. I recommend sand because it gives you more options in terms of fish: I can't think of any species which cannot go on sand, but there are plenty which should have sand over gravel.

i shall look into the cores, plecos or tetras altho at some point i would like to get some loaches again maybe in 4 months time once the tank is fully setup and all is gd for that i shall only get about 5 or 6 of them

If you want loaches, you should go for sand and at least 6 because they are shoaling species. So, I'd pass on the Corys, plecos and tetras, and go just for loaches. Ideally, the biggest ones you should look at should max out at 4-5 inches and be happy at mid-tropical temperatures (some loaches are cool water and some like hot water).

 

[KittyKat]

okay i have done some research and angels website say between 25 to 28 temp so would you say 25 being happy medium to set the tank at?

Just out of curiosity, how many resources did you look at? Because only one from my first page of Google search results implies that below 25 C is not acceptable (and that one implies that only 26 C works at all), the rest come up with 1* 21 C, 1* 23 C, 4* 24 C as minimums.

The places where torpedo barbs come from, the water temperature apparently varies between 15 and 25 C throughout the year. For angels, I cannot find the same information, but the species is also much further removed from its wild conditions because of decades of captive breeding. It is relatively safe to say that angels really are a truly tropical species. To be honest, it is generally not a good idea to keep any species at the extreme of its temperature range, but it is better to keep it at the extreme than out of its range altogether.

 

[Zikofski]

okay i have done some research and angels website say between 25 to 28 temp so would you say 25 being happy medium to set the tank at?

Just out of curiosity, how many resources did you look at? Because only one from my first page of Google search results implies that below 25 C is not acceptable (and that one implies that only 26 C works at all), the rest come up with 1* 21 C, 1* 23 C, 4* 24 C as minimums.

The places where torpedo barbs come from, the water temperature apparently varies between 15 and 25 C throughout the year. For angels, I cannot find the same information, but the species is also much further removed from its wild conditions because of decades of captive breeding. It is relatively safe to say that angels really are a truly tropical species. To be honest, it is generally not a good idea to keep any species at the extreme of its temperature range, but it is better to keep it at the extreme than out of its range altogether.

okay thank you all,


i have reduced the temp down and monitored the fish closely the torpedos did not like the change in temp so i have put it back to 26 since then and they seem fine confusing but who knows all fish seem happy and well now

P.S i went out at your advice and got 3 more angels shop only have 3 our angel was happy to see them nipped allot but has calmed down and they seem to get along well with each other now thnx for the advice

and from given advice from other people loaches will not be gd in our new tank due to its size so i shall not be going for loaches i will be going away for 4 months tank will be looked after by my gf but until i get back i will get more barbs then