How Many Angels Can I Have?

[mattlee]

i am currently in the process of transfering my fish to a 240L 4ft tank from a 90L 2ft and have much more room available now. i will have 8/9 corys, 1 dwarf gourami, 3 polka dot loaches, a shoal of about 9/10 tetra (not sure which yet) and maybe a bn plec. i also have 3 platys, 2 gb rams and 2 buenos aries tetra but these can be given to friends or traded at lfs if needed... i am looking for a few largish fish to finish the tank off and have looked at rainbows but am not 100% and have just been looking at angels. how many could i put in the tank with stocking list above?
i have an eheim 2215 & a rena xp3 external filters so plenty of filtration, tap pH is 7.2, several large pieces of bogwood etc so water is slightly tanned. i know neons dont go with angels but any advice on compatable tetras would also be appreciated.
thanks, Matt

 

[mattlee]

i am currently in the process of transfering my fish to a 240L 4ft tank from a 90L 2ft and have much more room available now. i will have 8/9 corys, 1 dwarf gourami, 3 polka dot loaches, a shoal of about 9/10 tetra (not sure which yet) and maybe a bn plec. i also have 3 platys, 2 gb rams and 2 buenos aries tetra but these can be given to friends or traded at lfs if needed... i am looking for a few largish fish to finish the tank off and have looked at rainbows but am not 100% and have just been looking at angels. how many could i put in the tank with stocking list above?
i have an eheim 2215 & a rena xp3 external filters so plenty of filtration, tap pH is 7.2, several large pieces of bogwood etc so water is slightly tanned. i know neons dont go with angels but any advice on compatable tetras would also be appreciated.
thanks, Matt

just been reading up on angels and several places state to buy about 6 juvi fish then when 2 have paired leave them in the tank and remove the others. is this correct?

 

[mattlee]

anyone.....

 

[Wills]

Stocking sounds good for the tank so far but just one or two observations on it - the loaches boost their numbers and they will be much happier maybe upto 5 and then the beunos aries tetras either add upto 5 or rehome them as they need a school. I think if it was me id ditch the big school plans and up them as they are nice fish when adult

With the angels its the same with all cichlids they need a certain amount of footprint. I think I would try and find a pair - I had luck with just adding two as my first fish and they paired up but the adding young to a tank and waiting is a good way of going for it. An other reason for having a pair is with the GBR they will need their space as well.

I think with the pair of angels with the other fish as well you will be pretty much full stocked then The filtration will be excelent from your filters I have a Rena XP3 and have used it on a similar sized tank to yours in the past and it is really good so no probs there

 

[mattlee]

Stocking sounds good for the tank so far but just one or two observations on it - the loaches boost their numbers and they will be much happier maybe upto 5 and then the beunos aries tetras either add upto 5 or rehome them as they need a school. I think if it was me id ditch the big school plans and up them as they are nice fish when adult

With the angels its the same with all cichlids they need a certain amount of footprint. I think I would try and find a pair - I had luck with just adding two as my first fish and they paired up but the adding young to a tank and waiting is a good way of going for it. An other reason for having a pair is with the GBR they will need their space as well.

I think with the pair of angels with the other fish as well you will be pretty much full stocked then The filtration will be excelent from your filters I have a Rena XP3 and have used it on a similar sized tank to yours in the past and it is really good so no probs there

my tetras and gbr's have gone to a friend tonight. so i am 4 fish less than before... do you really think a pair of angels will be my stocking limit? i was hoping for about 6 or so. my new stocking list is in my sig but i want to add more corys and loaches

 

[Bebobb]

Stocking sounds good for the tank so far but just one or two observations on it - the loaches boost their numbers and they will be much happier maybe upto 5 and then the beunos aries tetras either add upto 5 or rehome them as they need a school. I think if it was me id ditch the big school plans and up them as they are nice fish when adult

With the angels its the same with all cichlids they need a certain amount of footprint. I think I would try and find a pair - I had luck with just adding two as my first fish and they paired up but the adding young to a tank and waiting is a good way of going for it. An other reason for having a pair is with the GBR they will need their space as well.

I think with the pair of angels with the other fish as well you will be pretty much full stocked then The filtration will be excelent from your filters I have a Rena XP3 and have used it on a similar sized tank to yours in the past and it is really good so no probs there

my tetras and gbr's have gone to a friend tonight. so i am 4 fish less than before... do you really think a pair of angels will be my stocking limit? i was hoping for about 6 or so. my new stocking list is in my sig but i want to add more corys and loaches

I can tell you right now that the angels will eat your shrimp.

 

[Wills]

was using the inch per gallon as a rough guide though I know the flaws I find it useful as a quick gage as to how things will work. - though without the rams and the other tetras it changes things

so with the cories, dwarf gourami, loaches, tetras, plec and platies - that roughly works out at 53 inches taking into account the over size of the plec and the undersize of the tetras - though admittedly most of these run under this stocking guidance. With your filtration you will be able to handle an "over stock" of sorts. Though I think 6 would still be too many in a 4ft tank angels do usually achieve quite a decent size quickly - now the GBRs are gone more teritory is available so maybe a trio or 2 pairs? Though to give you a rough idea of what this is like with 4 angels and the above idea its 77 inch of fish. I think if you want a large group of angels around 4 maybe focus on these as the main inhabitants of the tank then mixing them with maybe 6 cories, 1 BN and 10 tetras rather than gourami, loaches and platies as well? Good biotope there as well and using the inch rule again you get to 52 inch of fish so potentialy adding a few more tetras and/or cories in a few months time after this tank has established well?

Also one more question about the plec you said a female BN - is this because your not a big fan of the bristles? Have you thought of other L numbers that stay small? I have 2 in my tank that get to a similar size as a BN and they are absolutley awesome and were not that much more money than normal BN's of a similar size.

Wills

 

[Bebobb]

was using the inch per gallon as a rough guide though I know the flaws I find it useful as a quick gage as to how things will work. - though without the rams and the other tetras it changes things

so with the cories, dwarf gourami, loaches, tetras, plec and platies - that roughly works out at 53 inches taking into account the over size of the plec and the undersize of the tetras - though admittedly most of these run under this stocking guidance. With your filtration you will be able to handle an "over stock" of sorts. Though I think 6 would still be too many in a 4ft tank angels do usually achieve quite a decent size quickly - now the GBRs are gone more teritory is available so maybe a trio or 2 pairs? Though to give you a rough idea of what this is like with 4 angels and the above idea its 77 inch of fish. I think if you want a large group of angels around 4 maybe focus on these as the main inhabitants of the tank then mixing them with maybe 6 cories, 1 BN and 10 tetras rather than gourami, loaches and platies as well? Good biotope there as well and using the inch rule again you get to 52 inch of fish so potentialy adding a few more tetras and/or cories in a few months time after this tank has established well?

Also one more question about the plec you said a female BN - is this because your not a big fan of the bristles? Have you thought of other L numbers that stay small? I have 2 in my tank that get to a similar size as a BN and they are absolutley awesome and were not that much more money than normal BN's of a similar size.

Wills

If they want to keep their platty fry, then the fry will need to be put into a breeding trap or removed. The angels will eat the fry. I would put 3-4 angels in that tank, but that is just my opinion.

 

[Nick16]

i would keep a pair if i was you, you could go for four but then you would probably have fighting


anyway, betta boy, why are you keeping 1 german ram in a 40L tank!!!!!

 

[mattlee]

was using the inch per gallon as a rough guide though I know the flaws I find it useful as a quick gage as to how things will work. - though without the rams and the other tetras it changes things

so with the cories, dwarf gourami, loaches, tetras, plec and platies - that roughly works out at 53 inches taking into account the over size of the plec and the undersize of the tetras - though admittedly most of these run under this stocking guidance. With your filtration you will be able to handle an "over stock" of sorts. Though I think 6 would still be too many in a 4ft tank angels do usually achieve quite a decent size quickly - now the GBRs are gone more teritory is available so maybe a trio or 2 pairs? Though to give you a rough idea of what this is like with 4 angels and the above idea its 77 inch of fish. I think if you want a large group of angels around 4 maybe focus on these as the main inhabitants of the tank then mixing them with maybe 6 cories, 1 BN and 10 tetras rather than gourami, loaches and platies as well? Good biotope there as well and using the inch rule again you get to 52 inch of fish so potentialy adding a few more tetras and/or cories in a few months time after this tank has established well?

Also one more question about the plec you said a female BN - is this because your not a big fan of the bristles? Have you thought of other L numbers that stay small? I have 2 in my tank that get to a similar size as a BN and they are absolutley awesome and were not that much more money than normal BN's of a similar size.

Wills

Hi Wills, no mention of female bn plec... i quite like the bristles! the reason for the plec is to try and keep the algae to a minimum as the tank is in the conservatory and does get gda from time to time. i dont have one yet but was only thinking about one. i know 1 is not really going to touch all the algae but just thought it would help a little my stocking right now is - 3 x polka dot loaches, 1 x dwarf gourami, 3 x platys, 5 x corys, 2 amino shrimp, 15 ish cherry shrimp, 10 baby apple snails. these are fish and creatures that are in my tank already and i want to keep, although the platys could go to get the right set up if needed.
Matt

 

[mattlee]

i would keep a pair if i was you, you could go for four but then you would probably have fighting


anyway, betta boy, why are you keeping 1 german ram in a 40L tank!!!!!

Hi Nick16, if i go for a pair does it matter if they are both male or both female as i understand they are impossible to sex.....? obviously 1 of each is ideal but its a gamble on what you get isnt it?

was using the inch per gallon as a rough guide though I know the flaws I find it useful as a quick gage as to how things will work. - though without the rams and the other tetras it changes things

so with the cories, dwarf gourami, loaches, tetras, plec and platies - that roughly works out at 53 inches taking into account the over size of the plec and the undersize of the tetras - though admittedly most of these run under this stocking guidance. With your filtration you will be able to handle an "over stock" of sorts. Though I think 6 would still be too many in a 4ft tank angels do usually achieve quite a decent size quickly - now the GBRs are gone more teritory is available so maybe a trio or 2 pairs? Though to give you a rough idea of what this is like with 4 angels and the above idea its 77 inch of fish. I think if you want a large group of angels around 4 maybe focus on these as the main inhabitants of the tank then mixing them with maybe 6 cories, 1 BN and 10 tetras rather than gourami, loaches and platies as well? Good biotope there as well and using the inch rule again you get to 52 inch of fish so potentialy adding a few more tetras and/or cories in a few months time after this tank has established well?

Also one more question about the plec you said a female BN - is this because your not a big fan of the bristles? Have you thought of other L numbers that stay small? I have 2 in my tank that get to a similar size as a BN and they are absolutley awesome and were not that much more money than normal BN's of a similar size.

Wills

If they want to keep their platty fry, then the fry will need to be put into a breeding trap or removed. The angels will eat the fry. I would put 3-4 angels in that tank, but that is just my opinion.

not too fussed about platty fry to be honest as i wouldnt have anywhere to put them anyway and dont want to get stuck with loads of fish.

 

[Nick16]

a BN wont do anything for GDA, it is so touch only a really strong algae scraper or a razor blade will remove it.

get some live plants in there to help use up any nutrients.