Oh No, Did I Buy Too Many Angelfish ? =,(

[tyedyefishy]

I have a 125 gallon aquarium. Its 6 feet by 18inches. 473L.
I have
10 Angelicus Botia
3 gouramis.. 1 blue male, 1 female gold, and 1 female opaline
2 bristlenose pleco
1 Featherfin Synodontis Catfish
1 Pictus Catfish
12 Angelfish... ???

The knowledgeable guy at my lfs told me 12 would be okay for a tank as large as my tank is. He's always had really good advice and really knows his stuff. Now I'm reading about how each pair should have 36 gallons or something ? I have two adults that seem to pick on each other a little bit... seems pretty normal from what I read. The rest of my angelfish are medium-sized... all have the body size of about a silver dollar or more.
I have a lot of hiding places and I'm working towards making it fully planted if that makes any difference..
I really love my Angels and don't want to have to give any back but I'll do whatever it takes to keep the fishies happy... of course I don't want to make them unhappy or shorten their lifespans just because I wanted 12 !

Any advice on what I should do??

 

[Salam]

I don't know much about angelfish, but am sure someone will come along.

What I wanted to say is that your pictus and syno are probably very lonely as they like living in groups so if possible could you up the numbers?

 

[onidrase]

the featherfin is most definitely not lonely. While some synodontis are social, featherfins are not one of those synodontis. They're more social at a young age, but when they're older they like to kill each other.

Pictus catfish IME are rather similar to angelfish, in which while they are more of a shoaling species, if you keep one of them alone for a while, its not going to tolerate others of its own kind.

back to the original question, in my 4 foot 75 tank I was told I could get 6 angelfish. 12 seems like a lot for a 125, but I'm sure it's not too far off. I would have said 10 or so, but an extra 2 doesn't feel like it's gonna hurt.

 

[Salam]

I'm just quoting info I have read:

TFF species index link

Other linke, look under 'notes'

Plus I know someone who has six of them in a 5ft tank with plenty of hiding places and all are fine.

Regarding the pictus, I got 8 of them and got them all at the same time and the group behaviour they display is amazing. Always together and moving around as a group so surely they are much happier being together.

 

[Flute]

I agree with Onidrase. Just make sure you have a lot of filtration and do a little extra when doing water changes. My tank is a little over stocked, and that's how I cope, with no ill effects on the fish
If it does become apparant that it's taking too much of a toll on the group, if you want to keep them all you could always get a smaller second tank and split the group in half?
I can imagine a group of 12 is going to look fantastic XD

 

[MBOU]

I would definately keep all the angels until they are much older, you might find as the reach maturity that you end up with too many males so you might find that you need to move some on.

Keep an eye on them, if you see any being overly aggressive or seriously battered, you know you need to move them on.

I would 100% definately up the numbers of pictus to at least 3 but 5 might do better

 

[Blitz]

I have a 125 gallon aquarium. Its 6 feet by 18inches. 473L.
I have
10 Angelicus Botia
3 gouramis.. 1 blue male, 1 female gold, and 1 female opaline
2 bristlenose pleco
1 Featherfin Synodontis Catfish
1 Pictus Catfish
12 Angelfish... ???

The knowledgeable guy at my lfs told me 12 would be okay for a tank as large as my tank is. He's always had really good advice and really knows his stuff. Now I'm reading about how each pair should have 36 gallons or something ? I have two adults that seem to pick on each other a little bit... seems pretty normal from what I read. The rest of my angelfish are medium-sized... all have the body size of about a silver dollar or more.
I have a lot of hiding places and I'm working towards making it fully planted if that makes any difference..
I really love my Angels and don't want to have to give any back but I'll do whatever it takes to keep the fishies happy... of course I don't want to make them unhappy or shorten their lifespans just because I wanted 12 !

Any advice on what I should do??

Yes, sorry to say so but that's too many angels in a 125. 12 angels in a 125 is too much, let alone even more fish! I would upgrade it... or get a 300 gallon and move the angels in that or two additional 125 gallons and put 6 angels in each of the 125s.

 

[tyedyefishy]

Upgrading really isnt an option. The boyfriend didn't even want the size I have now... I don't see why some are saying its okay and others aren't? What is the reason for only having 6 in a 125? Is it the male ratio or something? I have two 100 gallon filters on my tank and I do weekly 50-60% percent water changes.
I don't have room for any more fish... how would I add more pictus? I really don't want to get rid of half of them!! sad day.

 

[anney]

i am not so clear about the angelfish.

 

[Blitz]

Upgrading really isnt an option. The boyfriend didn't even want the size I have now... I don't see why some are saying its okay and others aren't? What is the reason for only having 6 in a 125? Is it the male ratio or something? I have two 100 gallon filters on my tank and I do weekly 50-60% percent water changes.
I don't have room for any more fish... how would I add more pictus? I really don't want to get rid of half of them!! sad day.

It's just... it's overstocking. These angelfish get to a pretty decent size. All I'm saying is unless you want to house them improperly, you should either upgrade or give them away. It's like having 12 dinner plates plus MORE in a 125 tank. 125 is HUGE but not the biggest, i've seen it myself, but... A pair (2) of angels in a 75 gallon is plenty to me. We all learned different ways. The way I learned, it was different from you guys. Its like having 12 occupants in an appartment, plus more. It's overstocking, that's all I'm trying to say. You have to get rid of them or upgrade. I'm only trying to help, others may say I'm wrong...

Don't take more than you can handle.

 

[tyedyefishy]

I'd like to hear more opinions first. Don't know if I'm giving my hopes up because of somebody who just joined a few months ago. Not trying to be offensive but by your profile and previous posts, I don't think you seem like somebody I want to take advice from.. but thanks for your opinion

 

[JohnDyer]

I was told by several places 6 angels with little/no other fish is fine for 56 gallons. Just judging by that, you should be fine. I'd keep them until you can determine their sexes, see if they fight much, then decide from there. Stocking level wise, doesn't seem too bad.

 

[walkers101]

I can see you getting away with the 12 untill they are much older

 

[onidrase]

I'm just quoting info I have read:

TFF species index link

Other linke, look under 'notes'

Plus I know someone who has six of them in a 5ft tank with plenty of hiding places and all are fine.

Just cause you can keep them in together doesn't mean they get lonely. At work when we have featherfin cats, they all huddle together and love each other until they reach about 2.5 inches, then they begin to attack each other and in most cases the largest one needs to be removed to keep them from killing each other. I've personally kept a featherfin cat and it'd attack anything that got but 6 inches near its territory. Granted since the first link suggests you can keep them in groups under the account that there is plenty of territory in a large tank, it's not necessarily suggesting they're social fish. Keep in mind both of your resources say you can keep this fish in a 30 gallon tank, I'd recommend nothing less than a 55 for a 8-12 inch long catfish species.

These two links also say this fish is peaceful, whereas I've seen the opposite, people always ask to bring their featherfins back because they kill their other fish after they reach a certain age. These guys are rather similar to red tailed sharks, they're territorial bottom feeders who will spend a lot of time in their cave, and tend to fend off everything that gets near it, sometimes mercilessly.

 

[angelfishguy]

12 angels in a 125g is definitely do-able, they do better in bigger groups and there will be less aggression also.

I say try it, at the end of the day, you'll be the one looking after these fish and you'll be the one to decied if its working or if its not.