Pair Of Angelfish

[Smells a bit fishy]

I would like a pair of Angels as my centre peice. Currently in my tank I have 2 dwarf red gouramis (these are new and I am monitoring their behaviour), an opaline gourami, 8 golden tetra (will up to 12 or 15), 6 dwarf rainbow fish and 4 otosinclus'. My tank is 180 litres dimensions are H18"xW15"xL4'.

The angels will be the last addition in a week or so of double 0's to make sure the tank has settled.

The real question is what's the best way to get 2 angels. I've heard that you can't just get 2 as they will fight, unless they pair, so would getting 6 and checking with my LFS that I can return 4 once I get 2 that have paired. Which now leads to my next question, how do I sex juvenile angels so that I don't end up with 6 of the same sex.

Sorry for the long post I wanted to try and get all the information to you so you can advise.

Thanks in advance

 

[ZoddyZod]

the height of 18", is that the tank height? What is the actual height of the water column (substrate to surface)? Angels should really have a bare minimum of 18" water column as they can grow to 10" in height.

the plan of getting 6 juvis is a sound one, but there is no way of checking their sex unless their reporductive organs are on display.....even then it's very tricky, and highly unlikely to occur in juvis. You just have to hope for the best!

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Thanks for the reply. The water column is probably about 16" at the shortest part. In a couple of years I will be looking to get a new tank, once I have saved some money.

One more quick one, how long will it take for them to pair up, and how aggressive are they when spawning?

 

[ZoddyZod]

will depend on their size and age (although I do not know what size and age they become mature). I did this recently and it took about 3 months for a pair to form after they reached about 4" in height.