Small Shoaling Fish?

[JArnold]

hi, i'm relatively new to fish keeping but own a 20 gallon tank with 3 cory, 1 angelfish and 1 platy in and wanted to get a small shoaling fish.

was thinking along the lines of neon tetra or mayb cardinal tetra but was worried that they would nip at the angelfish's fins, the shoal would b of around five fish. was also thinking about dwarf neon rainbowfish becos i heard they are peaceful fish however thought these may b a little on the large side for my tank.

wud neon tetra b okay wiv my angel? or is there any ova shoaling fish of simarlar size which don't nip fins?

suggestions and opinions wud b gr8, thanks

 

[Inchyally]

Neons can be eaten by a large angel. How about Bleeding Heart or Serpae Tetras?

 

[JArnold]

Neons can be eaten by a large angel. How about Bleeding Heart or Serpae Tetras?

to b honest at the moment the angel is relatively small and i wud say cudnt eat a neon, r bleeding heart and serpae not known for fin nipping tho? fin nip[ping is my main worry

 

[waterdrop]

O dear! I have to disagree. I consider both bleeding hearts and serpae to be fin nippers and sometimes downright mean. Now to some extent they behave this way more if they are not in a big shoal, but unfortunately they both grow to be pretty big tetras, so a big enough shoal would probably be too big for your 20g and besides, they really make better shoals when placed with bigger fish in a really big tank like a 75 or 100g.

In contrast, its my feeling that you could indeed introduce a shoal of neons/cardinals at this stage while the angel is young (disregarding whether the tank is large enough for the angel at the moment!) and it you're lucky it will go ok. Especially if you can find neons/cards that are not the smallest, then they will be too big at this stage to be food and as time goes by the angel will not think of them as food but as just a part of his/her environment that's always been there and not to be eaten.

Unfortunately, though, you may be trying to raise the angel in a tank that's technically too small for it. The guideline is that you should have at least 17 or 18 inches of height for an angel and most 20g configurations don't go that high. Also, most people put the minimum water volume for angels at 28/29/30 US gallons (somewhere in there) and of course the type configuration that has the minimum height.

Now personally, I feel that if you have a family situation where the angel is already a "member of the family" and you are willing to consider setting up a larger tank for it in the future, then you could make a plan and go ahead with it. The situation might also depend on whether or how easily your LFS might take back the angel so that you could go with a different "centerpiece" fish such as a pair of the smaller cichlids or something.

~~waterdrop~~
edit: ps. it would be great if some other members would weigh in as I may need correcting here or there may be things I'm overlooking, plus many of you will have good suggestions for different species to be considered for this tank!

 

[RobynR]

Far from an expert here, but willing to add my two cents. I kind of had my heart set on an angel as the centerpiece for my 30-gallon hex I'm setting up. I thought since it was a particularly tall tank it would be right, but I've been told by a few different sources that there's not enough swimming space for one when it's fully grown. In fact, even the guy at my LFS told me a fully grown angel might be a bit cramped in there. He suggested I could just trade in for a smaller one whenever it got too big, but I really just want to get the tank populated and let it be. I don't want to mess with quarantines and introducing new fish all the time. So, I was pretty disappointed, but after a while of telling myself that maybe it would work after all, I finally gave in.

My new plan is to go with a German Blue Ram as my centerpiece fish. If you've never seen one, you should Google search for images -- the pictures don't do them justice. Gorgeous fish, and supposed to have a fair bit of personality, too. As I've replanned my tank around one of them, I've realized it actually all works out better this way. I can have pygmy corys for the bottom of the tank without being afraid an angel might try to eat them, and that means I can have a larger shoal and they'll be happier than if I got larger corys (which would be too crowded). I can also get a school of neon tetras without wondering if my angelfish will grow up and decide they're food after all. And I can still have the hatchetfish I wanted.

Kind of long, but just to say that even if you do really like the angel, just think about it for a few days and make sure -- especially if you don't have enough space for it. It took me a while to change my mind, but I'm glad I did.

 

[Sari]

The size of the tank and it's suitability depends a lot on the shape. As long as it is 45 cm tall and 80 cm long, an angel should be fine. They grow tall and quite large but are not very active swimmers. For a companion shoal I would suggest rummynoses (Hemigrammus bleheri) which have a bright red face, green body and lovely black and white tails. they are very good shoalers as well.

 

[tropic_john]

You could add 3 or 4 dwarf gourami? or perhaps some glowlights [7?]

 

[JArnold]

thanks everyone for your help on the matter, i have considered the fact that my angel will outgrow the tankin time and most probably will b buying a larger tank for the angel when i feel the time is right, i agree that serpae and bleeding heart will b too large and nip fins and so i think a small shoal of neon, cardinal or rummy nose tetra will b my choice as there isnt a chance the angel will b able to eat them just yet. any opinions on neon rainbowfish tho?

thanks again for the help