Which tank for Angel

[Papa]

I presently have one Angel in my ten gallon quarantine tank. He's/she's still small. My two established tanks are a 29 gallon and a thirty gallon. The 29 is about 19"high , the 30 is about 17" high. The 30 gl tank is 6" longer. Tank mates will be six harlequin rasboras. So question. Which is better 2" more height or 6" more length? Thanks.

 

[Byron]

Either will be about the same, but I would go with the additional length, so the 30g.

At maturity, if healthy, the angelfish will be 6 inches in body length with a vertical fin span of around 8 inches.

Byron.

 

[Papa]

Byron, thanks for your reply. Petco has their dollar a gallon sale going so I just picked up a 55gl yesterday. So, my plan now is to add a few more Angels. Thinking of three or five total. Does this sound reasonable with a group of five to six harlequin dashboard or Lemon Tetras?

 

[Byron]

Byron, thanks for your reply. Petco has their dollar a gallon sale going so I just picked up a 55gl yesterday. So, my plan now is to add a few more Angels. Thinking of three or five total. Does this sound reasonable with a group of five to six harlequin dashboard or Lemon Tetras?

Now you're into another thing I'll try to explain.

Angelfish are shoaling fish; they live in groups, not especially large (like the groups of hundreds and even thousands that occur among characins) but groups in which they form an hierarchy. Five is the minimum that should be considered for an aquarium, and a 4-foot tank is minimum for this group. Any fewer and you run the almost certain risk that as the group settles one fish is likely to be the brunt of bullying. This will then spread to another subordinate fish, and so on. Five or more usually alleviates this and the natural aggressive nature is spread out. Though sometimes a particularly dominant male can tear all this to shreds in short order.

Acquire all of them at the same time if at all possible. When you have all five, then introduce them together to the 55g. This can avoid a target fish being bullied to death, most times. There are no guarantees.

The only issue now is that in time a pair may form. Angelfish must select their mates, they will not accept any fish. If they bond, and then spawn, the other angels may have to be removed temporarily or more likely permanently. So keep this in mind, as the day may well come.

To other fish...the Harlequin Rasbora is a good tankmate, but in a larger group, no less than 9 or 10 up to 15. This species always fares better the more there are. This applies to most shoaling fish of course, but some seem to manage better with smaller groups than others, and the rasbora are a group of fish that will be better with more of them.

No idea what "dashboard" refers to. The Lemon Tetra is not a characin I would combine with angelfish. I have a tank of lemons, they are very active fish. I previously had them in a large tank as one of several species, and they were just as active. This can drive sedate fish like angelfish to distraction. There are several other characin species suited to angelfish, like the Phantoms (Red or Black), Rosy, Roberti, Bleeding Heart, to name a few that come to mind. Corydoras catfish for the substrate are good with all of this.

Byron.

 

[Papa]

Okay, so I'm thinking I am better with a single Angel or add four to the one I have and then bring my school of Rasboras to 9 or 10. That is a total of fourteen to fifteen total for the tank. Then I would move my Lemons to my other tank. The other tank is an established 29 and the Lemons would be with 6 Rosey barbs that are now with the rasboras. Sorry but the dashboard was unintended and should have said rasboras (this kindle does that). Looking ahead if I don't want to breed Angels could I select just females to keep in the 55 ? Thanks for your kind replies. I could also keep the 55 for just Angels.

 

[Byron]

Okay, so I'm thinking I am better with a single Angel or add four to the one I have and then bring my school of Rasboras to 9 or 10. That is a total of fourteen to fifteen total for the tank. Then I would move my Lemons to my other tank. The other tank is an established 29 and the Lemons would be with 6 Rosey barbs that are now with the rasboras. Sorry but the dashboard was unintended and should have said rasboras (this kindle does that). Looking ahead if I don't want to breed Angels could I select just females to keep in the 55 ? Thanks for your kind replies. I could also keep the 55 for just Angels.

Determining the gender of angelfish is not at all easy. The breeding tube in fish ready to spawn is the best method. Interactive behaviours can be misleading. And aside from that, female angelfish can develop aggressive behaviours as well, and females have been known to lay eggs and defend them without males present. In other words, angelfish are angelfish.

While I am not one who believes in maintaining any species in an environment that is contrary to that for which they have evolved and been "programmed" by nature...a single angelfish might be preferable if you already have it.

The Lemons and Rosy Barbs should be fine; I had my Lemons in with Black Ruby Barbs in fact, they got along fine. Barbs are very active fish, so they suit each other.