jusfishinaround

How many Angels would I be able to house in a 55 gallon? Does it make a difference whether there are any other tank mates? Thanks!

Shawnie

if you get them all the same sex, you can have up to 4-5 ...then you can have a nice school of cories for the bottom ....are you looking to breed? have a multitude of different fish or just an angel tank?

jusfishinaround

Hi Shawnie. Looking to breed - no. (try to stop them - no ) I just love the Angels. Just contemplating the stocking of my recently aquired 55. If I knew I would have a greater chance of raising healthy Angels without other variaties of fish than yes I would probably stick with just Angels. Although, if I knew I was only going to be able to keep 2 in a 55 it would seem like an empty tank. As my own experience has shown as well as a number of members here on the forum, the Angels can be very delicate to raise. I would just like to do anything I can to increase my odds of success.

Shawnie

I agree angels are amazing fish ...if you are looking to breed then you probably will only get away with one pair....each angel is different of course, and maybe 2 pair will work...but, you would need a back up plan if they didnt...or go with the one pair to be safe...to have sucess breeding, you will need another tank of 20 gals or so...the 20 gal should be bare bottom other than either a piece of flat surface rock, or big leafed silk or real plant..thats what they like to spawn on...then after they spawn, and the babies are free swimmers, move the parents back to the 55 gal...that seems to be what works for me best...then you can keep the 20 gal prestine with a bare bottom.. if you are just looking for a fun tank in the 55 gal, get the same sex angels no matter how many you choose...then choose some fish to go with them depending on how many angels you get..some good tank mates for angels for me have been , DG, rts or rainbow, cories, br parrots, black skirt tetras, guppies, platies, and ottos...im sure others might have some suggestions, but thats what ive kept with mine...

jusfishinaround

How old/big are they before you can tell the difference in the sexes? Most of the folks at the LFS probably are not going to be of much help making the determination - although most Angels I see in the lfs are quite small/young.

Bad Wolf

when they get bigger, some males sport a lump or a horn on their forehead. try this website, it has good info and a few nice pictures.

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Cichlid,...elfish%20I.htm

if you're just having angels and nothing else you could go as many as 8, maybe 10, but stick around 6 or less so you could get some bottom dwellers.

good luck

Shawnie

Im going to respectfully disagree...8-10 angels in a 55 gal, with or without bottom dwellers, doesnt give them allot of swimming space and probably would cause some issues with aggression..not bioload wise, just aggression wise...ive seen some angels that are a good 8 inches with their amazing finnage..with proper growing space of course ...each fish is different, but IMO that would be pushing your luck...just have a back up plan if you choose that many

Bad Wolf

well yeah, maybe there might be a few squabbles. when they are small (as in less than 3 inch) they might be able to be alright.