confused mermaid

Hi everyone, I just got into this about 6 months ago.
So I finally went through all my cycling stuff and I have my 46 gallon tank running nice and smooth and chemically sound now. (Except for the stupid pH which I can't seem to get below 8.0 no matter what I do) I have 5 glass cats, 3 dwarf gourami, 1 glass fish, 2 upsidedown catfish, 1 bristlenosed pleco (just love him ) 2 kuhli loaches, 3 marbled loaches (FINALLY FOUND EM) and a male betta (yes, he gets along great) In order to make my tank complete, I was thinking of pushing my luck and getting two small angel fish. I know there are a lot of people that have kept them with bettas and had mixed results. I was looking at koi angels this weekend. They look peaceful? Is there a certain kind of angel that would be better to try than others? There are so many posts and sites that say they keep two angels fine. There are others that say to get no less than 5. Some say they are agressive when they get bigger and some say they have never had any problems with them. HELP!!!! I adore them and really hope it will work.

If the majority opinion is that angels would not be good in this situation, can someone suggest another fish that would work better? All of my current fish stay relatively small. So for my last two fish I would like medium sized fish (at least six inches when mature) Colorful if possible. Most of my fish (except for the betta and gourami) are some form of brown or white. So it doesn't have to be a rainbow fish or anything...but a little color would be nice. I have been racking my brain for about a two months straight now since I finished the cycling trying to figure this out. Any and all advise would be greatly appreciated because I have a headache.

Thanks

Amanda

Welcome to fishlore!
IMO, you are fully stocked how you are now.

Tony G.

echoing amanda you sound fully stocked. I have read in many places that most angels are aggressive. However the koi angel is of peaceful nature, but remember all fish have different personalities so you could end up with a vicious fierce koi angel

confused mermaid

Thanks, but isn't it approx. 1 inch of fish per gallon? The bristlenose pleco is the biggest thing I will have, the upsidedown fish will stay about inch 1/2 and I count the ghost cats as one inch because they're see through LOL....I definately don't want to overstock, but according to that rule and how I counted, if I got two angels that grew to six in each, I would go over by about two inches. The betta, the gourami the ghost cats and the kuhli loaches are really the only fish we get to enjoy because we hardly ever see the pleco, the marbled loaches (although they are new) and especially the upsidedown fish. They all pretty much stick to the numerous hiding spots I have. I plan on getting a bigger tank eventually, but it would kinda stink after all that work if we can't add a couple of less timid prettier fish that we could actually enjoy. However, I want to do what's right for the fish as well, so if you really think that would be overstocking......

Amanda

The inch per gallon rule is a very general guideline.
The BN pleco takes up more than it's "inch allowance". Plecos really add to teh bioload.
The glass cats also are VERY sensitive to water conditions, so count them at their full value. The USD cats get larger than 1 1/2 in.

SWilkins

Well at my house the koi angels are not peaceful. I had 4 in a 55 but had to rearrange and now have 2 in a 55 and 2 in a 29...it was that or some of the fish were going to be killed by another of the angels. They are definitely beautiful but not peaceful. I have found out the hard way that angelfish are a very addicting fish but you really need to have loads of room for them. Of the ones that I have I can only have at the most 2 to a tank with a 29 gal being the smallest tank for 2 of them.

harpua2002

The vast majority of angels found in the hobby, including the koi angel, are all the same species, pterophyllum scalare. All fish, especially cichlids like angels, do have individual personalities. However, the color variant of the fish has no bearing on its personality.

Mermaid: IMO your tank is stocked. I'd suggest keeping an eye on any potential squabbles between your gouramis, and also between your gouramis and betta. Even if there was some extra room, I think most angelfish would shred the betta's fins anyway. They are not the most peaceful of fish.