Angelfish Weakness

Yes, I have a weakness for those long-finned beauties. Today I saw a gorgeous baby gold veil tailed Angelfish, and couldn't help but wondering...I asked the LFS employees, but unsurprisingly, they didn't know if these fish would work in my setup, so I come you, FishLore

I couldn't get any now because my quarantine tank is occupied, so we're looking a few weeks down the road here.

Do you think an Angelfish or two would fit in my 29 gal? It's a heavily planted tank w/ swimming space in the middle, and will be occupied with 3 Otos, 8 Neon Tetra, and a pair of GBRs (which will have 3-4 caves to choose from). Is this pushing the stocking limit, or would there be likely species conflicts? Would my Neons be likely to go after Angel fins?

I'm thinking one Angelfish might fit (baring species issues, as above), but are they okay solo or do they prefer another Angel to keep them company?

Thank you, FishLorians!

 

I'm definitely no expert on stocking, but I think only one would be your limit. They're okay on their own as far as I know, I'm only going to get one (if I get one) in my 55.

Be weary of the neons though. IIRC - and I might be thinking of other fish so you might want to double check - Angelfish eat neon tetras pretty regularly...I'd be worried about your neons, not your Angel!

 

Angels are happier in a "tall" tank, but the stocking should be ok with just one.

I agree with Phishies Inn, I think the neons would fall prey to the angel after it gets up in size......this might take awhile.

Should be a pretty tank though.

 

I think one would be perfect. I have 2 tiny angels (just over an inch) and the stronger of the 2 seems to be bulling the other a bit, even at this small age!

You might want to keep an eye on the neons as I had mine nip at my angels fins but this doesn't always happen. When the angel reaches sub-adult and older you may want to check it doesn't try eating the neons but this won't necessary happen as angels that grow up with smaller fish tend not to eat them. Mine didn't.

 

When I originally set up the 75 gallon years ago I wanted neons and angels. everybody that I knew that knew anything about fish told me the angels would eat the neons. But being stubborn I did it any way... and it worked This is what I did. I chose larger bodied neons like Black Neons (Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi) and Green Neons (Paracheirodon simulans). I put both types of neons in first and left them for about a week then introduced my angelfish. The angelfish never acted like they even noticed them. The neons had been named "fish food" by my friends and family but they never were I think adding them first had a lot to do with it.
This is what it looked like then (Yep the pic is crooked LOL )

 

Thanks all

I really am limited to the regular Neon Tetras at this point, as they already in the tank. I was hoping that if I got a very young Angel, it would grow up accustomed to the Neons as tank mates, and would've have a strong inclination to snack on them which, combined with the heavy plant cover on the edges and the bottom of the tank, would keep them safe. On the other hand, I was hoping that the largish school size would help protect the Angel from any fin nippage (is that a word?)

The tank dimensions are 30" long x 18" high x 12" deep, and pics are here (the middle will be more open after I plant those two baby swords hanging out in the middle):

 

Since the Neons are already in the tank I think the angels might ignore them.
Carol

 

I hope you're right -- thanks Carol.

 

Welcome Usually if the fish are too big to eat they won't even try so small angelfish would be a good place to start
Carol

 

Small fish are better anyways You get to watch them grow up!

 

Small fish are better anyways You get to watch them grow up!

Your exactly right
Carol

 

Small fish are better anyways You get to watch them grow up!

I think so too And they are less expensive to boot!

 

The tank would be the right size but I'm not sure if an Angel would get along with the GBRs or not.

 

The tank would be the right size but I'm not sure if an Angel would get along with the GBRs or not.

I heard that they generally do fine.

 

HI Shaina
I have a angelfish in with my cardinal tetras. They are fine together. The Angel Ive had for 10 months and the cardinals were introduced about 9 months ago. I can say that when I first put the cardinals into the 55 gallon with the Angel fish, they first thought it was food for them. The reaction was fast.. and nothing I could do about it. But it didnt last very long and the Angel was fine with them ever since. No one bothers each other anymore.
I also have had GBRs with the angels as well, and they never bothered the GBRs or vice versa. Right now I have 2 Bolivian rams in with an Angelfish and they get a long just fine.
I would think that since you are thinking of adding them to a 29g, I would go with only one angelfish. The reason is not so much the space issue, but after awhile Angelfish really do get aggressive with each other and a 29 gallon will not give them much room to get away and hide when needed to. Believe me, I tried it in my 29 gallon and they were fine for about 6+ months when they were juveniles ..but the aggression started up and I had to separate them. With this, I can say that one angelfish will be fine by itself.
Since you will be starting off with very small angels, I believe your neons will be fine and as they grow together the angel may not look at them as a food source. I would introduce the neons first, then the angelfish last.

 

Thanks capekate

The Ttos, shrimp, and Neons (aka, the most passive ones) are already in the tank, and the GBRs are in quarantine, so they'll be next, with the Angelfish last. Does that sound like a good plan? If the Angel and GBR need to go in together, I can keep them in the 10 gal until I have a chance to get my sister's old tank and quarantine a baby Angel in there.

 

that sounds like a good plan. You can add the Angel in last, after you add the GBRs. But I doubt very much that they will bother each other. Mine never paid much attention to each other, as the rams tend to hang out at the bottom of the tank and the angels like to swim upper middle.

 

That's what I'm hoping will happen here too...

Thanks!