Angelfish compatibility?

juliefurry · Aug 17, 2007

I have a 29 gallon tank and it has 1 angelfish, 1 zebra danio, and 4 melini cory cats. It has been cycled, don't worry, it's been set up since we moved in in february.

Anywho, my question is WHAT is compatible with an angelfish? This fish eats EVERYONE! It has eatten tetras, danios, and some cory cats (well we think it killed them). It also ate a snail which I think it pulled right out of it's shell somehow. I have plenty of rock and fake plant cover (which I think is the only thing keeping the other cories alive right now). I love angel fish and I don't want to take him back, is anything compatible with angelfish though?

Psyfalcon · Aug 17, 2007

Angelfish ARE cichlids, and are known to have bouts of cichlid behavior. Sometimes its best to let them have run of the tank.

Otherwise, make sure any inhabitants are quick or armored. Healthy, larger Danios, big Bronze Cories, Whiptail catfish perhaps.

juliefurry · Aug 17, 2007

Yeah we didn't realize how the angels were until this one got bigger. We talked to a couple people who have adults in with tetras and stuff and they don't bother a soul. So after we had the tank cycled with added some neon tetras and then danios then the angel and finally the cories. The angel was fine until it grew a little then started picking the fish off one by one. I don't want to add to many things as it's only 29 gallons. I'll probably just leave him and the remaining fish (1 danio, and 4 cories) until they all go. Wouldn't the catfish eat my cories? I LOVE LOVE LOVE my little cories!

Psyfalcon · Aug 17, 2007

The cories are probably safe, just watch them for any signs of Angelfish abuse. They're too large to be eaten outright at least, so you should see any problems coming. More angelfish proof hiding spots always help.

Usually when Angels mix with small tetras, its in a larger tank and there are dozens of tetras, so the schooling effect gets to work better.

FoxyWench · Aug 20, 2007

Angles prefer a dense tank, amazon swords are the prefered plant cover for angels and they like lots of it...
if you have ENOUGH plant cover you could get away with a second angel of abotu the same size, expect territorial disputes, this is why you NEED lots of cover as angles are very territorial.

Fast moving fish like zebra danios who can USUALLY out-manouver the slower moving angel. do a small school of at LEAST 6.
Rasboras also tend to fare well as do larger tetras like the lemons. again these are schooling fish so 6 or more...

Corys do well usually wiht angels.

if your angel is realy picking off all the fish agressivly, its very likely that he/she is "bored" more plants, rockwork and hiding places should help curb some of the agression.

good luck
angles are beautiful, but unfortunatly their name is a lie...they tend to be trouble makers.

juliefurry · Aug 20, 2007

FoxyWench said:

Will the fake plants be ok for the angel? I don't think my lighting is good enough for real plants (it's a bluish purple light). I will get more plants and rocks for the angel. So far though the other fish will stay in the plants and he can't get them. It'd be hard to get another angel this size the store only sells them really small (about 2 inches or so which is how big ours was when we got it). I would say it's about four inches long now.

Here's some pictures of the tank, just so you can see the rock/plant arrangement that I have in there. All the plants are fake we never got into doing live plants. I was thinking of changing the gravel to something smaller for the cories too (I was told they need smaller gravel).

Psyfalcon · Aug 20, 2007

There is definitely more to plants than having more than a purplish-blue light. Read up on them before adding any, it will save you a ton of money on dead plants.

Cories will do ok in gravel like that, but they do like SAND! I think sand looks better too.

As for cover and hiding spots, you really have none. Even using fake plants, I would triple the amount you have, as well as adding more caves or pvc pipe that the angelfish can not enter. You can buy relatively realistic ones online. Do get taller ones too. What you need to do is break up sightlines across the tank. Fish will generally loose interest in what they can't see.

FoxyWench · Aug 20, 2007

the angles will do fine with fake plants (personally o prefer to use fake for ease, nowerdays you can find very realistic looking ones, avoid the "pointy" plants, stick with broad leaved plants that the angle will prefer, silk and plastic are wonderfull!

i would realy fill in with LOTS of plants, some nice rockwork, a couple "caves" (which can be made from clean terracotta pots, pvc pipe ect.
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Tanks/vistanks1.htm

this page has some gorgeous planted tanks but with a nice selection of slik or plastic plants you could create something similar... add interesting peices of driftwood or rock structures and blend everything in. the more natural the "habitat" the less likely your angel will be to attack

Angelfish compatibility?

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