at a crossroads...

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Pipedreamer86

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Aug 14, 2012
Messages
371
Location
Virginia
Ok so my 150 is fully established with 10 blackskirts, 9 corys, and three honey.sunset gouramis. Water parameters are staying stable. I just REALLY don't know.what.else.to add! Every time I think I know what I.want I hear some horror story about that particular fish turning aggressive and harming other.fish. originally it was going to be some angels, then my lfs lady told me a story of an angel single handedly taking out all her cory cats, I was going to do a.bgk then I heard they eat.your.fishes eyes! I've.heard stories about rams going ballastic as well. Part of me is thinking.about just keeping it simple.and peaceful.and adding a.few more schools of Tetras (I dont want livebearers) I love watching them school.anyway. I'm not.sure what.I'm asking.here but feel free to.comment anything.constructive.or.otherwise.
 
For peaceful fish you could add more Cories. And a ton of tetras depending on what you like this is what I would add.
6 Silver Dollars
15 Cardinal Tetras
15 Rummy Nose Tetras
10 Black Neon Tetras
6 Bosemani Rainbow Fish
10 Congo Tetras
And if not more Cories 3 Clown Loachs could work.
 
Or you could take out the Silver Dollars for 10 Denison Barbs.
 
I've kept angels since the 80's and currently have 13 adults in a 220g with rummynose tetras, threadfin rainbowfish, a ton of cory's, oto's, rams, whiptail cats, loaches, and as of yesterday 6 Rachovii killifish. I also have about 50 shrimp and they don't pay them any attention. I imagine that lady didn't tell the full story. My guess would be if an angel truely attached some cory's is because the angel was an adult and established in the tank, and if it was a single, most likely had "the tank is mine syndrone", if she added some small new cory's without removing the angels and changing the tank then yep any fish would have have been a target. Plus she didn't tell you the size of the tank either. You have a large tank and if planted/decorated well with plenty of different areas and the line of sight being broken up from one end of the tank to the other there are all kinds of fish you could add and not have to worry.

With the stock you have a nice school of rummy nose or cardinal tetras would give a good splash of color. 6 angels would work fine even as mature adults. You could do 3-5
yo-yo loaches as they don't get overly big like clown loaches and tend to be alittle easier on liking to put holes in plants than other loaches. Kuhli loaches are very peaceful and different looking and you could have a nice number of them. Both loaches mix well with cory's. Plus a school of say rasbora's or diamond or lemon tetras would work nicely. Threadfin rainbow fish are beautiful, peaceful, and tend to stay in the upper water levels. Or you could do some of the other colorful peaceful rainbow fish. And look into Whiptail Cats or Twig catfish as they are also called for something very unique (I have 3 in my 220g). You have a ton of options all without worries of having your own horror fish story to tell.
 
Last edited:
Rivercats said:
I've kept angels since the 80's and currently have 13 adults in a 220g with rummynose tetras, threadfin rainbowfish, a ton of cory's, oto's, rams, whiptail cats, loaches, and as of yesterday 6 Rachovii killifish. I also have about 50 shrimp and they don't pay them any attention. I imagine that lady didn't tell the full story. My guess would be if an angel truely attached some cory's is because the angel was an adult and established in the tank, and if it was a single, most likely had "the tank is mine syndrone", if she added some small new cory's without removing the angels and changing the tank then yep any fish would have have been a target. Plus she didn't tell you the size of the tank either. You have a large tank and if planted/decorated well with plenty of different areas and the line of sight being broken up from one end of the tank to the other there are all kinds of fish you could add and not have to worry.

With the stock you have a nice school of rummy nose or cardinal tetras would give a good splash of color. 6 angels would work fine even as mature adults. You could do 3-5
yo-yo loaches as they don't get overly big like clown loaches and tend to be alittle easier on liking to put holes in plants than other loaches. Kuhli loaches are very peaceful and different looking and you could have a nice number of them. Both loaches mix well with cory's. Plus a school of say rasbora's or diamond or lemon tetras would work nicely. Threadfin rainbow fish are beautiful, peaceful, and tend to stay in the upper water levels. Or you could do some of the other colorful peaceful rainbow fish. And look into Whiptail Cats or Twig catfish as they are also called for something very unique (I have 3 in my 220g). You have a ton of options all without worries of having your own horror fish story to tell.

Can you post some pictures of your tank?
 
I'd LOVE to see your tank also :-D


ForumRunner_20121016_222533.jpg



There's mine. I want to add a ton more plants and stuff. Does it look too terribly bare still? Should I be thinking decor before more fish?
 
I'm working on getting one of my adult kids to show me how to load pic's from the new camera, resize and paste them. Don't laugh, I never learned how when the kids were young and at home and now the grandkids are too young.

As for angel sexing there is no way to tell when young. Some say they can take an educated guess as they mature due to the hump on the heads. For me the only way to know for sure is to let them mature and pair off. When they get ready to spawn their breeding tubes drop and the female's looks like a blunt eraser tip, the males like a sharpened pencil tip. The females is easy to see. As for worrying about sexes In a large tank, set up right, there is plenty of room for pairs and non pairs. I have 13, there are 4 pairs that breed, one male breeds with two different females. I've had two pairs spawning at the same time and the others really do know to stay out of their little bubble area. Others are chased, I have never had physical damage. When no one is spawning they all use the entire tank except for the gold super veil who tends to stay close to the sword his female lays on. Yes, angels and cichlids and do fuss BUT it is mostly just chasing, an occassional lip lock, and alot of posturing. This behavior is not 24/7. Each day is different. And with a school of 6 or more there are too many for much if any individual aggression. Say you have 3 and 2 pair then the 3rd is usually harassed constantly. If there would be 4 more that is too many for the pair to single out. Just be sure if you want to add angels to add them last so they don't get the "tank is ours" attitude.
 
Rivercats said:
I'm working on getting one of my adult kids to show me how to load pic's from the new camera, resize and paste them. Don't laugh, I never learned how when the kids were young and at home and now the grandkids are too young.

As for angel sexing there is no way to tell when young. Some say they can take an educated guess as they mature due to the hump on the heads. For me the only way to know for sure is to let them mature and pair off. When they get ready to spawn their breeding tubes drop and the female's looks like a blunt eraser tip, the males like a sharpened pencil tip. The females is easy to see. As for worrying about sexes In a large tank, set up right, there is plenty of room for pairs and non pairs. I have 13, there are 4 pairs that breed, one male breeds with two different females. I've had two pairs spawning at the same time and the others really do know to stay out of their little bubble area. Others are chased, I have never had physical damage. When no one is spawning they all use the entire tank except for the gold super veil who tends to stay close to the sword his female lays on. Yes, angels and cichlids and do fuss BUT it is mostly just chasing, an occassional lip lock, and alot of posturing. This behavior is not 24/7. Each day is different. And with a school of 6 or more there are too many for much if any individual aggression. Say you have 3 and 2 pair then the 3rd is usually harassed constantly. If there would be 4 more that is too many for the pair to single out. Just be sure if you want to add angels to add them last so they don't get the "tank is ours" attitude.

Yeah one time my Angel lip locked with my Blood Parrot. Does that mean they are both males?
 
Definitely add more plants and I would add a big log or piece of driftwood.
 
Yeah one time my Angel lip locked with my Blood Parrot. Does that mean they are both males?

Not necessaily. It is most likely both trying to show their dominance over the other, you know, who's the biggest and badest.
 
Rivercats said:
Not necessaily. It is most likely both trying to show their dominance over the other, you know, who's the biggest and badest.

Oh ok. It looked funny because my Angel is pretty thin and Blood Parrots are rounder and bigger but surprisingly my Angel held its ground. I've only seen it once so most of the time they get along great.
 
When I need more peaceful critters in my tank, I just get more catfish.

But I'm a bit of a catfish fanatic.
 
Rokuzachi said:
When I need more peaceful critters in my tank, I just get more catfish.

But I'm a bit of a catfish fanatic.

Me too. Eventually I want to get a Red Tail but sadly my 220 is way too small.
 
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