Help! Angelfish questions

[artzechic]

I need some help. I've never had angelfish before, but I recently won some at an online auction. The auction was for 3 dime sized angelfish. I have a 20 gallon tank with 2 guppies, 4 mystery snails, and 10 ghost shrimp. The tank has been cycling for over a month now and I believe that it is fine. The nitrates rose 2 weeks ago, but have been at 20ppm for the past week and a half. Everything else has been perfect.

Ok, so I got the angelfish in the mail, and I have a 5 gallon bucket I got from walmart today. I also have 3 gallons of RO water to use. My problem is that when the guy sent them, he sent 5 instead of 3 in case a few didn't survive the trip. I normally LOVE that because it's great if they all live and you get more, but I know angelfish require more space than other fish. Will they be alright for a few months until I can get a bigger tank? Or should I try to find a home for the 2 extra? REALLY want them to live. Anyone who has gotten fish in the mail before, pleeeeease tell me what to do now.

 

[butterfly_koi]

Angelfish tend to grow slowly so I assume they would be alright in the tank until you get a larger one seeing as how they are a smaller size. Just keep an eye on your levels and do water changes when needed and if it turns out that you can't get a larger tank I would look into rehoming a few.

 

[meegosh]

What kind of angels are they? They will grow slow but they get massive. I would suggest looking into a 75g if you want to keep all 5 long term. What else do you have in the 20g? 5 angels, even small ones, is a lot for a 20g.

 

[butterfly_koi]

They have, (as posted above)
2 guppies, 4 mystery snails, and 10 ghost shrimp. Which is not overstocked by no means so adding the Angels shouldn't be an issue as long as they keep up with the water changes. And I agree with Meegosh, I would look into a 75G for them, see if they pair up and then rehome the rest. Unless by some freak accident you received five of the same sex.

 

[meegosh]

They have, (as posted above)
2 guppies, 4 mystery snails, and 10 ghost shrimp. Which is not overstocked by no means so adding the Angels shouldn't be an issue as long as they keep up with the water changes. And I agree with Meegosh, I would look into a 75G for them, see if they pair up and then rehome the rest. Unless by some freak accident you received five of the same sex.

Ah, I see. Been a long week, brain is fried.

Keep up the water changes regardless of how many you keep. I would plan for an upgrade within the next two months. They should grow fast at this age and you don't want to stunt them.

 

[artzechic]

Hi there! Thanks for the responses. I rehomed one of them because my angelfish loving friend came over and thought they were adorable, so she took one home, and the other 4 are in my tank. So far, they seem happy. My water levels are checked probably every 3 - 4 days because I'm one of those people who always worries. Lol, on that note, the only thing I'm really worried about now is stunting their growth. I'm not worried about the water cleaning because I have a filter for a 40/60 gallon tank on my 20 gallon tank. XD so it stays REALLY clean. I ordered a large sponge filter attachment for it so that they don't have to fight the sucking motion, even though I don't think it's too strong. (I saw them swimming RIGHT near the intake and they didn't look stressed or anything). I'm doing a gravel vacuum in a few minutes and that should take care of any leftover BBS. They LOVE that stuff. Speaking of which, when can I take them off of the BBS and feed them mostly flake food? I put some flakes in for the guppies when I feed the BBS so the guppies don't eat all the BBS, and I noticed 1 or 2 angels nipping at the top of the water, but I'm not sure if they are eating some BBS or some flakeys.