Angel fish compatible in community?

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Just Another Fish Guy

Just Another Fish Guy

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Joined
Apr 23, 2013
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192
Location
Wesley Chapel, FL
Hey guys!!

I've read some conflicting info on this. I'd like to get a nice showpiece fish and was thinking about a pair of Angels. Would they be compatible in a 60 gallon community with mostly tetras?


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i would say yes. but I'm guessing other members will say that the angel will go after the smaller fish..... in experience, i keep guppies and chili rasboras with an angel as a centerpiece in a 40 breeder
 
I would advise that the néons could potentially become snacks. Should be fine with the others though. I would also just do a single angel you could have some major Territory issues if they pair up.
 
Only problem is that knowing their sex before maturity is impossible.

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If possible, having smaller Angels grow up with the other fish usually helps preventing them from using their tankmates as snacks. This does pose the pairing dilemma however. Having 2 males is actually better than having a male & female pair or 2 females pair. As previously stated tho, it's near impossible to tell sexes on smaller Angels. You would have to either get some larger fish that are more easily sexable or be prepared to rehome one of the 2 should they grow up to be a male/female pair or 2 females pair wanting to spawn. That's when Angels get their most territorial. Otherwise, the mix you stated should be okay with the neons being the only possible issue if they are too small.

Hope this helps (y)
 
Your tank is big enough to house most any type of Angelfish but if you want to stay small, try finding P. Leopoldi. also known as the dwarf Angelfish. Here's a link to an article about them: Pterophyllum leopoldi

As for species to stay away from or look for, there are only 3 types of Angels (P Altum, P. Scalare and P. Leopoldi) with possible sub species. The majority of the Angels sold today are P. Scalare. Pretty much all the different color varieties you see are P. Scalare.
Silver Angelfish tend to be the most aggressive of the lot as they are closer genetically to their wild ancestors. Black Angels were the most fragile however, I believe the genetics of the Blacks now make it a stronger fish line so color variety doesn't really matter all that much.

Hope this helps (y)
 
I have a community tank with tetras (very young and small tetras included), platys and small Cory cats with 4 angels in my 60 gal. I also ready conflicting issues with angels and community fish. What we made sure of was to place all the angels in at the same time with each other and to get them all very young. They were about 1" vertically when I got them. They keep to themselves in our tank.

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I ended up picking up two juvenile Blue Pearlscale Angels. They have been in the tank about 2 weeks now and are doing great!! They don't bother the other fish, and the other fish don't bother them.
 
Just Another Fish Guy said:
It could change maybe once the Angels start maturing and getting bigger. Never know...when/if that happens...I'll have a good excuse to get another tank. :brows:
Click to expand...

trust me they won't bother them at all..... i like it when you do something that the "experts" say it is not not going to end well but at the end they are all fine together.
 
I had seven Angels in a community with zebra danios, khulis, and ottos and they are model citizens with the other species. However, four of the seven have paired up and started fighting. I ended up moving one of the pairs to a spawning tank and getting ready to move the second pair. The group seems to tolerate one pair better than two. The two males used to meet in the middle of the tank to fight and swim off to the spectate corners with the girls close behind.

The worst I'm seeing is they chase the danios some times but trust me, those danios are fast enough to get away. If you're not interested in breeding I would have advised just one angel. But since you already have two small ones, maybe if any problems occur you could plan to start a second community tank and split the two up.


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Legit Fish said:
trust me they won't bother them at all..... i like it when you do something that the "experts" say it is not not going to end well but at the end they are all fine together.
Click to expand...

So then, legit fish, the question becomes " What makes you an expert that it won't happen?" ;)
Having worked with the fish myself for over 4 decades, I can tell you from experience that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It all depends on a number of circumstances. For example, Large Angelfish that grow up with small Neon Tetras are known to not bother the Neons because of familiarity while another large Angel that didn;t grow up with them would devour the entire school. It's all situational. I had to pull a medium sized Guppy out of the mouth of a medium large Angel who is now much larger and living with a number of adult Guppies from the same group. There is just no telling what the results will be which is why the suggestion was to be aware that the current situation might change as the Angels get larger and not THAT IT WILL change. This way, if things start to go "South", something can be done more rapidly to save all the fish involved.

I'm just sayin...:whistle:
 
Angels are unpredictable. I have 1 angel with rummynose tetras and all is well. But my angels ended up beating each other --to death. (I had 3 previously).


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