Schooling fish suggestion with Angelfish

[zorcher]

I have a 38g freshwater planted. My goal was to have an angelfish and a school of something. I bought 8 cardinal tetras today, and within 3 hours four were gone. Apparently cardinals are not going to work with my angel. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good looking schooling fish that angels won't eat?

[my_little_tetra]

Larger tetras like Colombians, black skirts, bleeding hearts, etc. work well. Cory catfish are another option.

[bettaowner]

Hatchetfish are social top dwelling fish.

[Mebbid]

My room mate has a school of barbs with her angels which seem to get along well with each other. The angels will pick on the barbs a little bit and then the barbs will gang up on the angel and chase it around but no damage has been done in the month that they have been together. It's actually really amusing to watch.

How large are your angels?

[Lt.]

I have Rummy Noses, hatchetfish, and cories. No problems whatsoever with my 3 Angelfish bullying/being bullied.

[zorcher]

Thanks to all your suggestions. I'm still learning and all input is appreciated. I only have one angel, and he is approx. 4 to 5 inches.

[Lt.]

At 4 or so inches, he's probably pretty much done growing. Any schooler at or above 2.5 inches SHOULD, IMO, be ok.

[bettasalltheway23]

I wouldnt do tetras at all especially black skirts, columbians, serpaes. I had all and they both nipped at my angels. With my angels I used to have a school of 4 australian rainbows, although i lost them to ick, currently I have a school of harlequin rasboras and cory catfish. All get along well.

[bud29]

Originally Posted by bettasalltheway23

I wouldnt do tetras at all especially black skirts, columbians, serpaes. I had all and they both nipped at my angels. With my angels I used to have a school of 4 australian rainbows, although i lost them to ick, currently I have a school of harlequin rasboras and cory catfish. All get along well.

Some tetras (cardinal, rummynose, lemon) are perfectly fine with angels. There are some more nippy ones like silvertip, black skirt, and serpae, but that doesn't mean all tetras are out of the question.

[bettasalltheway23]

And in a 38 gal, you could easily do a pair of angels in there. If the one you currently have is a male then you can get a female or vice versa. Also another good schooling fish that looks great in a large tank are neon tetras. Big tanks look great when smaller fish are used to create the illusion that the tank is bigger.

[bettasalltheway23]

Originally Posted by bud29

Some tetras (cardinal, rummynose, lemon) are perfectly fine with angels. There are some more nippy ones like silvertip, black skirt, and serpae, but that doesn't mean all tetras are out of the question.

Ah, it seems that the bigger ones (most in the skirt species) are the more nippy ones, even when in a large school. (At least in my experience) lol.

[bud29]

Originally Posted by bettasalltheway23

Ah, it seems that the bigger ones (most in the skirt species) are the more nippy ones, even when in a large school. (At least in my experience) lol.

Yeah, skirt tetras can be pretty nippy, so can serpaes. Some people even compare serpaes to tiger barbs! But many smaller tetras are much more docile, and fine with angels. You don't want to get TOO small of tetras though, because then the issue of the angel eating the tetras comes into play.

[t4runnr]

My serpae tetra was moved out of my 55 after I transferred my Bolivian from my old 20 to the 55. They started nipping my ram immediately. There were 8 of them. They are alone now in my old 20. Come feeding time, I swear, they swarm around shrimp pellets like piranha. I'll keep them until I'm ready to redo that 20 for my daughter. Hopefully one if my LFS's will take them.

I also have a juvi angel in my 55. There are also 15 cardinal tetra and 9 rumnynose tetra. No issues at the moment.