Hey guys. I'm absolutely in love with angelfish and was wondering how many I could successfully keep in in a 46 gallon Bowfront. No other fish would be sharing the tank with them, and the tank will be heavily decorated and planted. I plan on doing 30 - 50% water changes weekly/biweekly if that information is relevant. Any information other than one-inch-per-gallon please, and I just think the tank would look a little bland with 2-3 angels in it. Thanks
Angelfish 46g Bowfront
- Thread starter searth
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tomtom14
Aquarium Advice Freak
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I have a 22gallon and have 4 angels with other fish in it and there is lots of room. So I would say if it's heavily planted 8 would be maximum. But always have about 3 more than you really want. They will exclude certain fish from the group and bully the excluded fish. So if you get 3 more than you want when fish are excluded you can take the excluded fish out of the tank. This leaves a main group of angels that are nice to each other. Post a pic when it's done. Hope what I've said helps.
An angelfish should be in a minimum of a 29g tank. People buy dime or nickel size angels thinking they can stock a lot of them in a small tank but rarely realize by the time they are 8-12 months they can have a body size of a silver dollar or larger. Not even factoring in the fins. Angels can live very long and my roughly 4 year old angels are about 10" from top fin to bottom fin with quite large bodies. I have 9 in a 220g heavily planted tank.
Buying in odd numbers isn't the rule since Angels mature and can breed at 8 months and from 8 months on will often pair up with a suitable mate and will become very aggressive with other Angels in the tank. Often people get multiple small angels, let them mature and pair up, then rehome the remainder. In a heavily planted 46g tank you could probably get away with 2 pairs. I have 3 pairs and 1 trio in my 220g and they need the space to avoid wars when pairs are spawning.
Buying in odd numbers isn't the rule since Angels mature and can breed at 8 months and from 8 months on will often pair up with a suitable mate and will become very aggressive with other Angels in the tank. Often people get multiple small angels, let them mature and pair up, then rehome the remainder. In a heavily planted 46g tank you could probably get away with 2 pairs. I have 3 pairs and 1 trio in my 220g and they need the space to avoid wars when pairs are spawning.
Rivercats. Your reply was very inciting and I'll be taking your advice. I plan on watching very closely as I put two pairs in my tank, because the bowfront is more of a taller tank and might require some decorative positioning to ensure the angels don't have a direct line of sight on other angels when they spawn.
Quick question entirely. Does that limit my ability to get a small pleco of some sort?
Quick question entirely. Does that limit my ability to get a small pleco of some sort?
venymae
Aquarium Advice Addict
I had a single breeding pair of Marbles in my 55. At adult size they filled the aquarium quite nice. It did not look bare at all. I also raised them with a large school of neons. Never had any problems with them eating any, probably because they had been together since the angels were small. And they compliment each other visually quite nice. Personally I don't think having a small pleco such as a bristlenose or rubberlip would be a problem. But River knows waaaay more than I!
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