angelfish?

[CherryBarb123]

I have a 55 gallon with

6 bleeding hearts
6 julii cory
4 cherry barbs
2 honey gourami
3 zebra loaches

Would i be able to add angels to this group? Are some of my fish going to cause a problem if i do? i love teh idea but if it wont work then i will have to forget the idea. If angels do work, how many could i add. I dont want them to pair but i guess if i have more than one they may. Will they work? if not is there another large centerpiece i could add?

I do love rams and kribs, but they are not going to work for me

I would like a fairly large centerpiece or 2 if possible

Thanks

 

[aisforangelfish]

I have kept angels with some of those fish. I would think it would be fine provided they have enough space and tall plant-like decor or visual barriers to have alone time.

 

[CherryBarb123]

Thank you. How many would you reccomend trying?

 

[bruinsbro1997]

A single one or two. I wouldn't try more than that, angels get really territorial when they mature and wouldn't want too many in there, since there wouldn't be that much space for all of them.

 

[CherryBarb123]

Ok, thanks. If I got two, wouldn't they be at risk of breeding (if 1 male and 1 female)?

Would it be better to get them smaller rather than larger, and let them grow into the tank?

 

[bruinsbro1997]

You can't really tell the sexes of angels when they are young. The only surefire way to is to get some mature ones and sex them from there by a few key features.

I would get two young ones, that way they get used to the fish around them.

 

[CherryBarb123]

Ok thanks. Should I leave my stock list as it is with the angels added or could I add more schoolers? Maybe a small school of cardinals? And also a brittlenose pleco?

Thanks

 

[absolutangel04]

IMO, you would be fine to get 2 angels for your tank. Yes, there is a chance that 2 will pair, but its luck of the draw if you get a pair or not. If they do pair, some pairs are nastier than others. So, the worst case scenerio is that you may have to re-home one some day, but since you have a decent amount of space, it should be fine.
I suggest getting 2 smallish ones. The super tiny ones tend to be very fragile and hard to keep alive, so I recommend getting them about the size of a silver dollar or so.
Even when angels are adults, there is not a fool-proof way of sexing them unless you actually see them spawn. None of my adults are physically recognizable as their gender. I have one unpaired fish and I have no idea what gender it is even though its full grown. So, because of that, I think you may as well get some younger angels and hope for the best.
The only potential thing to look out for in your tank is the honey gouramis. Are they a pair, or 2 of the same gender? It should be fine, but if you end up with 2 pairs they may bicker. You have enough space though that I doubt it will be an issue. Like aisforangelfish said, barriers in the line of sight should help prevent possible issues.
To answer your final questions, a bnp would be fine in there IMO. Instead of adding another school, I would just add more to the schools you have. It looks less cluttered that way and larger schools are more impressive anyways IMO.

 

[CherryBarb123]

Thank you

I have one male one female honey gourami

So if I was to go for This would it work?

8 x cherry barbs (would 10 be too far?)
8 x bleeding hearts
1 x brittlenose pleco
2 x angels
6 x julii cory
5 x Zebra loaches
2 x honey gourami

Could I add to the bleeding heart school, as they stand out the most?

Would that be about right, or too much?

Thanks

 

[absolutangel04]

IMO, that would be fine. I think 10 cherry barbs would work and a few more bleeding hearts would be fine too.
Like I said, keep an eye of your angels and gouramis since you could end up with 2 pairs of fish, but I think it will be fine even if both species do choose to pair up.

 

[CherryBarb123]

Thanks, thats great. I will go with that idea

Will it look to busy in the middle section? The bleeding hearts only ever leave that section to feed, and the barbs are small, so when at the top it still seems really empty. Would the angels stay up that way?