Getting ready to stock the 75 gallon and have a question

Okay folks, here it is



I am ready to get some fish in there now. I have a couple of questions.

As any of you who have followed this know, I wanted Pictus Catfish, but I have now changed my mind. It seems that it is just to hard to find tankmates that can tolerate their fast swimming and be big enough not to become a snack.

So I have decided to go with Angel Fish, which were always my second choice, actually I wanted them both in the tank, but have been told that is not a good thing to do. So I am just going with Angels. My cousin has 2 Angels, I don't think they are a mated pair. She has had them for 5 years and says that aside from chasing each other every once in a while, they get along fine, and they have never hurt each other. So first question... 2? 3? 4 or more? Second question...will Angel Fish eat snails? I want to get some snails, but not as food for the Angels. LOL

As to what I want to put in the tank, at least to start out with, are only Angels for the upper water and I would like some type of Cory for the bottom. Not Albino's because I have those in the 55. I want this tank to different. I am also thinking of some sort of eel or maybe a Kuhli Loach, along with a Bristle Nose Pleco. I don't know what I will be able to find when I go to the pet store, so I am keeping the idea open for everything except the Angels.

Question number 3, do any of you know what sort of fish would love to eat all this lovely...ahemmm...whatever it is on this wood?


Something like this got on the wood in my 10 gallon and the shrimp had a feast on it. But I know I can't have shrimp in this tank with Angel Fish. So are there any other fish that love to snack on the oh so lovely whatever it is growing on this driftwood?

TIA

On the angelfish question, you want five, no less. And acquire them together, and roughly the same age. I explained why earlier today, in posts 6 and 9 of this thread:
http://www.fishforums.net/posts/3755009/

Your cousin has been very, very lucky, and probably due to the fact that they are both female, or if a male/female pair, they are accepting each other for the most part (this can last, or not, depending upon the individual fish). Pushing, shoving, "charging" are all common behaviours among angels, even a pair will do this. Two males would have resulted in one dead one by now.

Angelfish will not eat snails, at least not so far as I know. Like most fish, they can't be bothered getting through the shell.

I would not have an eel, not with sedate angelfish; the nocturnal activity would be the same problem as the pictus. Kuhlii loaches fall into the same category, as they are nocturnal. More "regular" loaches, like some of the Botia species, can work, provided they are the smallert and more peaceful species. I can suggest some if interested. Corydoras are ideal, and with more than 150 described species, plenty of variety to choose from. You will see a shoal of Corydoras adolfoi (could be C. duplicareus) in the video I posted in the linked thread. They are one of the few that will work with wild caught angels as those are in the video, because wild fish must have higher temperatures, like discus, 82F and up, and many cories will find this difficult, but there are some that are fine; with commercially (tank) raised angelfish, you don't have this problem as they are fine with temps in the higher 70's but you still have to watch the temp, as some cories need 75-76F max and the angels will be better a tad higher.

The pleco might eat that fungus, others have reported they do, depending what the fungus is, and I've no idea. Have you had fish in this tank with the fungus on the wood? I would hate to add a group of angelfish or cories and see them reacting to the fungus should it be a toxic species. I had this once, but it was more of a white slime on the wood rather than wispy like in your photos.

Byron.

Sweeeet do koi angels, just because i love them LMAO, Just Kidding, but i do take a look at angelfishusa you are sure to find something you love there.

Im pretty excited for you and your new adventure, gonna follow this

Maybe you could consider a dwarf species for your corys ?? I like Salt and Pepper Catfish Corydoras habrosus

On the wood...it is new wood, and I have read that the wood will grow this stuff until it is all leached out. I really do not want to take it out and then put it back in. I am happy with the way the tank looks and do not want to mess it up by taking it out. Some of it is a white color and some of it the colors you see in those pictures. Maybe I should get some shrimp first and maybe the pleco and see what happens with it. I have not heard of it being toxic before. It is coming out of a piece I have put in the 55 and the fish seem fine, but it is not as bad....of course the fish might be snacking on it too.

On the Koi Angel, yes! That is the kind I want, and maybe some black ones as well.

And yes again, I like those little cories! I definitely want a school of some sort, but I don't know what kind I will be able to find other than albinos. And I don't want those in this new tank. I want different ones.

Its not toxic, just unsightly, looks like snot about every time i start a new tank with new wood that happens. Ive even taken it out and bleached it before. I dont like it but i gotta have my wood, and yours looks too good to let that little issue slow you down.

I wouldn't have the dwarf cories with angelfish. The dwarf species tend to swim in the upper levels more than most cories, and mature angels might not appreciate this. Also, the dwarf species are all cooler water, meaning 75F, and most will suggest just a notch up for angelfish.

There are many species of medium-sized cory that have various blotch/stripe patterning.

Never really cared for pleco's other than the Royal or Gold nugget, they just get big and pretty much useless for algae control, and crap lots of ropes.

On the 5 Angels, do they all have to be the same? I mean, can they be mixed, like Koi with some other look of Angel fish? My cousin has a Koi and a Black one. Now they both might be Koi and just look different, I don't know about that part.

I am not sure what a dwarf Cory is, as they all are pretty small to me.

I like Plecos. I have a Rubber Nose Pleco in my 55. He is spotted and I think he is adorable. LOL I don't know that he does anything other than just look adorable. But I don't care. I love him. I want a bristle nose for the 75 though. And I don't want the kind that get huge. I don't want to deal with that. I will end up thinking I need a 200 gallon tank just for that one fish....and I know me, I would probably try to get it. So only the smaller ones for me.

Ive mixed several varieties of angelfish with no issues, but maybe Byron has different ideas, ive only been in the hobby a little over 30 yrs. but then again im one of those that prefer live plants to live critters for algae control, and actually dont stress out over a nice layer of green algae on the walls of a tank. IMHO it make for a much more natural look, and helps make the tank more fish friendly. I dont think i ever saw a sparkly clean lake or creek, and those fish seem to be quite happy.

The only algae that has ever really bothered me was the black algae outbreak that actually brought me to this forum for help. It killed my plants, and was out of control. But that is another topic altogether and one I wish I could forget LOL

julielynn47 said:

On the 5 Angels, do they all have to be the same? I mean, can they be mixed, like Koi with some other look of Angel fish? My cousin has a Koi and a Black one. Now they both might be Koi and just look different, I don't know about that part.

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There are three natural species of angelfish, Pterophyllum scalare, P. altum and P. leopoldi. All the commercial varieties like the Black, LAce, MArble, Veiltail, etc. are P. scalare, and these will be commercially (tank or pond) raised. P. altum and the much rarer P. leopoldi will be wild caught and only the natural species (some altums may be bred locally). So the rules about minimum five, acquiring at the same time, etc. all apply to the varieties because they are the same species.

julielynn47 said:

I am not sure what a dwarf Cory is, as they all are pretty small to me.

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Most cories are roughly the same in size, around 2 inches mature. There are a few larger species, and then there are the three "dwarf" species that usually attain 1 inch, maybe a tad larger, sometimes not quite an inch. These are Corydoras pygmaeus, C. hastatus and C. habrosus (this latter is the one mentioned in post #4). The dwarf species are a bit more sensitive than most of the larger, and definitely cooler water. With angelfish, most any of the species other than the three dwarf should work well if one just watches the temperature requirements.

julielynn47 said:

I want a bristle nose for the 75 though. And I don't want the kind that get huge. I don't want to deal with that. I will end up thinking I need a 200 gallon tank just for that one fish....and I know me, I would probably try to get it. So only the smaller ones for me.

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The Bristlenose species are in the genus Ancistrus. The precise taxonomy and origin of the common "bristlenose" is unknown, and some authorities believe it may be a hybrid of other species. Several man-made varieties exist, including the albino and long-fin forms. Some of the specific species other than the "common" bristlenose are considerably more demanding in their water parameter requirements; as these will in all likelihood be wild-caught fish, care must be taken to provide suitable water; species in this genus are known from throughout the Amazon floodplain, in varying water habitats. Five inches is the maximum for any species so far described, with most (including the "common") attaining 3-4 inches in aquaria. The bristlenose plecs are omnivorous though primarily vegetarian, so they will eat algae, to some degree, but only the common types (i.e., not the black brush/beard mentioned in post #11) much like otos, Farlowella, etc. You shouldn't have any problems with one of these with angelfish.

Byron.

Okay, so what ya'll are saying is that it does not matter what kind I get as long as I get them all at the same time?

julielynn47 said:

Okay, so what ya'll are saying is that it does not matter what kind I get as long as I get them all at the same time?

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Yes, that is my recommendation. If you acquire these from different sources, which might mean not together in the same tank, it is best to introduce them to the display tank together. The point is to have them meet each other as the complete group at the same time in the new environment. It does not take long for a dominant fish to establish his territory, and it will normally be the entire tank; with a group of five introduced together, there is a better chance the hierarchy will be spread out.

Okay thanks, I just wanted to make sure that the Angels could look different from each other, as I don't know what I will be able to find when I get to go looking. I am sure they will all probably come from the same place as I don't have a lot of places to choose from.