Angel fish and other tank mates

[TheVeilTaleAngelMaster]

Hi, so I have a 55 gal tank with 4 angels 3 corys 1 pleco and 1 kuhlie loach. I was thinking of finishing my stocking list off with either a small school of cherry barbs and or 2 german blue rams. If you have any other ideas for a color full fish that works with my current setup pls let me know.

 

[Jessie J.]

First off, your tank will need some adjustments. You definitely need to add more loaches; they can and usually do die from stress unless there are groups of at least seven. Second, the platies will be injured by the angels in breeding season. If you want to keep them both than add lots of decorations and provide lots of cover. Maybe rams would do well after you get everything sorted out.
Good luck!

 

[TheVeilTaleAngelMaster]

OK thanks for the tip but by loaches do you mean Cory cats? And also I'm pretty sure that my angel fish are all males so will my platies be OK then? School of cherry barbs?

 

[Jessie J.]

By loaches I mean Kuhli loaches.
And if you do have all male angelfishes, they should be okay; a school of maybe six cherry barbs might work as long as there's plenty of hiding spaces for the platies.

 

[Byron]

Adding cherry barbs and blue rams would be a mistake. The blue rams are not a good idea because this species needs warm water, no lower than 80F, and cories do not do well this warm. The cherry barb are linear fish and likely to be seen as "food" once the angelfish are grown. Disk-shaped peaceful shoaling fish are better, provided you avoid the likely fin nippers.

Before you acquire any new species, there are some issues to resolve with the existing fish. Cory catfish need a larger group, and since you have space I would up the group to around 12. Three will be stressed; you cannot see it, but it is still present and they are being slowly weakened. Same goes for the kuhlii loaches, though you can do with fewer, maybe 7 total. Lots of chunks of wood for refuge areas, and sand substrate are best.

I see a couple of looming issues with what you now have--how long has this tank been running with these fish together? Angelfish are almost certainly not all male or you would see signs of aggressive behaviour, but without knowing the size/age of the angelfish, or how long you've had them, it is difficult to offer much beyond the warning.

 

[TheVeilTaleAngelMaster]

So the angels are aggressive towards each other and I bought them when they were pretty big. Ive had the tank running for about 3 months and the only issues are the angel fish aggression towards each other but it resently stopped.
I will be buying more Cory cats and but can I get a diff type and still relieve stress? Also since I still want GBR can you recommend a replacement for the cherry barbs?

 

[Byron]

So the angels are aggressive towards each other and I bought them when they were pretty big. Ive had the tank running for about 3 months and the only issues are the angel fish aggression towards each other but it resently stopped.
I will be buying more Cory cats and but can I get a diff type and still relieve stress? Also since I still want GBR can you recommend a replacement for the cherry barbs?

The GBR needs water too warm for cories, so you will need to re-home the three cories. If you keep them and do not add rams, then yes, different species is OK. I have found that while it is definitely recommended to have no less than five of a species, and more is always better, a combination of species seems to provide the security these fish need. But some do shoal together as a species more than some others; my Pandas are like this, with seven of them in a tank with 50 various cories, they tend to remain together as a species more than any of the other 12 species. But the temperature should not be higher than 76-77F (24-25C) and this is much too cool for rams.

Before I start suggesting new species, I would want to be more certain of what is/will be in the tank. The angelfish are a real threat here, though you may have lucked out; individual fish can sometimes behave contrary to the norm for a species, though this can sometimes not last long before they begin killing one another. I always think it safe to go with the norm rather than hope otherwise.

I missed the gold gourami previously, sorry. That should not be in with angelfish. Gourami and angelfish are very similar in the territorial nature of males, and in their aggression. If the gourami is a male, this could be even worse than the angelfish. Females usually tend to be less rambunctious, but we have a member here who had a female gold gourami that after several weeks suddenly went after every other fish in the tank and several were killed. This is the most aggressive of the small/medium sized gourami. The species is Trichopodus trichopterus, the common blue gourami which has been developed into several varieties such as gold, cosby, 3-spot, marble, etc. All have nasty temperaments.

 

[TheVeilTaleAngelMaster]

Yes , I made an uneducated buy when I got the gold gorami and I will be rehomeing him. So take him out of the equation. Also I've had the Cory's in 80 degree water for 3 months now and they are completely heathy.

 

[Byron]

Yes , I made an uneducated buy when I got the gold gorami and I will be rehomeing him. So take him out of the equation. Also I've had the Cory's in 80 degree water for 3 months now and they are completely heathy.

The cories are not healthy. Fish are ectothermic, and temperature drives their metabolism. Even a degree or two can make a huge difference to the fish's physiology. Any cory authority will tell you that warm temperatures do not allow the fish to function normally, and they are being weakened.

 

[TheVeilTaleAngelMaster]

OK, i will lower the temp asap. Thanks again

 

[TheVeilTaleAngelMaster]

So I have deduced that my large angels will pick on top to mid swimming fish the size of a platy or smaller. So could you guys recommend any colorful larger fish that I could have with angels?

 

[Fishmanic]

I have 8 serpae tetra with my single angel and the angel never bothers them. Nice looking fish.

 

[Colin_T]

Serpae tetras are renown fin nippers and should not be kept with slow moving fish or fish with long flowing fins. You got lucky with your group not causing problems but normally I would not recommend keeping them together.

Other renown fin nippers include black or white widow tetras (aka skirt tetras), Buenos Aires tetras, blind cave tetras, and tiger barbs.

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If you can tell us what the water chemistry is (pH, GH, KH) and temperature, and provide us with the tank dimensions (length x width x height), we will be able to offer ideas to suit the conditions.

 

[NickAu]

Just be careful with Angels once they pair up, I cared for a breeding pair for a few months and they are great fish but I would not recommend tank mates at breeding time, They even attacked my hand if I put it in the tank too close to the eggs.

The striped one is the male, he is one aggressive boy.

 

[TheVeilTaleAngelMaster]

Thanks for the comments but my angels are almost for sure males and they all still attack my hand in the water. So I've tried a couple small fish in groups with them and the angels all nearly killed them. The only fish I can keep with them are bottle dwellers and larger mid to top dwellers. So please suggest something bigger with color. Thanks again!