Angelfish In A 240 Litre Tank

[ukchris]

Hi,I have a Roma 240 tank with 2 snowball plecs , 16 cardinal tetras and 8 cherry barbs and cherry and amano shrimps . I am thinking of getting some angelfish as a centre piece. Any ideas on how many would be a good number to have? The plants I have are all crypts so quite small with a fair bit of bogwood

 

[techen]

Two, These must be a proven pair.
 
If you add two unproven angels they'll more than likely kill each other.
 
So, You can get two that are proven or get 6 baby angels and wait till two pair up and sell the rest.
 
That being said, I'd be scared your barbs don't nip at the angels.

 

[ukchris]

Cheers for the response , would the rest of the fish be safe when the angels reach full size

 

[techen]

I would say so, Given there's good hiding spaces IE Tall plants.
 
Angels are known to eat neon tetras in the wild though But your "cardinals" should be fine.

 

[Metka]

If kept in small numbers Angels may become aggressive towards each other. It is best to either keep them singly, or in a group of 5 or more. I've noticed one of my male Angels is starting to bully the others in my tank.

 

[techen]

If kept in small numbers Angels may become aggressive towards each other. It is best to either keep them singly, or in a group of 5 or more. I've noticed one of my male Angels is starting to bully the others in my tank.

 
As I stated, Angels will only work in pairs if they so choose there partner. You can keep 6 angels but you will be selling 4 off in the future or else you'll have huge problems with them biting and chasing each other. Trust me, I've been after a proven pair of angels for awhile.

 

[MBOU]

It depends on the angels, they are utterly unpredictable for the most part!!
 
The rest of your fish are fine with angels so long as they are adults, or you buy young angels and by the time they are big, the others will have grown too. The only things the angels are likely to pick on are the shrimp... but if they are a good size, they will just get out of the way lol.
 
As for the angels... it really depends, I had 4 angels happily in 240L but it relied on me having 3 other tanks of angels to be able to rotate them until I found 4 that could live together...
 
Assuming you don't have those extra tanks, I would either go for an established pair of angels or buy 6 juvenile angels and grow them up and start rehoming them as the bullying starts in about a year and you will find yourself a pair and maybe an extra one or two, depending on how aggressive the pair are!

 

[Metka]

Great advice offered by both techen and MBOU. +1
 
Either way you look at it, it's going to need your love and attention for a while Good luck mate!

 

[MBOU]

Totally worth the work and effort though I do love angels! The bad rep they get is just because people have bad experiences with them, often because they keep them in inappropriate tanks, whether size or stocking.

 

[ukchris]

Can anyone suggest a colour type of angel fish that would go with cardinals and cherry barbs

 

[Brahmza]

Altum angels are my favorite.

 

[ukchris]

True they are lovely fish but have read.that they need a low ph of 3 or 4 , and mine sits at 8 .

 

[Metka]

True they are lovely fish but have read.that they need a low ph of 3 or 4 , and mine sits at 8 .

Not sure where you read that information, but it is completely wrong. No fish can survive in 3-4PH, that is almost enough acid to burn your skin! Angel's like PH Range 6-8. My 240L sits between 7.0 and 7.4, mostly sticking at 7.2 and they don't seem too fussed, although being a cichlid they would prefer slightly acidic climates, but definitely not 3-4.
 
Edit: OK I now realise you were talking about Altum Angels, not Angels in general.. haha

DOH!
Yeah Altum's need softer water, 4.5-6.5 PH.

 

[MBOU]

Indeed, Altums are really difficult to keep and dont belong in your average community tank!
 
As for colour angels, its completely up to you what you like, personally I find the Koi (black, white and orange) angels always grow up to be more aggressive than any other colour (spoken to a fair few breeders and wholesalers who agreed) and chances are its just because the line has been bred from fairly aggressive parents or maybe the more dominant and 'aggressive' angels were the better coloured ones and that was why they were bred from etc...
 
I always found the pure blacks and platinums were a bit calmer, possibly because they are very much a more recent tank bred strain and been bred from calmer specimens or something.
 
But its always hit and miss with angels and behaviour, so much depends on their environment as to how they will behave

 

[harry246]

You don't necessarily have to have two or more angel fish. This is something I questioned to a guy in my local fish store. I have just one as my center piece. No problems to far. Traditionally they are a shoaling fish but you can keep them on their own.