Angelfish! Personal experiences/recommendations?

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I'm having a yen to get an angelfish for the 57 gallon tank at some point down the line. They're so beautiful, very popular, but I've never had one, and my folks never had one in their community tank when I was growing up. They were committed to only ever having peaceful fish, makes me wonder if they expected a problem with an angel, even a singleton.

Obviously I'd do some serious research before even thinking of getting one, but I like to hear others personal experiences too before I make up my mind. Do you think an angel can be happy being the only angel in the tank for its whole lifespan? I like the idea of a pair, for company/lifetime enrichment/breeding experience, but from the little I know of angels, you'd need 6-8 youngsters in a tank to try to see if two would pair up, that they need to choose their mate; then the others would need to be removed so the pair didn't bully/kill them. Then it's difficult to breed a pair in a community tank setting since they'd be likely to bully other fish species to protect the eggs?

Since my tank would also have cories and likely some livebearers, could a single angel work with those fish? Do they ever seem lonely later in life? I'm more used to social fish, no cichlid experience, so I feel like I'd feel sorry for the single angel, so perhaps I should wait until I could have a dedicated angel tank.

Thoughts? Recommendations? Perhaps a different centrepiece fish that could work in a community tank like a gourami?

 

[Colin_T]

If the GH and pH are suitable for angelfish and livebearers, then you can mix them. However, livebearers come from water with a pH above 7.0 and a GH above 200ppm, whereas angelfish come from water with a pH below 7.0 and a GH under 100ppm.

If you want angelfish and the tank is at least 4 foot long, buy 8-10 young fish and grow them up together. When they pr off, move the prs into their own tanks or leave the pr and get rid of the remaining fish.

They are easy to breed and take over a territory about 18 inches square, sometimes more. But in a decent sized tank they don't cause any real problems. Most issues with angelfish occur because of the other tank inhabitants attacking the angels.

If you have angelfish (one or a group) with livebearers, the angels will eat the baby livebearers.

Angelfish and most cichlids can live on their own but they prefer to have a partner when they are mature. A lot of people do end up with a single adult angelfish in a tank and it lives for years. Whether this is good for it's mental state, who knows, but it's probably not good because angelfish normally mate for life and spend their entire lives with a partner.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

If you have angelfish (one or a group) with livebearers, the angels will eat the baby livebearers.

To be honest, that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world! Having to grow out and take baby livebearers to the store gets wearing... Might not have livebearers in there at all if I decide to get angels, this is still very much at the idea stage! Won't be adding any fish for a month, I'm just reconsidering the whole stocking since that tank crash wiped out most of the population.

Would they bother corydoras at all, besides probably eating any eggs?

The tank is only 3.25 ft... 100 cms long, 45 cms high... large enough for a pair?

Main fish I'd want would be an angel pair (likely get the group, find a pair, then rehome/return the others) and corydoras. Would move cories to a spawning/breeding tank if I wanted them to spawn, to save the eggs, but would they bother the angels, or the angels perhaps bully the cories, given that cories aren't good at respecting territories while bumbling about?

Angelfish and most cichlids can live on their own but they prefer to have a partner when they are mature. A lot of people do end up with a single adult angelfish in a tank and it lives for years. Whether this is good for it's mental state, who knows, but it's probably not good because angelfish normally mate for life and spend their entire lives with a partner.

Thank you very much, this is helpful. Just confirms for me that I'd want to wait until I could have a larger tank with a group of angels, or at least a pair. They're smart and social enough to pair bond, I'd feel guilty to condemn one to a lifetime of being alone. A group or a pair then, for sure!

 

[Uberhoust]

I have some individual Angels, primarily because they don't get along with the others, and as long as there are some other mid-water fish in the tank they seem pretty happy. If mine are alone without other fish they do seem to be despondent. One of my individual Angels has developed a "friendship?" with a Pearl Gourami. My paired Angels have caused nothing but mayhem in my 60g (4 foot long) community tank, I had to move them to their own tank. I will try not to have any more breeding Angels without having more tanks.

I think Angels are one of the best fish to keep, mostly because they have personalities.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I have some individual Angels, primarily because they don't get along with the others, and as long as there are some other mid-water fish in the tank they seem pretty happy. If mine are alone without other fish they do seem to be despondent. One of my individual Angels has developed a "friendship?" with a Pearl Gourami. My paired Angels have caused nothing but mayhem in my 60g community tank, I had to move them to their own tank. I will try not to have any more breeding Angels without having more tanks.

I think Angels are one of the best fish to keep, mostly because they have personalities.

See? This is why I made this post, because reading all the factsheets in the world won't tell me personal experiences with these fish like you have

Parameters, tank size etc is all easy enough to find out and check, but I never trust compatability lists, since I've seen insane things recommended to be kept together, even if they need completely different water, which is how I wound up with otos in my hard water guppy tank before I knew better.

What did the pair of angels in the 60g community do? What fish were with them?

So would you suggest that a pair be kept alone?

 

[Colin_T]

Having to grow out and take baby livebearers to the store gets wearing...

Stick them outside in a pond and sell them to the shop in autumn.

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Would they bother corydoras at all, besides probably eating any eggs?

Angelfish are normally fine with bottom dwelling fishes like catfish and loaches. I have never heard of any problems between Angels and Corydoras.

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The tank is only 3.25 ft... 100 cms long, 45 cms high... large enough for a pair?

That is big enough to keep a breeding pair and some Cories.

 

[itiwhetu]

Usually if you have a group of young Angels and grow them up together they will be fine. At least a 4 foot tank. The worse thing you can do is change the decor of the tank around set it up and leave it alone.

On another note I had a breeding pair of Blacks happy as anything sold them to a mate, when they were moved he had killed her in 24 hours.

When I was breeding Angels we would keep all the fish in a 1000 liter holding tank. When we wanted them to spawn we would select the fish we wanted to spawn together and put them in their own tanks. We would take around 15-20 pairs and about 80% of the fish would spawn.

 

[ghyti]

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Angelfish are normally fine with bottom dwelling fishes like catfish and loaches. I have never heard of any problems between Angels and Corydoras.

The Angels will learn to follow the cories around when they spawn and eat the eggs. If the Angels spawn they will keep the cories away.

 

[Slaphppy7]

I have a single angel in my 40B, with a bunch of tetras, 2 gouramis, corys, cherry barbs, and a pleco...he seems happy and content, all over the tank, very active, but doesn't bother any of the other fish

 

[Uberhoust]

What did the pair of angels in the 60g community do? What fish were with them?

After the eggs were laid the Angels took over the 2/3rds of the tank and would aggressively attack any fish that entered their side of the tank, the left side. The rest of the fish were herded into the right side of the tank. Most of the fish were chased from one end of the tank to the other then back again, with the smaller female angel taking bites out of the other fishes fins. Once the eggs hatched and the young were free swimming, the angels would not abide by any fish on the left side of the tank and any fish in the open water on the right. I had my black neons, ornate tetras, one betta and one pearl gourami hiding in the bottom amongst the weeds. Every time a fish would leave that area they would be chased until they got back into the plants. The tank has a sight barrier in the form of a large stump near the mid location on the tank, I was expecting some aggression, but I was surprised that the Angels would cross the barrier to attack the other fish.

Before breeding there was no real aggression at all in the tank. The male angel is the angel I entered in the last Angel contest, his name was Gentle Ben. That was about a month ago. The angels are now breeding again in their new tank without any issues....yet.