Angelfish Scalare! :)

[Skye15]

Hey everyone! I am new here and had a few questions. I am currently keeping a baby angelfish in 10 gallon tank. I have had him for a few weeks now, and he is absolutely the best! Call me crazy but I honestly feel like he recognizes me when look in his tank ! Anyway since he won't be small for too much longer I have decided to purchase a 40 gallon tank. Now I have heard 29 gallon is the minimum so I figure 40 g would be sufficient? Would I also be able to get another angelfish for the 40 gallon? I am getting the tank tmo from petsmart,so any advice is greatly appreciated!!

 

[thisguyek]

i would think 40 gal would be more than enough! you should have plenty of room for two angels and probably more too. I would make sure your 40 gal tank is fully cycled before you add the angels. They can be touchy when it comes to their water.

 

[Skye15]

Thanks for your reply! That is good to know, I will probably only have 2 angel fish, but I am looking into some tank mates for them!

 

[thisguyek]

I'm not to much of an expert on them whatsoever, but a few things that I've read about them... (I'm quite interested in them myself, but never had much luck. I think my tank was a little premature for them.) they like energetic fish to watch. Basically you're non-aggressive community fish will do nicely. danios, guppies, platies, neons... try to stay away from your fin nippers too (tiger barbs for example)

On the other hand, if you end up with a male/female combo and they end up pairing, you'll probably end up with aggression from them (as they will guard their eggs carefully) You could end up with a monster too! I've heard many different stories from different people about their angels saying some are the most peaceful fish ever and some never stop harassing their tank mates!

Not sure what you're looking at for tanks, probably a good idea to just go with a complete starter tank. I know petsmart has decent stuff. I can't remember what size tanks they usually stock though, I'm sure you'll figure it out!

good luck with everything!
(if anyone has anything to change or add, please feel free! I'm no expert and could be a bit off)

 

[TwoTankAmin]

You never know what you will get with angels. Ideal is a good pair. Two males may fight all the time. Two females may or may not, the odds are much better with them than with 2 males.

Consider getting 4 or 5 more babies for your 40. They will grow up and eventually you should get a pair. Then the other 3 or 4 you can sell, trade or move to new tanks.

 

[Skye15]

thisguyek: Thanks for the suggestions! I would love platies, and guppies! I not a fan of barbs so that's good hehe. Basically my tank upgrade will be centered around my angel I am hoping to have a couple bottom feeders and live plants as well

twotankamin: I think I may i do that then, thank you!!!

 

[thisguyek]

You never know what you will get with angels. Ideal is a good pair. Two males may fight all the time. Two females may or may not, the odds are much better with them than with 2 males.

Consider getting 4 or 5 more babies for your 40. They will grow up and eventually you should get a pair. Then the other 3 or 4 you can sell, trade or move to new tanks.

I would say that's the best way to go about it! That has worked for everyone I've talked to regarding angels.

 

[SLIM]

You never know what you will get with angels. Ideal is a good pair. Two males may fight all the time. Two females may or may not, the odds are much better with them than with 2 males.

Consider getting 4 or 5 more babies for your 40. They will grow up and eventually you should get a pair. Then the other 3 or 4 you can sell, trade or move to new tanks.

+1 This is definately the route to go. Worked for me!

 

[minnnt]

Just ensure that your tank is deep enough for them. They need height aswell as length!

 

[Skye15]

The 29 gallon is 18 inches in height, so I am not sure if that is adequate for an angel, Thank you to everyone who replied!

 

[drobbyb]

Here's the skinny on (most) angelfish. The rule of thumb is the tank needs to be a minimum of 18 inches tall and at least 29 gallons for a pair. P. scalarae get pretty long fins and they do actually need the full 18 inches for proper fin development. Some variants have shorter fins and some have longer fins needing different depths respectively. Since you are new to angelfish, I would advise that you stick to the rule of thumb until you can see how they develop properly, that way you would have a point of reference if you wanted to try and get away with less height.

Just a thought.

 

[Skye15]

I have decided with the 29 gallon tank, I double checked and it is 18 inches in Height!! Now I just have to start cycling.. which is not my most favourite thing to do.. sigh, my last tank was already cycled when I got it ( a friend gave it to me). Oh Has anyone tried the Mardel ammonia and ph monitor kit?

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Couldn't you use some mature media from the other tank? If you take no more than a 1/3 out of it the other tank should be fine and give your new tank a good kick up the backside of good bacteria.

That way your tank could be cycled pretty quickly

 

[Skye15]

I really new at this.. How would I take the mature media out? ( I apologize if this is a really stupid question)

 

[thisguyek]

There are no stupid questions!

is your 10 gal tank the one that's cycled? if so what you could do is just run the filter that you have for your 10 gal in combination with the filter that you'll be using for the 40gal. Almost all of your beneficial bacteria is going to be in the rough sponge anyway (if its a standard external filter) That's what I did when I got my bigger tank, worked pretty well... actually still have the small filter running!