Angels Fish And Fighter Fish?

[arobinson1984]

You really shouldn't be getting fish with the intention of swapping them when they get too big.

You should be aiming to keep fish in the tank that can safely and suitably thrive and live their full potential life in that sized tank.

As mentioned before that stunting a fishes growth causes a slow and painful death and there is no way of judging at what point you begin to stunt the growth of a fish so come a years time when you come to trade your angelfish the damage may well have been done. An angel fish should be expected to reach its full adult size within about a year given apporopriate living conditions.

Not only is stunting an issue but you are also planning on raising a fish in a tank knowing that in the long term its not adequate then putting the fish through the stress of rehoming it when it gets too large. Thats certainly not putting the fishes health first.

Andy

 

[deadlypoison]

a friend of mine has said she'll take on two of my angel fish, she's gonna take my original two and leave me with my new zebra striped one.

my catfish are all settled in although one of the new ones has taking to sporadically "dancing" at the top of the tank, looks like he's gulping down air but he's going for the fish food!! (I feed them mon, tues, thurs, fri and sun - fish flakes and catfish pellets)

 

[indigoj]

Which bit of 'your tank is in no way big enough to keep angels' do you not get? Any angels - they simply cannot live and grow properly in a 2ft tank.

 

[deadlypoison]

i have seen fully grown angels in a smaller tank than mine!
they were healthy and happy and lived for over 3 years!

 

[rustyspurs]

i have seen fully grown angels in a smaller tank than mine!
they were healthy and happy and lived for over 3 years!

i think some people post on here just to moan at someone, i have an angel in a 4ft by 1 ft by 1 ft tank, i bought the bigger tank as i have balas as well.

and all ive got is moaning that the tank isnt big enough, well im sorry but if 4 ft isnt big enough i give up
the fish seem happy and i think there great, if thats me being cruel so be it

 

[Darkerwhite2]

fail

Wills it was a good attempt at teaching good fish keeping. Kudos to you!

i have seen fully grown angels in a smaller tank than mine!
they were healthy and happy and lived for over 3 years!

i think some people post on here just to moan at someone, i have an angel in a 4ft by 1 ft by 1 ft tank, i bought the bigger tank as i have balas as well.

and all ive got is moaning that the tank isnt big enough, well im sorry but if 4 ft isnt big enough i give up
the fish seem happy and i think there great, if thats me being cruel so be it

The problem is not with the 4ft long section its with the 1ft high part. The average angel will grow to 6" tall and I've seen (with my eyes) angels that grew to 9" tall. That leaves in your case only a couple inch's for the fish to move vertically. This is why we suggest at least 18" and better 24" tall tanks. Yes I've kept adult angels in 1ft high tanks as temporary tanks for no more than a week. That still made people me included worried about their health.

My point is Yes we "moan" at someone... you when we see these beautiful fish kept in an improper manner. It pains me to see people being ignorant about keeping fish, these are in-fact living things and should be respected. How do you know when a fish is happy? Because its not dead, sick or dying is it happy? Only real time i can tell a fish is content with its condition is when they breed and even that is not a tell tale sign of aquatic happiness.

if thats me being cruel so be it

To this all i have to say is I wish you didn't keep fish, i have little respect for someone who can know and not care about animal cruelty. Call me a hippie, say I'm wrong but I wouldn't let you care for my baked potato with that attitude.

Dear deadlypoison

First i would like to apologize to you for ranting in your thread.

You've asked for our opinion about your fish and the compatibility between angelfish and Siamese fighter fish (Bettas). I will also say that these two don't mix. This you have already found out and made your decision on. This I'm happy about. But now for the rest of your tank, I'll need to take another look at your stock list before i can add anything else.

For now i say good luck i hope your fish survive.

Edit: Your current number of cory's is at what now? Cory's enjoy larger numbers 5-6 min. And really do great with sand substrate. If the angels were re-homed or returned i could give some advice on some really great colorful fish that would look awesome in this size of tank. I'm currently setting up the same size tank. Which btw 2ftx1ftx1ft gives you 15 USG.

My advice would be to begin looking for new homes for your angels. I know your expert friend said your fine, but i think the general forum population will disagree.
For now i think id be a good idea to do some research and reading in the index. Possibly in the south American cichlids. Looking for smaller variations such and Rams maybe. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong though).

 

[divegirl]

i have seen fully grown angels in a smaller tank than mine!
they were healthy and happy and lived for over 3 years!

i think some people post on here just to moan at someone, i have an angel in a 4ft by 1 ft by 1 ft tank, i bought the bigger tank as i have balas as well.

and all ive got is moaning that the tank isnt big enough, well im sorry but if 4 ft isnt big enough i give up
the fish seem happy and i think there great, if thats me being cruel so be it

I think you mis-understand. It's not the lenght of the tank....it's the height! 4' long is great, but at only 12' in height the tank will reduce the Angels free swimming space. Angels are tall fish and need room vertically to thrive.

Lisa x

 

[Wills]

fail

Wills it was a good attempt at teaching good fish keeping. Kudos to you!

Thankyou

 

[arobinson1984]

i have seen fully grown angels in a smaller tank than mine!
they were healthy and happy and lived for over 3 years!

I'm not sure what you did with your angels as you havent posted for a couple of weeks but this statement pretty much proves what we are trying to say, specifically the part where you put lived over 3 years!

An angelfish kept in the right conditions can be expected to live for 10+ years, if they died at 3 years old then stunting would most likely have been the cause by being kept in a small tank.


Secondly, to Rustyspurs,

A 4ft tank is a medium sized tank which is fine for some fish but no where near big enough for many fish to live their entire lives in there. Now the thing is, if you cant afford to house specific fish in the correct environment that they require then simply dont keep them specific fish, you wouldnt keep a labrador in a cardboard box unless you were cruel and its the same with fish, they are living creatures and should be looked after with the same level of commitment.

Angelfish grow more vertically than horizontally, therefore a 4ft tank is fine length wise but its simple not tall enough at only 12" for a fully grown angel which at 8" tall only has 4" of spare room.

Bala sharks should no way be in a 4ft tank, like I said before, if you cant correctly house these fish then dont keep them. Bala sharks reach in excess of 12" long and should be kept in groups of 6 or more, they can also become aggressive as they get large. To keep bala sharks they ideally need an 8ft tank and really should be kept only with other bala sharks and no other fish.

Andy

 

[rustyspurs]

<!--quoteo(post=2541130:date=Sep 18 2009, 08:57 PM:name=deadlypoison)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (deadlypoison @ Sep 18 2009, 08:57 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2541130"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->i have seen fully grown angels in a smaller tank than mine!
they were healthy and happy and lived for over 3 years!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

I'm not sure what you did with your angels as you havent posted for a couple of weeks but this statement pretty much proves what we are trying to say, specifically the part where you put lived over 3 years!

An angelfish kept in the right conditions can be expected to live for 10+ years, if they died at 3 years old then stunting would most likely have been the cause by being kept in a small tank.


Secondly, to Rustyspurs,

A 4ft tank is a medium sized tank which is fine for some fish but no where near big enough for many fish to live their entire lives in there. Now the thing is, if you cant afford to house specific fish in the correct environment that they require then simply dont keep them specific fish, you wouldnt keep a labrador in a cardboard box unless you were cruel and its the same with fish, they are living creatures and should be looked after with the same level of commitment.

Angelfish grow more vertically than horizontally, therefore a 4ft tank is fine length wise but its simple not tall enough at only 12" for a fully grown angel which at 8" tall only has 4" of spare room.

Bala sharks should no way be in a 4ft tank, like I said before, if you cant correctly house these fish then dont keep them. Bala sharks reach in excess of 12" long and should be kept in groups of 6 or more, they can also become aggressive as they get large. To keep bala sharks they ideally need an 8ft tank and really should be kept only with other bala sharks and no other fish.

Andy

 

[drobbyb]

Don't ask advice if you don't want to take it. I realize that you didn't ask for that specific tidbit, but when you come onto a forum where the members care to investigate a little you have to expect that the members are out for the wellbeing of you and your fish. That's all I have to say.

 

[zuulan]

I have female bettas in a tank with an Angel fish in it. No problems here but with your small tank I would recommend you free the Angelfish from that cramped space and replace them with a male Betta or several female ones.

 

[Miller99]

Hello (oh boy its been a while)!!

My tank is thriving have had it over a year now and it is extremely happy.
i now have 7 mixed danios, 2 angel fish, 2 loaches and 1 peppered catfish.

i have had no luck with neon tetras or guppies - they breed and die and i end up pulling dead bodies stuck to my filter. (which i just remember needs cleaning *mental note*)

I would ADORE a fighter fish. when we had the larger tanks downstairs we had one in each tank, but we never had angel fish.

would my angel fish be a problem with a fighter fish?
mine seem quite placid and are more scared of the danios than the other way around, but would my angels be picking fights with the fighter or vice versa?

also as a side note... why of my two angel fish (I used to have three) is one noticably larger than the other? the same can be said of my loaches!

all help would be GREATLY appreciated!

I've had large angels with adult betas in a community tank but I had three female betas in the tank, too. The male was interested in the females and the angels were not interested in the betas as all were too large for them to eat. It can be done, but not a best option.

Not sure about your tank size but angels do well with most bottom dwellers, like clown loaches (is that what you've got?). They do well with most gourami. You already have a mid-level schooling fish that likes to dart about which is what your angles are not super thrilled about. I would not add to that stress level for the angles by tossing in a solo beta into the mix. If I added anything, I would consider gourami, something mostly top level and a little slower moving. I would also provide tall wide leafed plants, like an Amazon Sword, for you angels to hide in and which would keep swimming traffic a wee bit slower in a few back tank areas.