Thinking Of Having A Angel Tank With Some Dithers

[GShorty1981]

I have a Jewel Vision 260, filtered by a Fluval 305, it currently has a Red Spotted Severum, a breeding group of Yellow Labs (mbuna) and tons of fry, female pink convict and a Female jack Dempsey, bit of a funny combination.

I was thinking about selling off my stock and doing this....

white sand, no rocks or wood
some big pieces of giant vallis

6 Angel fish (not sure what colours to pick....would it look better if they were all the same colour?)

pair of Kribensis or something similar

12 dithers (deep bodied tetras)

Any suggestions?

 

[KittyKat]

It's a good idea, I would definitely say you should do it! On the other hand, I would also definitely put in bogwood to keep the water soft and slightly blackwater, as the angels and other SA fish like.

I found that same coloured angels looked better, but it's personal preference.

I would go for a harem of Apistogramma over Kribs, because Kribs are African fish and have slightly different requirements.

I'd go so far as 20-25 dithers, for example black tetras (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi) with silver/platinum angels would look nice, I think. But pretty much any deep bodied tetra will do.

On top of that, a school of 10 Corys or 1m 2f bristlenose plecos or similar.

/me tries very hard to restrain from saying anything about current stocking.

 

[Westwood]

I wouldn't put a pair of kribs in with the angels, as they will fight as they are from different areas of the world. Maby a dwarf cichlid would be better such as a ram or apisto?
Angels like well planted tanks, this is why they have the tall shape so they can easily glide through the leafs of plants. I would recommend some wood to bring down the PH a little if it is high, aim for about 6.5.

so:

6 Angles of your choice
Pair/trio of dwarf chiclid
12 dithers of your choice, I always thing Cadinal tetra go well.
2 plecos

and I would say there is still room in there for other fish.

Westwood

 

[AmazonFTW]

12 dithers of your choice, I always thing Cadinal tetra go well.

I wouldn't keep Cardinals with Angelfish - at fullsize Angels can eat Cardinals, they are part of the Angelfishes natural diet. I would suggest Columbian Redfin Tetras, they're really nice and quite a different shape to most other tetras.

AmazonFTW

 

[KittyKat]

I've had cardinals with angels without problems before, but my angels were well fed and raised with the cardinals.. I would not recommend it to anyone who is still choosing their species.

 

[GShorty1981]

I wouldn't put a pair of kribs in with the angels, as they will fight as they are from different areas of the world.

Thanks for the info, this is a bit silly tho lol,i have kept Kribs with tons of different American Cichlids without problem in the past, unless breeding happens.

Same as Jewels and omnivorous Mbuna/haps,it works if you have the right mix. (bare in mind i have had a breeding colony of Yellow Labs in with Severums etc for the last few years in a neutral ph tank....i currently have around 200 fry always in the tank and no fighting occurs, bare in mind people keep things asian gouramis and barbs or african congo tetras with american fish without arguments)

Any other suggestions on tetras? i want something with a bit of colour......rosy Tetras? Colombians?

 

[ghent_3rd]

This is quite strange as this is the exact tank and the exact set up I am just starting! I am having quite a lot of wood in my tank and going for 6 angels. I was going for 2 shoals of tetra, 1 being the black widows and another sort, but now I have seen it will be OK to go for a pair of apistos I may do that instead of the second shoal of tetra. Defo having 10-15 cories though, I love those little blighters!!

Bought some Indian Almond Leaves from Rare Aquatics yesterday aswell to add to the tank. A little bit of vallis in 1 corner, representing the river-bank and there we have it! Just need to get the wood cleaned and ready to go in that I got from the Lake District in the week, then fill it up and fishless cycle.

 

[KittyKat]

I wouldn't put a pair of kribs in with the angels, as they will fight as they are from different areas of the world.

Thanks for the info, this is a bit silly tho lol,i have kept Kribs with tons of different American Cichlids without problem in the past, unless breeding happens.

Same as Jewels and omnivorous Mbuna/haps,it works if you have the right mix. (bare in mind i have had a breeding colony of Yellow Labs in with Severums etc for the last few years in a neutral ph tank....i currently have around 200 fry always in the tank and no fighting occurs, bare in mind people keep things asian gouramis and barbs or african congo tetras with american fish without arguments)

Just because it works, doesn't mean it is the best option for the fish.

 

[Westwood]

I wouldn't keep Cardinals with Angelfish - at fullsize Angels can eat Cardinals, they are part of the Angelfishes natural diet. I would suggest Columbian Redfin Tetras, they're really nice and quite a different shape to most other tetras.

AmazonFTW

I have kept Angelfish with cardinals for years. Neon tetra are part of a Angelfishes diet, but cardinals are not this is often confused.

Thanks for the info, this is a bit silly tho lol,i have kept Kribs with tons of different American Cichlids without problem in the past, unless breeding happens.

With 6 angels in a tank you are bound to get breeding.

Same as Jewels and omnivorous Mbuna/haps,it works if you have the right mix. (bare in mind i have had a breeding colony of Yellow Labs in with Severums etc for the last few years in a neutral ph tank....i currently have around 200 fry always in the tank and no fighting occurs, bare in mind people keep things asian gouramis and barbs or african congo tetras with american fish without arguments)

Any other suggestions on tetras? i want something with a bit of colour......rosy Tetras? Colombians?

Just because it works, doesn't mean it is the best option for the fish.

Completely agree with you.

 

[GShorty1981]

Ok then since we are having this argument, how many of you here have paired up asian (gouramis, barbs, loaches), african (congos, kribs, butterflys) and south american fish (tetras, cichlids)? for that matter soft water South American fish like Severums with hard water central american fish like Firemouths, Honduran Red Points etc

The fish in my tank breed constantly, i have had no casualtys and have the same stocking i have always had, don't start giving me grief.

I'm asking an opinion on what i want to do because i'm bored of my current stock, not because they do not thrive.

my Yellow labidochromis are a tank bred omnivirous fish that are happily breeding over and over again in a neutral tank.

 

[GShorty1981]

Despite this, lets get back on topic.

The point about Kribs breeding would be the same for Apistos and Rams so i dont see why you are pointing that out? are you all just trying to throw negatives at my thread for fun? stop pointing out the obvious and give me some ideas on dithers etc.

 

[GShorty1981]

I'm thinking of getting this...

6 x Angels (all Koi coloured)
Pair of Bolivian Rams
20 x Colombian Tetras

 

[hamfist]

I bought a shoal of colombian tetras a few weeks ago, as many people recommended them. However, I found out that a shoal of colombians given a bit of space (ie not in a tiny dealers tank) race around like exocet missiles once settled in. Was not peaceful at all ! I couldn't stand it. I swapped them for a shoal of black phantoms which I like a lot, and are very placid and peaceful tetras, also not "nippy" at all ... Also deep enough bodied to not end up being angelfish food I'm sure.

I have a shoal of 5 bleeding hearts in my 500 litre. They are gorgeous, but are big, and can also get boisterous at times (although nothing like the colombians). They can make the 500 litres seem very small at times ! They get on fine with my angel though, and do not nip him at all.

Also, standard capive-bred angels are fine in hard, alkaline water. pH 8.0 is fine. They might possibly not breed but otherwise they will thrive, grow and be happy even in that water.
Also, bogwood cannot soften hard water (to do so it would somehow have to absorb the minerals in the water). Also in reasonably hard, alkaline water, the water is so well buffered by all the dissolved minerals that bogwood will not lower the pH, not even a tiny bit, as it might in soft water.

Here says the proud owner of a tank containing SA cichlids, CA cichlids, SA tetras, African eel and asian gourami !

 

[minnnt]

I have a group of blushing koi angels along with 1 platinum and they are very beautiful. I haven't gone with any dithers, as I don't think the tank is big enough. There is 3 bronze corys and 4 bn's and about 7 Apple snails. Tall Vallis is a very good plant for them, I have twisted Vallis in the foreground with a few bits of hornwort etc for extra height. There is also a few crypts. I have argos play sand as substrate along with pink rocks slightly buried in the sand. I also have 2 pieces of bog wood in there. It is a very nice tank. I have a thread running in the journal section. You.could look at scissortail rasboras as dithers or maybe penguin tetras.

 

[GShorty1981]

I still prefer Kribs over Bolivians

I'm thinking

6 x koi Angels
2 x Kribensis
20 x Still undecided dither
some sterbai corydoras
bristlenose plec

maybe a Gourami

And before anyone starts, i'm not making a biotope, and i don't want anymore of a debate over the locals of the fish, infact if you don't like it, don't post.