Angelfish with these tankmates?

[bazil323]

I'm planning a 75 gallon tank, and I was wondering if I would end up with trouble.

Okay, the first things to go in there will be my L387 plecs (they get to be just under 5" each) and a crap load Malaysian Trumpet snails.

Then I will add in order over several weeks/months:
Buenos Aires tetras 15-20
15 GloFish OR 15-20 Columbian tetras (I think, I have to go back to the lfs to make sure that's what they were)
6 Honey Gouramis
2 Kribensis females OR 1 Kribensis male (I don't think I want to deal with the aggression of mating Kribs)

Finally, once all of those have settled in, I want to add one quarter-sized Angelfish. I'm hoping that if it is introduced so small and grows up with those fish, that it will leave them alone.

Is that going to work, or am I setting myself up for failure?

[noodles62]

I do not beleive that Buenos Aries tetras would be wise with an Angel due to fin nipping.....

[bazil323]

I've talked to people who keep them, and they said that the bigger the school, the less they bother other fish. But, if you think that they will really bother the angel, I could replace them with Congo tetras.

[Squawkbert]

Congos or Columbians may be better than Buenos Aires tetras - not sure...
I just wanted to say that multiple Gouramis is seldom a good idea. One or a pair - fine. More tends to lead to issues, though it may not be so pronounced in a 75g.

[bazil323]

I was hoping that the small size of Honey gouramis combined with their relative peacefulness and the large size of the tank, that they would be okay. I already have some floating plants, and a fake floating plant for some cover. More are in the mail. I'm also planning a ton of fake plants, driftwood, and hopefully some cool fake rock or maybe shipwreck decor. I have a clay pleco cave coming in the mail, and I'm planning on getting some more caves for the kribs and plecs.

[Lupin]

If you also plan to make that tank planted, I'd forget the Buenos Aires as well.;)

[bazil323]

Why? Most of the plants will be fake, but I do want some plants. I have java moss and a type of java fern (Windelov fern aka lace java fern). I also have some floating water lettuce. I also have some floating eared watermoss (Salvinia auriculata) coming in the mail (should be here tomorrow). For now, the real plants are in my snail/shrimp tank and the plec holding tank.

If it's a big problem, I can put the real plants in one of my other tanks, and just have fake plants in that tank. I really, really want the Buenos Aires tetras.

[Lupin]

Why? Most of the plants will be fake, but I do want some plants. I have java moss and a type of java fern (Windelov fern aka lace java fern). I also have some floating water lettuce. I also have some floating eared watermoss (Salvinia auriculata) coming in the mail (should be here tomorrow). For now, the real plants are in my snail/shrimp tank and the plec holding tank.

If it's a big problem, I can put the real plants in one of my other tanks, and just have fake plants in that tank. I really, really want the Buenos Aires tetras.
Buenos Aires tetras + plants with soft foliage = salad bowl - sauce

:grinyes:

[bazil323]

Aren't there any plants that they won't eat? I read that Java moss, java fern and anubias are usually okay.

If not, I guess I'll keep my live plants in the other tanks.

[bazil323]

I think I'll take my chances, at least with the Java moss and maybe some of the java fern variant (Windelov). It's not like they're expensive, and I'm not that attached to those.

[jm1212]

buenos aires tetras are never really good tankmates for angels. they are alot like tiger barbs in that no matter how big the school is, there will always be some nipping.

red eye tetras, black skirt tetras, rummynose tetras, and lemon tetras are all much better choices.

glofish are not very good choices either. besides being hyperactive, they are also notorious for nipping at other fish.

honey gouramis are ok, but i would be worried about them fighting amongst themselves.

bolivian rams are a better choice for a bottom dwelling cichlid with an angel in the tank.

[bazil323]

What if I just scrapped the angel? By that I mean, just don't have it at all. The reason I wanted it was to have a nice sort of "center piece" for the tank. Something that looked really nice and got just a little bigger than the rest of the fish.

If I don't have the angel, what could I use instead? Or should I bump up the numbers of something else? The only thing I could see as a possibility for that would be the dither fish, but I don't want to do that. I want a center piece as I said.

[snoopy65]

How about a severum?

[Star_Rider]

sev, festivum.. there are a few you can put in a 75

[bazil323]

Would those be okay with the tetras, honey gouramis, plecs, and kribs?

[reptileguy2727]

Angels would look great in a well-planned (you are doing now) and well-planted 75 (even low light plants).

Glofish are coolwater, they are zebra danios.

I also think rams would be a great choice with angels, as opposed to kribs.

I think there are much better looking tetra options and better behavioral options to go with angels.

[Star_Rider]

I do think you could still go with Angels if you desire.

I keep black neons with mine and have in the past kept Cardinal tetras with them.
if you want a bottom dwelling fairly peaceful cichlid you could go with Apistogramma or Rams(Bolivians if you keep the tank btwn 78-80 Blue Rams if you keep the tank at 82-84)

I prefer a heavily planted tank with driftwood with my angels

[bazil323]

Huh, I didn't know that about the GloFish. That, of everything, convinces me to not get them. Amazing, at the start of this I kept saying, "I'm gonna have Cardinal tetras, but no other tetras!" Now, I don't want cardinals (I only wanted them to make hubby happy, lol.)

Okay, so instead of Buenos Aires tetras, I'll have Congo tetras if I can find them. Instead of GloFish, I'll have Columbian tetras. Does that sound reasonable?

I really, really, really want the kribs. Could I still have the angels? I don't think I want to risk having severums as they'd probably eat or bully everything else. The festivums look pretty cool.

What about this? The plecs, the mts, 15-20 Congo tetras, 15-20 Columbian tetras, 6 honey gouramis, 2 kribs, one angel, and one festivum? Is that too much, asking for trouble?

[bazil323]

Scratch that. No festivum. I think that with everything else, it would overload the tank.

But would the rest be okay. Let me list that again (can you tell I like lists?).
1. Two L387 plecs
2. MTS.
3. 15-20 Congo tetras.
4. 15-20 Columbian tetras.
5. 6 honey gouramis.
6. 2 kribs
7. one angelfish.

With that setup, would I be able to have plants too? I remember the buenos aires tetras were the mitigating factor against plants, so I should be able to have vals and such, right?

[Star_Rider]

Colombian Tetras tend to be aggressive for tetras and are prone to fin nipping.

I would skip them with Angels for sure..

[noodles62]

If you canot find Congo tetras perhaps diamond tetras would be a good alternative and a little easier to find - I have diamond tetras w/ my angel and they are great - good sized, pretty lavender fins and all sparkley like diamonds! :grinyes:

[bazil323]

I can order the Congos online, so I'm not really worried about that. Plus, the lfs has recently been getting them mixed in with shipments of other tetras, lol. So I'd be getting them for about half price.

Maybe I should get diamond tetras instead of Columbians, if Columbians are nippy. What else is a large tetra that looks nice like that?

[noodles62]

Bleeding heart tetras are nice......

[bazil323]

Aren't they fin-nippers too?

[noodles62]

not to my knowledge and they were suggested as tank mates for my angel....

[bazil323]

What about white or black skirt tetras?

[DavidZ]

Why not rams?

[bazil323]

Ooooh, diamond tetras actually do look very nice! I think that I will get Congos and diamonds as my dithers.

[bazil323]

I didn't see the ram question. I dunno. I really, really want kribs, and I didn't think that they'd get along with rams. Plus, I understand rams are picky about water conditions. I think I could handle that, as all my tanks are perfect except for nitrates which I just got some deNitrate for my filters. We'll see if that makes a difference.

If you think that they'd fit in with the kribs and gouramis and angel (or instead of the angel), I'll consider them.

[bazil323]

I did an extensive web search about Bolivian rams. They look pretty cool. I also found that many were keeping these rams with kribs. So I think I'd be okay there. I think some also kept them with angels, so that's okay.

If I added one Bolivian ram to my proposed tank idea, would that overstock it?

So then it would be:
1. 2 L387 plecs
2. A bunch of MTS.
3. 15-20 Congo tetras
4. 15-20 Diamond tetras.
5. 6 honey gouramis.
6. A pair of kribs
7. one angelfish.
8. one Bolivian ram