considering an angel tank-advice please

[kelly82]

im considering getting hold of either a 150 or another 180 and having a planted angelfish tank, with several angelfish, a few platys to provide 'live food' and 15 or so cories. how many angels would you put in with say 15 cories and 10 platies in a 6 foot x 2 foot x 2 foot tank? or how many in a 5 x 2 x 2 with the same cories and platys? i would want to keep them all as adults too, so buying a ton of babies to take out the ones that dont pair off i dont think i could do. thanks for reading.

[kelly82]

:hi: hello, anyone, any ideas at all, any rules i should stick to if i do get some? like odd or even numbers, im thinking even so even if lots pair off then theres at least 2 with no partners, or is this wrong?

[Star_Rider]

a 150 with a 60'x24x31?

or a 180 72x24x25

what I'm getting at is the footprint of the tank.

a larger footprint will allow for more angels.

remember that angels will pair up.. they will need territory when this happens.

you could go with 10-12 angels and watch. you will get pairs when you get that many angels in a tank.
the larger tank will allow for more pairs. or you could remove the pairs.

[kelly82]

ok so id probably try to get hold of another 6x2x2 as i like that size tank, so foot print of 72x24 if i can find another one at the right price. so if i was to add say 6 or 8 angels with 15 platies and 15 cories would that stocking be ok? also does it make any difference if i was to add veils and normals in the same tank? i would make sure there are plenty of plants and a few nice size pieces of bogwood to break up the tank a little, im guessing that will help with territory issues between the pairs which i will leave in with whoever doesnt pair up. well thats my plan anyway. thanks for the reply.

[jpappy789]

Varieties should not make a difference unless you plan on selectively breeding a certain strain. As star rider said they will pair up so eventually you may have to remove some...it really depends.

Your stocking is more than acceptable bioload-wise. It just comes down to watching for aggression as the angels mature.

[kelly82]

;) all good, im not planning on breeding for any specific traits, i guess il need to think about what to do with the babies if i do have a big tank with some pairs. well at least i know what i can add, and what size tank im looking for, now time to start looking and figuring it all out. thank you :D

[Star_Rider]

the larger footprint will help with territory issues. I have a 55 with 2 pairs of angels.
a school of albino corydora with a couple bn's (pair)
a 55 only has a 48" footprint.

[Anubias Design]

Consider getting 8-12 wild angels. You could try several types/locations in groups of 4-6 each. In a tank that size, you'll see more interesting behavior with the wild fish than you will with tankraised color variants. If you get fish from different collection locations, even though they may all be sold as scalare you'll see differences in behavior among the various types as well. The wild ones also have a pretty good shot at raising the fry up to a point where you can net them out and move them into other tanks or sell them fairly easily if you decide to do that down the line. They do tend to spawn seasonally, too, so you won't be dealing with spawns on a weekly basis like you would be with domestic strains.
Mark

[Star_Rider]

:iagree::thumbsup:

good suggestion.. altho finding wilds may be tough.

altums would be my choice but they usually require some experience.

there are a lot of different Scalare and the wilds will tend to exhibit schooling behaviors.

but my experience with them.. if you find an Alpha male.. you may have to deal with aggression.

[kelly82]

:jaw: weekly spawns...:omg: seriously, will they spawn that regularly? will i need to remove the eggs then as i dont wish to raise the young ones, i dont think! i can imagine id soon be over run with baby angels if i end up with 3 or 4 pairs :uhoh:

[Anubias Design]

:jaw: weekly spawns...:omg: seriously, will they spawn that regularly? will i need to remove the eggs then as i dont wish to raise the young ones, i dont think! i can imagine id soon be over run with baby angels if i end up with 3 or 4 pairs :uhoh:

With domestic angels, each pair will get into a routine but they typically spawn about every 10-15 days. If you have 3-4 pairs in the tank, weekly spawnings should be the norm. On the bright side, if you don't want to raise them you probably don't need to worry about it as most are not good parents and if they don't end up eating their own eggs or fry, the other fish will. The problem is the level of aggression they will display toward the other if they decide to actually defend the eggs. Oddly, wilds are generally much more effective parents and aren't as obnoxious about guarding the eggs. Wild fish are generally seasonal spawners though there are exceptions. In nature, they generally spawn when the waters rise and the forests are flooded as there is a lot more food available at that time. In captivity, they tend to spawn at the same time of year that they would in the wild.

Altums are an interesting choice but I only recommend them for very advanced hobbyists. I talk a lot more people out of buying them than I sell them to. They have very specific requirements in terms of water conditions and bacterial count that can't be met by the average hobbyist. I also would definitely not recommend keeping them with any other type of angelfish. For most people, the various fish sold as scalare are a much better choice. Leopoldi, commonly known as dumerilii, are also good and can be kept with the scalare types. I believe that when an ichthyologist takes a serious look at the genus Pterophyllum there will be at least 7 species and it may quite possibly hit double digits. There is a great deal of variation in pattern, body shape, finnage and behavior between the various locations of 'scalare.' There are fish with black spots, fish with red spots, fish with red fins, fish with longer fins relative to the body size and a variety of stripe patterns. A number of them are fairly readily available. I routinely get wild angels in from a number of locations in Brasil, Colombia, Peru and, as often as I can, Guyana. There are a number of other importers who do the same. A good, independent LFS should be able to get at least one or two types of wild angels for you, as well.
Mark

[kelly82]

wow, thanks for that info, very interesting. will definately have to have a better look into it all, this forum is fantastic, thank you

[Star_Rider]

:jaw: weekly spawns...:omg: seriously, will they spawn that regularly? will i need to remove the eggs then as i dont wish to raise the young ones, i dont think! i can imagine id soon be over run with baby angels if i end up with 3 or 4 pairs :uhoh:


actually no not weekly . the pairs may spawn as often as every 2-3 weeks.
but if you have more than 1 pair you may get weekly spawns.

;)

nice post from anubiasdesign

we need to talk ;)

[JenTN]

My domestic pair has spawned every 10 days like clockwork for the 2 months I have had them. Until I added tankmates they bullied one another during spawning. Now they harrass the tankmates- even knock the poor pleco off of the glass for no reason. The only time my tetras school is during spawning. They fiercely defend their eggs for 2 days, then eat them.

[tanker]

Unless you really want to raise "each and every" baby just let mother nature take care of it.
Over 30 yeara ago I had 5 angels and lots of other fish in my 100gal. 2 pairs were constantly breeding and "trying" to raise the babies. I just left them in the tank. About 5-10 babies (mostly only about 5) from each batch would make it to dime size and I would sell or trade those.