Angelfish set-up

[jmatthewhill]

I currently have a 72 gallon bowfront that has a Lake Tang set-up in it. I have some absolutely beautiful fish in there but they are always hid and therefore not much fun in that aspect. I have been thinking of redoing my tank. I would like to build around a pair of Angelfish and was wondering what you guys thought about what I was thinking of stocking it with.
1. Pair of DD Superveil Angels
2. Pair of Blue Rams
3. Dozen Long-finned White Clouds
4. Two dozen Cardinal Tetra
5. Two Bristlenose Pleco
6. 1 Snowball Pleco
7. 4 Dwarf Gourami
8. 5 Cory Cats
9. Dozen Blood-fin Tetra
10. Trio of Red Swag Swordtails

Any other suggestions or thoughts about how this might go?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[lateinningmagic]

I added that up and it is 67 fish. Sounds like a lot to me, also there may be some fish you would want to reconsider:

1. White Clouds prefer the cooler side of the tropical temperature range, and will probably live longer in a cooler tank.
2. Plecos x3 sounds good as I love Plecos, but keep in mind they are poop machines. Consider what your filtration will be like.
3. Dwarf Gourami males may fight with each other. Wouldn't do 4 unless it was a 1:3 Male to Female ratio. Also, I currently have one Dwarf Gourami with an Angel and before they died, German Blue Rams. The Gourami is a bully. I don't blame him for any GBR deaths and the Angel still comes out despite the bully, but don't be surprised if you see one of your Gouramis chase a Ram or Angel away.
4. From what I've read, a breeding pair of Angels can divide the tank to protect their eggs and fry.

I would suggest:

Pair of Angels
Pair of GBR
24 Bloodfin Tetras
Bristlenose Pleco
Snowball Pleco
7 Cories (although I prefer Kuhli locahes)
Trio of Red Swag Swordtails

[jpappy789]

Be careful of getting 2 male bristlenoses, they'll most likely fight over territory. I'd stick to one unless you know for sure you are getting a M/F pair.

I agree that overall your stocking is too much and would be crowded. Stick to either one large school or split into two schools of 10-12 fish each. The cardinals are better suited than white clouds because of temp preference.

You do need a few more corys...I'd go with 8 of the same species.

I would also skip the gouramis. I especially would not do 4 with this size tank, even with a 1:3 ratio. Your angels and rams are going to need room if spawning occurs and I see the gourami being the target, as its a slower fish. Just a thought.

I had a trio of swords and the male constantly bludgered the females. Both ended up dieing. I would do at least 3 females per male if you were to choose them.

If this was my tank I would go with:

2 angels
2 blue rams
24 smaller tetras (cardinals)
8 corys
1 bn plec
1 snowball plec (L012 I assume?)

On a side note I am suprised your tangs "hid"...very uncommon for that type of setup. I'm curious which species you kept.

[jmatthewhill]

Not all of the tangs hid but my favorite species that I was trying to build the tank around hide unless I am putting food out. That is my adult black calvus. Especially the male. He is big and probably the most beautiful fish I have ever owned but unless I am feeding then you will never see him. He only leaves his cave when I feed.

As far as Gouramis. I am referring to the "dwarf gourami". I can understand them getting picked on maybe by the angels but not them killing my rams and other fish. These are very docile fish. They are different from the other gouramis. I already have the BN plecos as I have kept them in my Lake Tang set-up and they get along great.

[Tifftastic]

I have always been told that gouramis and angels together doesnt usually work out.

Also like Jpappy said they might be a target while the angels and rams are spawning.

[lateinningmagic]

Not all of the tangs hid but my favorite species that I was trying to build the tank around hide unless I am putting food out. That is my adult black calvus. Especially the male. He is big and probably the most beautiful fish I have ever owned but unless I am feeding then you will never see him. He only leaves his cave when I feed.

As far as Gouramis. I am referring to the "dwarf gourami". I can understand them getting picked on maybe by the angels but not them killing my rams and other fish. These are very docile fish. They are different from the other gouramis. I already have the BN plecos as I have kept them in my Lake Tang set-up and they get along great.

Dwarf Gouramis are not docile, trust me. I have one. That's the one I was talking about in my first post.

He was originally in a 10g with 6 Harlies, snails, 5 RCS, and 2 guppies and everyone got along great. He didn't even eat any RCS. One day he decided to guard a piece of cucumber I threw in and he chased anything that swam by. That was the first time I saw him as a bully.

After moving him into my 37g he was/is too curious with Angels and GBRS. He looks at them and goes to "tackle them". He never makes contact, but I don't know if that's because the other fish get out of the way, or because it's his form of playing. But the angels and GBR don't appreciate it. And only one of my 5 GBR (I can't seem to keep them alive longer than 3 weeks) every chased him in return. I would skip a Dwarf Gourami. I'm trying to trade/sell him off right now actually.

This is him btw:

http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww352/lateinningmagic/IMG_2269.jpg

[jpappy789]

Not all of the tangs hid but my favorite species that I was trying to build the tank around hide unless I am putting food out. That is my adult black calvus. Especially the male. He is big and probably the most beautiful fish I have ever owned but unless I am feeding then you will never see him. He only leaves his cave when I feed.

As far as Gouramis. I am referring to the "dwarf gourami". I can understand them getting picked on maybe by the angels but not them killing my rams and other fish. These are very docile fish. They are different from the other gouramis. I already have the BN plecos as I have kept them in my Lake Tang set-up and they get along great.
Calvus are known to be on the shy side, but when comfortable they should not be hiding constantly.

As for the BN plecs, you probably do not have two males then.

[jmatthewhill]

I was told that male bn plecs have much longer bristles than females. Both of mine have very long bristles on them. They each stay on their own side of the tank and ignore each other so I never have any problems with them.

As far as the Tang set-up, I am still trying to decide for sure what to do. I may just try to redo the landscape and see if that might possibly help.