New fish lover

welcome to the boards! You're sure to learn a lot here.....

I don't have really good news for you so please bear with me. The fish you had in your tank in the beginning was wrong. The Angels and tetras are enemies in the wild, the tetras being Angel snacks. Now things may seem ok, but eventually, you will notice one missing... then two... and so on. Secondly, 2 Angels in a 20 gallon is pushing it. wouldn't have any more than 1 if went the route of Angels in a 20 gallon. The general rules for Angels is 20 gallons (at the very least) and then 10 gallons per additional one. Instead of adding the fish you did last night, a couple of cories might've worked for your set-up. I didn't think swordtails and Angels were enemies but being that your swords are nippy, they need to be removed. And the gourami, I would think would've been ok..... this aggression could be due to the overstock that you have in there and everyone vying for the same tank space..... can you bring them back?

(I know I didn't post good news for you, but take this experience as that..... a learning one )

I'm glad to help I think if you were religious about your water changes and routine maintenance and made sure your parameters were always in check, you would be able to get away with keeping them, but is there an option for a bigger tank?
I would definitely return what you bought last night as well because of the abuse your angels are taking as well as bringing in the neons.... if you could get away with that and then get 3 cories for the bottom. The cories would keep to the bottom while the angels would stay in the mid zone of the tank.....

(btw, Angels are my favs too! so I understand your passion for them )

Angel -

Please reconsider allowing your neons to become angel food. To me, that's an inhumane way of thinking since the neons have no choice in the matter. In the wild they would at least have a chance of escape. A responsible fishkeeper would NEVER knowingly put incompatible fish together and say whatever happens, happens.

I agree about combining non-compatible fish knowingly...but what about those feeder platy and guppies? Just waiting to be lunch?

just a thought.

Point taken....but there's a big difference between purchasing live food as part of a fish's normal diet (such as feeder fish) and putting incompatible tankmates together and saying "oh well" if they get eaten. The former is part of a natural cycle, while the latter is just mean IMO.

Yes. That is my understanding too. Its just being knowledgeable and responsible for the animals you care for and ask to live in harmony, when in reality alot of them come from very different ecosystems, Inda, Malaysia, South America and Africa, et. al, and also some generations away from the wild, from breeder tanks where we live.

Pitty about the feeder fishies though...sigh.

Space considerations aside, 2 angels might not do well in your 20g - angels are best kept in odd numbers (or large groups in very big tanks) to avoid agression. Cichlids are territorial, and chances are that even if these fish came from the same tank at your LFS once they begin to mature, one will begin to pick on the other. With no way to escape, the subordinate fish may be continually harassed and bullied by its tankmate. Sometimes this just causes small wounds and stress, but in some cases one angel will actually be relentless enough to kill the other.
What about housing one angel with a few smaller fish, for instance a group of corys or some taller-bodied tetras? That way you'd get to enjoy your angel, avoid agression and stress in the tank, and, er... no one would become a 'snack' for anyone else.
Just my $0.02