Angels and Neons, community or snack?

Angelfish will definitely eat neon tetras if they are small enough to be considered a meal.

What size tank will this be in? Larger tank will help with territory problems. Feeding well and putitng more decor/plants in will lower tension.

Angelfish naturally eat adult neons and cardinals. They will be picked off. Some angels raised from teenyhood with neons will live with them successfully for a while - then most snap and start eating them when they're adults.

A neighbor of mine had angels and neons together in a tank. The angels never bothered any of the fish that were in the tank when the angels were first placed. As the angels grew, they would eat other smaller fish, but never those that were with them originally, even though they were small enough for them to eat!

Still, it would seem risky to add angels and neons together.

Kind Regards,
LogJam

My first angel was very small when I got him. As he grew, he controlled the platy population nicely by eating most of the fry, but he never really bothered with the neons and cardinals even once he was large enough to try. The tank is heavily planted, giving the tetras lots of hiding places, and he was one of the most laid back angels I've ever seen - this may have been the recipe for my success. He became very sick earlier this year and I had to put him down. He was about half grown, I can't say if the tetras would have been safe once he reached full size.
I bought a new angel yesterday, he's about the size of a dime and the tetras dwarf him so they're certainly safe right now . I can already tell he's got more of an agressive personality than my other angel did (he's chasing fry more than half his size and challenging the 3.5" bristlenose for a bite of his algae wafer as I write), so only time will tell if I will need to separate him from the tetras, or if the fry will keep him satisfied and the plants will give the tetras enough cover when they need it.
I wouldn't ever trust a full grown angel not to eat small tetras, but in a heavily planted tank, with a very sweet-tempered angel, you never know - you might just get lucky

could i put 7 glo-lights and an angelfish(but also 9 live bearers, no mollies) in a 20 gal with a big piece of a ship decor? cuz an angelfish wouldnt be able to fit in the holes.

sillyputty said:

Will large angel fish eat large (full grown) neons or cardinals?

I have 1/2 dollar size koi angels (2) and 3 clown loaches with a couple of neons. I originally had 10 neons awhile back but this is all I have left. Right now, of course they are fine. I did hear that the angels will eat neons but was wondering if they were full grown if they would be safe.

I was wondering because the tank looks great with this combination.

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I've had short term success with tetras and angels, but like I said. Short term. I really haven't seen the angels interested in them at all so far. To be honest, I believe this to be somewhat of a myth as it only really relates to wild angels. Tank raised I've seen don't seem to be interested in smaller fish at all.