Tetra school with Angels

Angelfish being sedate, will not appreciate boisterous tankmates. So don't go overboard with the activity.:hypnotized:

I have the mentioned species currently, and myself would not include the Diamonds because of their active swimming. The Congo Tetra (unless you want to be geographically correct with South American fish only) would be a better choice for a fish with similar colouration. Emperor and Lemon are fine. Other species that add some colour and work well are certain of the ones in the "Rosy" clade of Hyphessobrycon, such as the Rosy Tetra, Roberti Tetra, Black and Red Phantom Tetra. The Bleeding Heart is also in this clade and should work, but some others have mentioned to me that they sometimes fin nip angels, so I mention that as a caution; my BH's don't show any such inclination, but then they are not in with angelfish. Another nice fish is the Pretty or Garnet Tetra, Hemigrammus pulcher; for some reason this fish is not widely available, only now and then, which is a great pity as it is a true gem; closely related to the Head and Tail Light, but more disk-shaped and deeper colouration.

One should always avoid the linear characins (neons, glowlights, rummys, etc) as mature angelfish will readily consider these food. The species above are more disk-shaped which seems to work fine.

Byron.

I have had, and still do, have large schools of tetras with my Angels. The angels are very large, but do not even try to eat the Cardinals nor Neons (but they may have eatten all my baby BN).

I have had Angels with Diamonds, Emporers, Black Tetras, Bleeding Hearts, Lemons, Rosy, and the previously mentioned Neons and Cardinals, without any issues.

An old picture, but you see what I mean.

The trick with linear type Tetras is to introduce them with young Angels. If they are bigger than the Angel's mouth they don't see them as a potential food source. Then when the Angels mature they are more likely to ignore new smaller Tetras. I have successfully done this with previous tanks. I have added new young Cardinal Tetras with adult Angels and had no predation. Of course, I would still caution people about it since Angels are Cichlids and come in a variety of demeanors. I happend to have less aggressive Angels, but a highly aggressive Angel will still attempt to eat them.

I've successfully kept cardinal tetras with angels;also green fire tetras. Have you considered rasbora hets?

Mark

Can't beat a school of Rummies. I keep mine with Angels now, (adult) no problems, and the rummies are a little too big for the Angels mouth. Cardinals and Neons are a little smaller and more slender so they can eat those. The Rummies are also the most brilliant schoolers I've ever seen.