Good companions for Angelfish

[diggozo]

Am planning my new 50 gal aquarium in which I would like to have as my show fish four or five Angels. I want to contrast their languid grace with some shoaling fish like Cardinals, Neon Tetras or Glowlight but am concerned that these small fishes might finish up as Angel food.

Can somebody tell me from their experience whether I am worrying needlessly and if so which fish would be best as Angel companions

 

[dwayne]

I've personally never kept Angelfish, but from reading other threads about them, I think if you get the angelfish and neons at the same time, and if the angelfish are relatively small and 'grow up' with the neons in the tank, they could all live together peacefully...

good luck, I'm sure someone else can give you more definitive help! I really like the looks of angelfish, they're so pretty!

~Tara

 

[JSchmidt]

I keep neons and cardinals with angels, without problems. Some folks report that the neons end up as snack food. Cardinals are a bit bigger, so that's maybe less of a concern. I think the biggest problem is if you add small, juvenile neons to tank with adult angels.

Milder tetras do OK. I have a tank with glowlight tetras, lemon tetras, harlequin rasboras and a few corys, all of whom coexist peacefully with an angel fish.

I wouldn't even think of putting angel in with the nippier tetras: serpaes, white skirts or black skirts. There are probably some other feisty species I've left out.

HTH,
Jim

 

[LongTime]

Question Wouldn't "4 or 5 angels," i(full sized), be about it for a 50g? If so, how many would you try if you wanted a to add 14 samll tetras? If not, what would be the maximum tetra count?

 

[OrionGirl]

Angels typically aren't a huge bio-mass, based on body shape--my concern would be more for aggression and territory disputes, especially after a pair forms and they spawn. The smaller angels will often be killed by the dominant pair. I'd probably stick with 3 in a 50, just to prevent injury and fights.