How many angels for a 29?

snakeskinner

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I have a 29 gallon tank we just moved 2 congo tetras, a trio of dwarf gourami's, a pair of small cories and a small pleco (will move to a larger tank once he gets bigger). I think we will be purchasing a couple rainbows, possibly celebese or other smaller variety. The main goal is an angel or two or three. Trouble is, I don't really know how many. The only angels we've ever owned was when we were younger and didn't know anything so experience is zero. I'm sure we can get one but I know my wife will want more than one. I'm pretty sure 2 would end up fighting, correct? Do you think I could fit a trio? We really havn't investigated the different species yet and I know they all get different sizes. Is there one type that would be better sized? Better tempered? Less likely to fight in pairs? The congos are a m/f pair but I don't know how likely they are to spawn and if they get aggressive. What about a m/f angel pair? I've heard they get aggressive but what about to the fish I have? thanks for any advice, Kyle
 
I would probably stick to one. Unless you manage to get a breeding pair then they will just fight in such a small space.
 
I'm just getting back into the hobby, so take my opinion for what it's worth.

I'm a bit confused.....are you saying those other fish are currenlty in the 29? If so, I wouldn't add angels to the mix. A pair would probably be ok without the other fish in there, though. When I was younger and didn't know any better I had a pair of angels in a 10 gal.......once they grew up I realized the tank was too small for them. They got along just fine, though.

I'm not sure how the dwarf gouramis and angels will get along, but I'd be a little skeptical about housing them together.
 
the other fish are already in the tank. I believed many people had a similar setup to mine with at least one angel in the mix. I believe gourami's are normally listed as tankmates with angels but I know many lists are wrong. Have you had problems with this? I was just reading something interesting about congo tetras and that an owner had felt their "tiny teeth". We had the congos and gourami's in a 10 gallon and had been noticing some small wounds on the gourami's. I had healed one with melafix. One had a chunk of his upper lip missing when we bought him and about a week ago appeared with the rest of his lip mangled and a hole on his side. He died later that day. I currently have a third in a q-tank with a couple small wounds but he's healing now. The congo's have never shown any aggression towards any other fish in my presence but I'm wondering if they've become monsters of the dark. We currently have 2 dwarfs with the congos and the 3rd would be added after he's healed. I had thought it was due to a sickness and tore down the 10 gallon for a good cleaning and added a new filter to help remove any chemicals in the water. I set the tank back up and have a shrimp and otto in there now and am waiting to add some dwarf puffers. Another problem I may have run into is that some websites list celebes rainbows as brackish, others FW. Anyone know the truth? thanks for the tips so far, Kyle
 
I find it really hard to believe that a congo would be that agressive- Are you positive the gouramis aren't fighting?
 
me too but I'm grasping at straws here. the gourami's chase eachother and nip at tails but I've never seen a beating like they have evidence of. I used to have a single female (mistake) with the males and thought they might be fighting over her. We noticed half the upper lip missing off a redfire gourami a few days after purchase but couldn't say for sure it wasn't there on purchase. It stayed like this for a couple months with no additional damage. A powder blue came down with a slight case of ich and a scrape on his side. I got rid of the ich and started adding melafix and the sore healed perfectly and went away. A couple weeks later I noticed a small chunk of flesh opened up above the eye of a neon blue and later another wound on his side. A few days later the redfire showed up with a larger wound to his side and then a few days after that we woke up to the redfire laying against the glass with the rest of his upper lip ripped off and looked like the top jaw cut open about 1/8" and another wound to his side. I had been adding melafix to the tank daily with weekly water changes. The redfire died later that day and I moved the neon blue to the quarentine tank and added melafix and a medication for dropsy (can't remember name of it) because I had noticed a few scaled popped out at one time. I'm really not sure if it's a sickness or fighting. I had already decided to set up a larger tank for them since the congo's don't look real happy in the 10 gallon so we had purchased a 29 gallon tank Sunday and I moved my complete penguin 330 from my 55 to the 29 gallon tank and moved the congos and powder blue in there from the 10 gallon and did a thorough cleaning to rid any possible disease. I've been watching the powder blue and no signs of damage have arrived. The congos have never shown any problems either. do you think either the congos or dwarf's could do this kind of damage? It must be happening at night because I have not seen any lethal aggression other than the fin nipping of the gourami's against eachother. I know the congo's are aggressive eaters but like you said, I just can't see them doing this. Kyle
 
I wouldn't suggest housing Angelfish and Gouramies in the same tank. I did that and the Gourami (Pearl), tore up my angelfish's fins horribly. They were almost completely gone.

I returned the Gourami and the Angelfish is all healed now thankfully.
 
Originally posted by Watcher74
I wouldn't suggest housing Angelfish and Gouramies in the same tank. I did that and the Gourami (Pearl), tore up my angelfish's fins horribly. They were almost completely gone.

I returned the Gourami and the Angelfish is all healed now thankfully.
my father had the opposite experience. his angel tore up a gourami pretty good. either way, it's not a good combination unless the tank is very large.
 
they are dwarf gourami's though which aren't near as aggressive as others. Most places list dwarf gourami's as tankmates for angels. I take it you guys disagree..... I think my wife may have decided against the angels anyway, at least for now. She's leaning more towards an additional duo of female congos to try and calm down the pair we have and possibly some rainbows or other large tetras such as buenos aries or emporer. thanks for the input, KYle
 
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