My Angel Tank

[Tampa]

I've started my Angel tank. It's a 55 gallon with sand as the substrate witk rocks and plants(fake)
I have 8 Angels(2 medium and 6 slightly smaller ones) 2 Rainbow sharks(b lack with red fins and 2 clown loaches I'm looking for suggestions as to what to add to the tank. I was going to add either guppies or red swords for live bearers (live food for the fish) and was thinking about adding a schooliung group (about 10) of some sort of tetra.
Whast do you "guys" think

 

[born2lovefish]

Be careful if you add some tetras, as I had some angels eat 30 neons once. If the fish will fit in the angels mouth, sooner or later they are probably going to get eaten.

 

[BettaFishMommy]

I've started my Angel tank. It's a 55 gallon with sand as the substrate witk rocks and plants(fake)
I have 8 Angels(2 medium and 6 slightly smaller ones) 2 Rainbow sharks(b lack with red fins and 2 clown loaches I'm looking for suggestions as to what to add to the tank. I was going to add either guppies or red swords for live bearers (live food for the fish) and was thinking about adding a schooliung group (about 10) of some sort of tetra.
Whast do you "guys" think

i would say your tank is overstocked already. it may not seem it like it now, but as the fish grow it will be.

the clown loaches will get large, and do prefer a group larger than just two. my advice would be to rehome the loaches. the angels will get larger and there may be aggression issues between them as they mature.

in regards to your live food breeding in the main tank idea, wouldn't the angels and other larger fish eat all the fry in the first couple of days after they are born? i could see this maybe working if you had a lot of plants for the fry to hide in so they wouldn't get munched right away.

 

[norfolkboy]

Hi Tampa, Bettafishmommy is right, your tank is overstocked, when the two clown loaches and the two rainbow sharks grow they will be big fish,
the clowns can reach 12" and the rainbows around 6" and the Angels will ultimately reach around 6". if you want to stock tetras you'll have to rehome everything and start over or they'll become live food. good luck

Pete

 

[Teto]

Loaches like movement in water while angels prefer calm water... loaches are huge fishes... and angels are not small fish either... only with the angels u will have enough bioload in ur tank... also belive me angels are not inocent fishes. they like their space and will eat or atack anything that is in their territory. angels are great interesting fishes. too bad that people think they are just a decoration of the tank. they are cichlids in all the aspects...

 

[Lupin]

Loaches like movement in water while angels prefer calm water... loaches are huge fishes... and angels are not small fish either... only with the angels u will have enough bioload in ur tank... also belive me angels are not inocent fishes. they like their space and will eat or atack anything that is in their territory. angels are great interesting fishes. too bad that people think they are just a decoration of the tank. they are cichlids in all the aspects...

Sentence in red font adds up to the confusion. Not all loaches grow that big. While clown loaches do grow to at least 12 inches with 10-11 inches being the norm, it does not mean the clown loaches automatically should be removed. It will take almost a decade to get them to reach that size. By that time, the OP may have future plans of upgrading. The issue here is not the size (assuming the OP does have plans for the loaches in store), but the number. Clown loaches are sociable creatures. In this case, they should not be deprived of their company. Keep at least 5 and no less than that. If you do not have plans of upgrading, you can always consider Botia striata or Pangio sp.

For a 55g, I'd keep at least 6 angels only. Be ready for a back up plan in case some of them begin to pair off. It is not unusual to see some of them already pairing off at an early age. If you want to keep tetras with them, make sure the fish don't fit the angels' mouths. If possible, stick to deep bodied ones such as Columbian tetras (Hyphessobrycon columbianus). You could rummy-nose tetras. Bear in mind however these fish are sensitive to water quality so care must be taken in making sure the water quality is up to par. Swordtails are a much better bet than guppies. If you cannot decide, you can always go with platies. The angels will not eat the adult swordtails or platies but any resulting fry certainly will be preyed on.