tankmates for an angel?

M

MichiganMan

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Sep 21, 2008
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I'm wondering if you can keep one angel as a centerpiece fish in a 29g community? If so, what are good tankmates? Snail(s) OK? How about red cherry shrimp + some tetras or platys?

Just looking for some different combos, I guess. Plus it is gray and rainy outside ;)
 
I have a Smokey Angel in a 29 gallon with 4 cory cats, 4 lyretail mollies, and 3 platys. The other fish don't bug the angel, but the angel can get mean when the cory cats lay eggs - he tends to think they are his to eat all by himself. But then, it's my fault. I put him in the tank to becuase the livebear fry population got out of hand :evil_lol:

I have a Marble angel in a 55 as well. The only tetras I felt safe enough to put in that tank were Lemon tetras and Albino Buenos Aires tetras. I have Embers and Neons, but they would have been eaten
:eek3:
 
Snails may not fare well in a tank with an angel. Their antennae may be nibbled on by an angel, stressing the snail out and possibly injuring it. Angels seem to vary some amongst each individual, so you try putting snails in with an angel. Just watch the interaction at first, and remove the snails if they seem to be stressed. Red cherry shrimp only get an inch long, and would most likely be eaten by the angel. Even with the shrimp breeding like crazy and possibly having enough hiding places, your shrimp pop. would dwindle pretty quickly with a large angel around.
 
I always find that my angels do better when they're not alone. A pair would be perfect in a 29.

Snails are fine. Cherry shrimp and others that size would be snacks. I keep Amanos/japonica shrimp with angels, but its a densely planted tank with lots of hiding spaces. Bamboo shrimp are big and would do fine.

Most medium to large tetras are fine, and platys will be fine too. If you get the angels when they are little and put them in with neons, the angel will likely not bother them even when it is big enough to eat them.

Its like dogs and cats, some of them will live peacefully and some will not. I have one pair of angels that isn't the least bit predatory. Not even with stuff they SHOULD be eating. Others not rest until they have hunted down everything they can fit in their mouths.
 
avoid small fish with angels.. neons will likely become expensive snacks as well as many shrimp. mine leave MTS and ramshorn snails alone but pick on and eat other snails.

a single angel is fine in a 29. a school of larger tetras(cardinals and black neons ) can do ok.
hatchet fish also seem to be fine with angels.just make sure you have a nice snug fitting lid on the tank.
corydora's and small armored catfish also do well.. I keep albino cories and bn's with my angels. I also have been able to keep a school of Black neons in a tank when neons became snacks.

it's hit and miss with some fish..Mine will eat otocinclus.
 
Your angels eat snails? For real? What kind of snails? Maybe you should feed them more often? I am not being a wise guy, I just wonder if I don't see the same type of hunting behavior other people notice because I admittedly feed my fish a lot- perhaps excessively. I just like to see a fat happy big angel and my tanks are all heavily planted so I need the extra nitrogen anyway. I have been keeping them for years, I have generations of angels from multiple genetic lines and I just don't see this kind of behavior. I wonder if its because mine are usually full?
 
My hatchets and my angels get along just fine, marbled and common hatchets seem to be equally happy. I love my hatchets, but you really do have to make sure every hole in your tank lid is blocked up, or they will eventually end up on the outside of your tank! I think any of the larger tetras are recommended, I have lemons and bleeding hearts with mine. I've heard that the black skirts can be nippy, but can't speak from experience. I got my angels when they were quite small, and had neons with them (at my husbands insistance) They didn't seem to bother them for oh, about 2 years maybe... then one day, the neons started disappearing and all were gone within the space of about a week. So having them together from the beginning may work for some, but it didn't in my case!
 
this sounds exactly like my tank. i have a gold marbled angel in my 29. its tank mates are a school of 8 lemon tetra. i'm planning to get some (4) ottos or cories and maybe raise the tetra count to 12. so any larger tetras would work. the angel will typically ignore cories and the school of tetras. as mentioned, try to avoid tetras that are nippy, black skirt, lamp(red) eye tetras are ones that have been mentioned.
 
Turbosaurus said:
Your angels eat snails? For real? What kind of snails? Maybe you should feed them more often? I am not being a wise guy, I just wonder if I don't see the same type of hunting behavior other people notice because I admittedly feed my fish a lot- perhaps excessively. I just like to see a fat happy big angel and my tanks are all heavily planted so I need the extra nitrogen anyway. I have been keeping them for years, I have generations of angels from multiple genetic lines and I just don't see this kind of behavior. I wonder if its because mine are usually full?
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It's not always a matter of feeding the fish more flake food, bloodworms, etc. Some individual fish are very aggressive with hunting, like star_rider was saying. It's similar to how you can feed your cat twice daily, but it will still go out and prey on large insects and small rodents.
 
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