Truth about neons and angels.

[echoofformless]

Okay, so often I tend to think that a good deal of the things we aquarists believe are based on what we have heard rather than what we really know.

Case in point - angels eating neons. I believe that neons are angel food in the wild; I think that zoologists have told the truth on that one.

BUT, does that mean that angels will actually eat healthy neons in aquaria if they have been consistently well fed, are tank raised and are not breeding or showing any necessary aggression?


I ask this question because I do plan to keep both species together. I have a good school of large neons and I have started introducing juvenile angels. (Only one so far.) I am well aware of the warnings....even the Petsmartass fish girl had something to say about my purchasing an angel after selling me neons a few weeks earlier. I told her I had a feeling it was a bunch of hooeyphooey and that I'll find out the hard way. That way I at least know for sure.


Or does anyone else have experience in this area?

(In other words, I don't want this to be a debate thread. I just want facts and personal experiences regarding angels devouring or not devouring neons.)

 

[Star_Rider]

I have in the past put angels with neons and the angels ate them..

but these neons were not raised with the angels.

I have heard that if the angels are raise with neons(small angels) that they may not see them as food.

 

[Larissa]

I raised my angels and neons together. No one was starved and I started out with six neons and when my angels got big they ate them. I have one neon left and after they eat it, I'm not getting anymore neons.

 

[jojofromdabronx]

I've also heard this. its not true. at least in my experience. i had a juvenile angel with 5 .75 inch neons. the angel never even chased the neons. it was the other way around. the
Angel got ganked by the group og neons. Noone got hurt.it stoped a few days later. I moved the neons to a different tank a month later(not cause fighting) but to create more
space. You must think my angel is very peaceful. Nope, not the case. The very same angel killed 2 other angels within 3 days of their arrival to the tank.!!!

 

[patoloco]

I've had a couple of angels for some months, since they were small 1½" little critters. Always fed with fishflake. Later on, I added a leaffish, which will only eat live feeder fish. I dropped some guppies in the tank and one of the angel's instinct showed up and ate one of them, spiting it inmediately.

Later, he learnt how to swallow the small fish and his mate did too.

 

[echoofformless]

Wow.


So what about cardinal tetras?

 

[patoloco]

So what about cardinal tetras?

A boldier snack, in my opinion. :

 

[joeyg2100]

I have both angels and cardinals together. I had the cardinals established in the tank, for around a month. I then introduced two angels. Had no problem with them. They where about the size of a quarter, so there wasn't going to be a problem then. Now about 3 months later the angels have about doubled in size, and still no problem. The angels do not even pay attention to the cardinals. I have also put in 2 more angels about a month ago, and they don't bother them either.

 

[naps]

The Cardinal Tetra is not a difficult fish to keep as long as your aquarium water is kept close to the parameters listed above and you perform partial water changes of about 20% weekly. They prefer well planted aquariums and small, peaceful tank mates. Choose your Cardinals' tank mates well because any fish whose mouth is large enough will eat them, and this includes wild discus and angelfish. Some good tank mates for your Cardinals in my opinion would be any dwarf Cichlid, domestic bred Angelfish or Discus, Hatchet fish or any small Cory catfish. You can also keep your Cardinals with any small fish from around the world that requires the same type of water parameters. Large school of Cardinal Tetras swimming from one end of the aquarium to the other end is an impressive sight.
http://aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/Gehan_Cardinal_Tetra.html

I'm going to be picking up my 80g tank tomorrow and I'm going to be moving my 2 Angels over to it and try a school of cardinals and diamond tetras. So I hope it works!! From what I've read I think cardinals do much better with Angels than neons, but they still CAN be a snack!

 

[RTR]

Folks with immature or stunted angels do not appreciate the size difference between mature, full-grown angels and small neons and/or cardinals. If introduced together while small/young you are unlikely to have issues until maturity. Once grown, the cardinals may or may not be okay, the neons tend to become food.