# Angelfish in 36 gallon?



## Eldachleich (Jul 9, 2011)

Hello, I'm getting a 36 gallon bowfront for Christmas. I really like angelfish but know they can get pretty big. Can I have some in this tank?
If so how many? I would like some bottom feeders such and cory cats and shrimp, will they go after them? I heard that some tetra's will harass them, and they will eat some others. I want a small school of fish in the background, what kind of tetra's would work?


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## Kitty_Kitsch (Apr 27, 2011)

I have two angels in my 36 gallon bowfront! They are pretty big in there but seem happy, I have 4 praecox rainbows and 3 kuhli loaches in there too. I had shrimp in there with no problems but I took them out in case. Cardinal tetras would work but keep in mind that angels need 20+ gallons of the tank. If you keep it planted and have some nice driftwood every body will be happy. I recommend getting the angels as babies, I feel that they are less aggressive that way but that's just me.


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## LCP136 (Aug 1, 2011)

Larger angels will make a meal out of any shrimp you put in there.


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## Eldachleich (Jul 9, 2011)

Kitty_Kitsch said:


> I have two angels in my 36 gallon bowfront! They are pretty big in there but seem happy, I have 4 praecox rainbows and 3 kuhli loaches in there too. I had shrimp in there with no problems but I took them out in case. Cardinal tetras would work but keep in mind that angels need 20+ gallons of the tank. If you keep it planted and have some nice driftwood every body will be happy. I recommend getting the angels as babies, I feel that they are less aggressive that way but that's just me.


I wanted two or 3 of them. A small school of bottom feeders. And a small school of fish just to add a little more movement and life. I was thinking glowlight or xray tetra's but dont know if that will work. From what I can find they will either eat the tetra's or the tetra's will harass the angelfish. I also heard trouble occurs when they pair up so. And maybe some shrimp of some sort. I also want to get them young.
Should I add the tetra's and other species first and then introduce some young angels? How many? Should I shoot for a certain sex? Like all male or all female? I'm not looking for babies.


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## Eldachleich (Jul 9, 2011)

LCP136 said:


> Larger angels will make a meal out of any shrimp you put in there.


Sad, I like shrimp, I can do without them though.
I guess I should add that I cannot have even numbers of anything in my tanks.... ever. It drives me nuts.


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## Imaginary1226 (Jul 27, 2010)

I would get 2 young angels. You can't really sex them unless they are spawning so you just have to hope you don't have a pair.


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

Eldachleich said:


> Sad, I like shrimp, I can do without them though.
> I guess I should add that I cannot have even numbers of anything in my tanks.... ever. It drives me nuts.


angels are the only fish I really tank for, but three is a 'man out' number 
unless your REALLY lucky and all are males.


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

i'd get two, I have pristella tetras with mine, but they arent the prettiest tetra, but they dont bother any of the other fish angels included.

I would get two angels, a large school of tetras and a large school of corys.


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## Eldachleich (Jul 9, 2011)

kamikazi said:


> i'd get two, I have pristella tetras with mine, but they arent the prettiest tetra, but they dont bother any of the other fish angels included.
> 
> I would get two angels, a large school of tetras and a large school of corys.


 I think thats what I'm going with. How many in each school? I was thinking 9 tetra's and 7 cories.


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## kamikazi (Sep 3, 2010)

Eldachleich said:


> I think thats what I'm going with. How many in each school? I was thinking 9 tetra's and 7 cories.


sounds good to me

If you could make the tetra school a bit bigger that'd be even better.


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## wetworks (Jul 22, 2011)

Eldachleich said:


> I wanted two or 3 of them. A small school of bottom feeders. And a small school of fish just to add a little more movement and life. I was thinking glowlight or xray tetra's but dont know if that will work. From what I can find they will either eat the tetra's or the tetra's will harass the angelfish. I also heard trouble occurs when they pair up so. And maybe some shrimp of some sort. I also want to get them young.
> Should I add the tetra's and other species first and then introduce some young angels? How many? Should I shoot for a certain sex? Like all male or all female? I'm not looking for babies.


Glowlight Tetras are a good choice to house with Angelfish. Get at least ten of them as they tend to do better in a small shoal. Angelfish can be aggressive so shrimps are probably out of the question unless you get larger filter-feeding shrimps such as Bamboo Shrimps. A small group of Corydoras Catfish would also be suitable for your tank; I like Panda Corys for this, and they are sociable with each other, which is neat to watch. I also agree with the post on this thread that recommends that you introduce them to your tank when they are smaller; if you cannot do this for some reason, add the tetras and corys first, and this will help you avoid potential aggression issues with the angelfish. (Angelfish are, after all, cichlids...)


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## Eldachleich (Jul 9, 2011)

kamikazi said:


> sounds good to me
> 
> If you could make the tetra school a bit bigger that'd be even better.


 I probably will.... I'm just afraid of reaching my biolimit lol. I'm always afraid of that. Stocking on aqadvisor doesnt help that fear.


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## Eldachleich (Jul 9, 2011)

wetworks said:


> Glowlight Tetras are a good choice to house with Angelfish. Get at least ten of them as they tend to do better in a small shoal. Angelfish can be aggressive so shrimps are probably out of the question unless you get larger filter-feeding shrimps such as Bamboo Shrimps. A small group of Corydoras Catfish would also be suitable for your tank; I like Panda Corys for this, and they are sociable with each other, which is neat to watch. I also agree with the post on this thread that recommends that you introduce them to your tank when they are smaller; if you cannot do this for some reason, add the tetras and corys first, and this will help you avoid potential aggression issues with the angelfish. (Angelfish are, after all, cichlids...)


 Glowlights are a good choice? Thats good.... Pictures don't really do them justice. I saw them at my LFS and they were beautiful. Ill shoot for 10 and see if I want to add more later. I might try some ghost shrimp and see if they can manage to survive in there. I've also never had the opportunity to have larger shrimp, that would be cool. I like panda cories, but schwartz cories really caught my eye..... I think I'm going with a school of them. I'm going to try and find the youngets angels possible, but I'm going to add the other inhabitants first anyways... Thank you for the info!! It was really helpful...


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## wetworks (Jul 22, 2011)

Eldachleich said:


> Glowlights are a good choice? Thats good.... Pictures don't really do them justice. I saw them at my LFS and they were beautiful. Ill shoot for 10 and see if I want to add more later. I might try some ghost shrimp and see if they can manage to survive in there. I've also never had the opportunity to have larger shrimp, that would be cool. I like panda cories, but schwartz cories really caught my eye..... I think I'm going with a school of them. I'm going to try and find the youngets angels possible, but I'm going to add the other inhabitants first anyways... Thank you for the info!! It was really helpful...


I currently have Schwartz cories, Panda cories and Bronze cories in my community tank, 2 of each, and they all swim around in a little group together. They also occasionally pair off, not necessarily the same variety to a pair, and they have really cool social interactions, which I think are great to watch. Some people suggest that you get a larger group of the same type, but if you get them when they are about the same size you can mix and match at least these three types and have a bit of variety in your tank. The Glowlights are a nice change from the Neons and Cardinals that most people have, and I have found that they will shoal in smaller groups than other tetras of the same size. One other fish that I could recommend is the Yo-yo loach. These are very attractive fish that are social kept in a small group (for your tank, four would do), they are good tank mates for the fishes you already like, and they will not get too big for your tank unlike other loaches. Yo-yo loaches also do not root up plants like other loaches can have the tendency to do. 

Side note: If you do add a bamboo shrimp or other filter feeding shrimp to your tank, you will need to either add it to an established tank or you will need to supplement their diet with powdered food of some sort. Your tank would be big enough to support two of these once it has been set up for a few months and there is enough biological detritus in suspension in the water column. You would have to provide them with a perch of some sort that would allow them to sit directly in the outflow of your filter. I have successfully kept Amano shrimps in a community tank before (with my German Blue Rams) and have not had problems with fish predation; however, I am not sure that this would be a good idea with Angelfish, but they can be kept with all of the species I have listed here safely, as well as some of the species that other users have mentioned on this thread. The ghost shrimps would probably end up as dinner for your angelfish.


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## Eldachleich (Jul 9, 2011)

wetworks said:


> I currently have Schwartz cories, Panda cories and Bronze cories in my community tank, 2 of each, and they all swim around in a little group together. They also occasionally pair off, not necessarily the same variety to a pair, and they have really cool social interactions, which I think are great to watch. Some people suggest that you get a larger group of the same type, but if you get them when they are about the same size you can mix and match at least these three types and have a bit of variety in your tank. The Glowlights are a nice change from the Neons and Cardinals that most people have, and I have found that they will shoal in smaller groups than other tetras of the same size. One other fish that I could recommend is the Yo-yo loach. These are very attractive fish that are social kept in a small group (for your tank, four would do), they are good tank mates for the fishes you already like, and they will not get too big for your tank unlike other loaches. Yo-yo loaches also do not root up plants like other loaches can have the tendency to do.
> 
> Side note: If you do add a bamboo shrimp or other filter feeding shrimp to your tank, you will need to either add it to an established tank or you will need to supplement their diet with powdered food of some sort. Your tank would be big enough to support two of these once it has been set up for a few months and there is enough biological detritus in suspension in the water column. You would have to provide them with a perch of some sort that would allow them to sit directly in the outflow of your filter. I have successfully kept Amano shrimps in a community tank before (with my German Blue Rams) and have not had problems with fish predation; however, I am not sure that this would be a good idea with Angelfish, but they can be kept with all of the species I have listed here safely, as well as some of the species that other users have mentioned on this thread. The ghost shrimps would probably end up as dinner for your angelfish.


My mom has a school of cories thats mixed. I personally like it when they all match, In case you couldnt tell by the odd number of fish I'm a little OCD....
My problem with glowlights is that I've heard they tend to stay near the bottom corners. I want a fish that will take advantage of the tank. My other choice's were the Ember Tetra, or X-ray Tetra's. 
No loaches for me. I honestly don't like the way they look. I know alot of people love them. I don't mind them really. I just never had the urge to own one. The ghost shrimp might end up as dinner. But it's a cheap dinner so I think I'll try it.


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## amcoffeegirl (May 26, 2009)

Is 36 gallon big enough for 9 pristella, 7 cories and 2 angels.
Just curious because I have a similar stock list. 
Only 1 angel, 9 pristella, 2 albino bn pleco.


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## LRJ (Jul 31, 2014)

If you want a pair of angels, get about five juveniles. Once two of them pair off, trade or sell the rest.


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## psych (Jan 7, 2013)

When I was asking for stocking advice on my 40B a few weeks ago I was advised not to purchase angels due to the size they can ultimately achieve. Maybe due to the dimensions of your tank this one would be a better fit for them, but I feel Angels can get to be pretty big and it might help if you had a plan to get them a larger tank for when this happened. The tank might also appear cramped visually, at least that's my fear.


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## The Dude (Feb 8, 2011)

I personally wouldn't do more than one Angel in less than a 55 gallon and that would be a mated pair. I have one Angel, 5 Rosy Barbs, 1 albino BN pleco, 5 Oto's, 5 full grown Cory's (I've got about 30 fry in another tank and will be adding some) and nearly 100 red cherry shrimp in a 46 gallon.


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## xenxes (Dec 22, 2011)

Make it a shrimp and nanofish tank! I can probably share some by then, should have my new tank setup before Xmas (have to move just once more, ugh, but only ~1mile away this time ).


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## amcoffeegirl (May 26, 2009)

My tank is doing great. 36 gallon 1 angel, 9 pristellas, now 1 albino bn.
I moved one to my 46 gallon tank.
In the 46 I have 4 angels 6 pristella and 1albino bn.
I know when they get larger I may need to rehome some.
I feel good about my tanks. 
These tetra don't bother the angels and the angels don't bother them.
The bn gets rowdy if an angel gets to close to his food. He will shake his body then head butt the offender. 
I really adore my tanks right now.
Upgraded both tanks to finnex lights.
Plants are growing. Algae is a little more troublesome than before. I can live with cleaning a little.
36 gallon bowfront a are 20.9 inches high and 30 inches wide. two that weren't harassing each other would fit fine.


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## mattjm20 (Nov 2, 2013)

I had two angels that grew up together in my 90G (along with an assortment of other fish) and I had to get rid of one the other day because he wouldn't stop beating up on the other... I think you either need a lot of angels or one, at this point. And my tank has TONS of cover too...


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## Nmaggard (May 29, 2019)

I have 4 angels, 4 platy's, 3 neon tetras in my 36 Gal bowfront. The angels get along well with others. The largest angel ( Cletus ) would nip at new fish, for day or two. Cletus did not bully the latest Platy I added though.


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## Nmaggard (May 29, 2019)

Also, Angels do really well in even numbers. This way they can pair off.


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## SueD (Nov 20, 2010)

Other suggestions for you might be a school of rummy nose tetras and sterbai cories. I had this set up with a single angel in a 25g tank. Since angels like temps a little higher I kept the tank at 80F, which the sterbai cories are fine with. Many cories prefer temps a little cooler, but angels can adjust a bit, also.


edit: oops! this thread was really old. Didn't notice that before posting


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## Discusluv (Dec 24, 2017)

SueD said:


> Other suggestions for you might be a school of rummy nose tetras and sterbai cories. I had this set up with a single angel in a 25g tank. Since angels like temps a little higher I kept the tank at 80F, which the sterbai cories are fine with. Many cories prefer temps a little cooler, but angels can adjust a bit, also.
> 
> 
> edit: oops! this thread was really old. Didn't notice that before posting


 It was renewed so it is actually new again, lol!


Somebody may find your post to be exactly what they were looking for :smile2:


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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

Nmaggard said:


> I have 4 angels, 4 platy's, 3 neon tetras in my 36 Gal bowfront. The angels get along well with others. The largest angel ( Cletus ) would nip at new fish, for day or two. Cletus did not bully the latest Platy I added though.


Unless your going to be moving them eventually or use it for a breeding pair with nothing else in the tank a 36 G is really small for four full grown Angels.


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