# Stocking a 75 with angelfish



## Zwalter38 (Jul 10, 2018)

I recently got a 75 gallon aquarium and I am looking at koi angels. Any clue how many I could have in the long run. I would also like golden or electric blue rams, pearl gourami, celestial pearl danio, Venezuelan flame Corys, ember tetras. i don’t necessarily need all of them and if I can’t get all of them would they all be possible in a 135 with a Fluval fx4. Also I don’t know if they are all compatible any info would be great thanks


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## babystarz (Sep 25, 2012)

Zwalter38 said:


> I recently got a 75 gallon aquarium and I am looking at koi angels. Any clue how many I could have in the long run. I would also like golden or electric blue rams, pearl gourami, celestial pearl danio, Venezuelan flame Corys, ember tetras. i don’t necessarily need all of them and if I can’t get all of them would they all be possible in a 135 with a Fluval fx4. Also I don’t know if they are all compatible any info would be great thanks


I was just asking about angels too, you might want to check out some of the replies to my question because I think they answer some of your questions too: https://www.plantedtank.net/forums/...ussion/1275829-can-i-get-away-stock-plan.html

It sounds like your best chance for success would involve 2 koi angels (perhaps more in a 75G but I'll let the more knowledgeable people speak to that). Angels are semi aggressive to other fish species but can cohabit with fish that are both smaller than the angels (they will attack larger fish) but not so small that they can be eaten by the angels (so most small sized tetras aren't safe). Size-wise, the rams, pearl gourami and Venezuelan flame cory should be alright. The ember tetras and CP danios might become snacks if they're not adult-sized when you get them so just keep that in mind, they may need to be given time to grow in a separate space before you can add them in with the angel fish. My CP danios were _tiny_ when I first got them. Even as adults they could become prey to the angel fish so if you want to avoid that possibility go for something that is closer to 2" like rummy nose tetras.

If you end up with a breeding pair of angels they will be more aggressive when they're breeding, so plan around that in terms of space/hiding places for other fish.


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Angels are probably the most "impressive", beginner firendly fish for a tank that size. Keyhole Cichlids get to about 4.5" and are the largest "peaceful" cichlid you can keep with small tetras and plants.

There are a few peavceful varieties of Cichlids in the 4-8" range, but most of them are diggers and could kill other tankmates when spawning. Bandit cichlids, threadfin acara,geophagus come to mind.

Electric Blue Acara gets to 6" are relatively peaceful, but when they spawn could terrorize everything else.

Discus are amazing fish with their own requirements and would work in that size tank, but require alot of work. 

Severums might work as a centerpiece, get to 8" but eat tetras. 

With your requirements, I would get some severums (with the understanding that one or more may need to be rehomed if they get agressive), and also a school or two of larger tetra varieties, or a few dwarf cihlids (keyholes, rams, etc).


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## Zwalter38 (Jul 10, 2018)

@babystarz thanks so much for the help. Another question do you think the angles or rams would bother silver hatchets


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## babystarz (Sep 25, 2012)

Zwalter38 said:


> @babystarz thanks so much for the help. Another question do you think the angles or rams would bother silver hatchets


I think those three species would be okay together, I even spotted some videos from people with angel fish and hatchet fish living together so it appears to be a common combination:


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## vvDO (Oct 18, 2010)

Zwalter38 said:


> @babystarz thanks so much for the help. Another question do you think the angles or rams would bother silver hatchets




I think you would be fine with a pair of angels and another small cichlid like a German or Bolivian ram, hatchets (10-12) and a single group of cories (10-12). I would recommend adding the smaller fish first then angels then maybe a pair of rams. If the angels are young, you could add a small group of schooling fish at the same time like cardinal tetras or rummynose tetras. Embers/CPDs may be too small even when fully grown.

If you go with hatchets, make sure you have a solid lid, they are known jumpers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Zwalter38 (Jul 10, 2018)

@*vvDO* what about the pearl gourami(s) and would gold barbs be big enough. Also how many more angels could I have in a 135 vs the 75

How about this stocking 
(10-12) Venezuelan flame Cory
(1-2) pearl gourami
(8-10) gold barb 
(4) koi angelfish 
(3) electric blue ram
(10-12) silver hatchets 

If this is too much for a 75 would it work in a 135 with a Fluval fx4 filter


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## vvDO (Oct 18, 2010)

Zwalter38 said:


> @*vvDO* what about the pearl gourami(s) and would gold barbs be big enough. Also how many more angels could I have in a 135 vs the 75
> 
> How about this stocking
> (10-12) Venezuelan flame Cory
> ...


Sorry just saw this... I think the pearl gourami would compete with the angels as your focal point fish... if you really have to have both I believe they should be OK. If you are going with a 75, just think about reducing the number of angels to 2 and reduce the number of gold barbs to 5-6. In a 135, stocking should be OK as listed. I had gold barbs with angels and they did fine, I moved the koi angels to a bigger tank just to give them more room. I love gold barbs, very active among themselves and they don't bother other fish.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

In a 75 you would be fine with 4-6 angels as long as the tank has decor (driftwood/rocks/plants) where any bullied fish can get away with the aggressors. If you went with a 135 gallon you could probably keep 8-12 angels give or take depending on temperament. There will always be some nipping at each other to establish a pecking order so keep that in mind. More is actually better as it will keep the aggression more evenly dispersed. Also once they start pairing off and breeding it can be sort of disruptive to the entire tank as they will aggressively protect the area where their eggs and young are and herd the rest of the fish to the other side of the tank.

As others have said very small fish like embers and CPD are not a good idea. Slightly larger tetras like cardinals and rummynose can work if you get the angels small (quarter size) and they grow up with the tetras. There is always a chance you could get a carnivore that eats everyone but I never had a problem in all my years of keeping angels. 

As far as other tank mates go just keep away from very nippy fish like some barbs that might go after the angels fins. Angels can hold their own with some other large cichlids but obviously probably want to stay away from very aggressive species. Gouramis should be fine. I might stay away from gold barbs but I don't know how nippy they are as I have never kept them. Large silver hatchets should be OK but probably stay away from pygmy or marble hatchets.


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## Pearl_Gourami (Nov 9, 2016)

Zwalter38 said:


> @*vvDO* what about the pearl gourami(s) and would gold barbs be big enough. Also how many more angels could I have in a 135 vs the 75
> 
> How about this stocking
> (10-12) Venezuelan flame Cory
> ...


Hi Zwalter

Did you go ahead with the Gold barb Angel and Pearl Gourami combination? If so how is it going for you?


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## TINNGG (Mar 9, 2005)

Eh.... Some of these answers make me twitch.

I put 6 angels in a 75, only other fish in the tank were 3 albino BN and a Bolivian ram. 2 of the angels paired off and killed 2 of the others before I could get a divider constructed. That's the problem with angels - if you get a super aggressive individual (the male I suspect was a wild/koi cross) and it pairs off, *everything* has a target on its fin. By the time I got those two a tank by themselves, they'd also killed one of my albino BNs. They also might have had a hand in the ram's demise, though I couldn't swear to it.

Currently my tank has no females in it (that I'm aware of), is also overpopulated with angels, and nobody has killed anyone else. I hesitate to bring down the numbers because of the previous experience. In any case, being as how they're from a region with a dry season, crowding is a good way to stop territorial behavior, and it's something that isn't an alien concept to the species.

That said, I had 3 wild caught Peruvians in there for years without incident. They were all male I think so nothing to fight about.


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