# 50 Gallon Angel Tank



## Dead2fall (Jun 4, 2014)

I have 6 angels, 4 GBR, Cories, otos, sae, and a school of harlequins in a 46 bow front with no issues. Ymmv.

The Cories will be fine. As with any cichlid, the angels may or may not be aggressive. I'd imagine if they pair off and spawn you may end up with some issues. Thankfully all six of mine are pretty docile.


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## TINNGG (Mar 9, 2005)

Assuming you're starting out with juveniles... get 6. It's easier to remove a misfit than to try to add an adult later. It's also easier if you luck up and DON'T get pairs. Hard to do with juveniles, and not real easy to do with adults. As for quantity, that's the usual recommendation, but on larger tanks, you can fudge it a little. Just be aware that if adults start pairing off, you need to have a backup plan.

Believe it or not, but some report having more than one pair in a larger tank, coexisting more or less peacefully, so it can happen (just didn't happen with me).


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## Midnighttide102 (Oct 2, 2014)

http://theangelfishsociety.org/

Great angelfish info there


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

I have one angelfish in a 55g community (rainbow fish, cherry barbs, otos (raised with angel) and false julli cory). The angel got along perfectly with everyone till she finally hit sexual maturity and after I redid the hardscape in the tank she decided to claim 1/2 for herself and lay eggs on the intake. All the other fish were stuck on the left side of the tank and she got mean (defensive) would attack me and even jump out of the water to nip me. Got sick of that and when she did not eat her eggs as they turned white (from not be fertalized-no other angel in there remember) I scrubbed them off with a tooth brush and siphoned them up. Next day she was back to normal and has been fine since. Everyone gets to use the whole tank again.

A mated pair will claim at least 1/3 if not 1/2 of a tank, so if you want an angelfish community tank be prepared for only 1/2 the tank to have an active community if you get a mated pair of angels. If you get 2 pairs of angels they should both take 1/2 the tank for themselves to breed, would not recommend community tank for this-the other fish will have nowhere to be. If you get 5 angels and end up with 2 pairs its a game of chance if the odd fish out will be bullied by the two pairs (possibly to death) or tolerated by at least one mated pair while the other is in defense mode (breeding).


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## latchdan (Sep 7, 2007)

I had 6 baby angels in my 37 gallon to get a pair. Once they grew I got rid of 2. The 4 remaining would constantly fight so I had to just go with a duo.

I think it might depend if your angels are aggressive because I've had others that I was able to keep 4 and they wouldn't nip at all.


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## The Dude (Feb 8, 2011)

In my experience 2 full grown Angels need a tank larger than 4 feet if you are striving for a community. A single is fine and may be the way to go so you don't have issues down the line. Even if you are lucky enough to get a pair they will attack the other fish when they have eggs and fry. 
Denison Barbs are not going to work in anything less than a 75 gallon IMO. I had success with Black Neons, Glowlights, Rainbows, and Bloodfin tetras with Angels. The Angels ate many of the Cardinals and Rummynose. Get everyone small and let them grow up together for the best chance. 
I have a single Angel in my 75 gallon tank.


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## TwistedAngel (Jul 10, 2013)

It seems that the responses are as varied here as elsewhere when it comes to the angels 

I will be skipping the Denison's barbs. They are beyond stunning, but I don't want to put them in something too small for them.

I think I will either try a group of five angels with only cories (or by themselves, if that is better), or I will find a single specimen to grow up with a school of cories and the glowlights. I don't know how I feel about keeping a shoaling species solo, though.

I guess there is also the option to purchase two that are already paired off of aquabid or elsewhere, but I really don't know if I want to deal with breeding.

I have read that overstocking with angels and keeping the temperature on the low end of the acceptable spectrum keeps down aggression and prevents breeding attempts. Is this true?


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## The Dude (Feb 8, 2011)

TwistedAngel said:


> It seems that the responses are as varied here as elsewhere when it comes to the angels
> 
> I will be skipping the Denison's barbs. They are beyond stunning, but I don't want to put them in something too small for them.
> 
> ...


Overstocking with African cichlids is a common practice. It doesn't work with Angels. I started out with 7 at one time. Each time the lowest ranking would be bullied or harassed near death and I would rehome him.... all the way down to two pairs. One pair then harassed the other pair until they were hovering in the upper corners of the tank. That's in a 4" tank
Overstocking with Africans is on the order of 20+ fish of the same species in a 4 foot tank... even Africans require a 4 foot tank. 
I think a single Angel, a pair of dwarf cichlids, and a shoaling fish, along with some Corys would be a nice tank. I have Bloodfins in my tank. Ill set up another South American tank soon and I'll do Discus and maybe Emporer tetras.


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

Angels are fine as singles. They're shoaling fish, yes, but they feel pretty secure if just surrounded by other, unafraid fish. 

Starting out with a lot of angelfish will end up with a lot of dead angels and one or two live ones.


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## Mariostg (Sep 6, 2014)

I started with 7 angels in my 75 gal. Then a pair formed. They took over 1/3 of the tank. Later on another pair formed. Ouch, that latter pair took over the whole thank including the big Amazon Sowrd. So it turned out I only kept that pair. I sold 3 and moved the other pair in a 29 gal (yes much smaller tank). In that 29 gal, there are some blue and black cardinals and 4 white skirts. All seem to go along relatively well. But that pair in the 75 gal goes after the corries, the swellia, even the snails. That pair lays eggs like there is no tomorrow but the babies don't survive once they start swimming.


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