# 10 angelfish in 55 gallon?



## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

That sort of thinking and stocking seems to work well with many African Cichlids, but not for New World fish. 

In a 55 that is densely planted, driftwood, other things to separate the territories you might get by with 2 pairs, but watch them! One of the pair might decide that the whole tank is theirs. 

In a longer tank (6' long) my Angels claimed only about 18" at one end. They might chase another fish about halfway across the tank, but then went back to their space. They did not initiate the chasing until the intruder was closer than about 18" from the nest. 
When the same Angels were in a smaller tank (3' or 4' long) they claimed the whole tank. An intruder could not go away far enough to make the dominant fish understand that she was not invading their space. I had to remove the 3rd fish (I am almost positive it was a female). They kept her trapped in one corner, and if she ventured out at all they chased her. 

A 55 with one pair of Angels. 
Then add some other fish. 
Farlowella
Anostomus
Larger Tetras that will not get eaten such as Phantoms (Blacks or Reds) or Bleeding Hearts. 
Cories (look for Cories that are OK in the high temperatures that Angels need. Brochis splendens is one such Cory relative. 
Bristlenose Pleco would be the largest algae eater I would put in that tank. 

Avoid fish with any tendency to nip:
Tiger Barbs, Serpae Tetras, Danios, Silver Tip Tetras, Puffers or a few others. 

The fish you currently have, the Espeis and the Rummy Nose are small enough to get eaten. The Rummy Nose in not noted as a nipper. Perhaps it is because there is just one.


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## brittie1 (Feb 28, 2013)

The general idea is to start out with a fair sized group of juveniles and then thin it out once pairs begin forming (keeping in mind the size of the tank as well). How big are they now? 10 sounds like a lot for a 55 gallon, but if they're dime or nickel sized you should be fine for a little while. 

I only had six in a 90 gallon, and I had to sell two of them to cut down on all the aggression, so now I have two pairs.


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## Bushkill (Feb 15, 2012)

pandacory said:


> OK so I impulse bought a 55 at the dollar per gallon and have been noodling on what to do with it. I think I want to try angelfish so I went to an lfs that does mostly African chiclids.
> 
> One of the guys told me to do 10 angelfish because if I got less then there would be more aggression between them. He said I could thin to 6 once they're full grown, and that you either want to give a ton of space per fish or very little to manage aggression and that dense stocking helps prevent pairs from forming.
> 
> ...


He wasn't off the mark if you're talking about juvenile angels to start with. Just keep in mind that LFS angels will generally have a poor track record if you don't keep up with tank maintenance, and with newer tanks. If there was ever a fish made for QT, this is it. Along with the nipping tetras, you should re-think the Otos. They develop the nasty habit of picking at the slime coat of broad-sided fish like angels and discus. Once they get a taste of it they don't stop.
I have a school of Sterbais in a 180G display and they do school nicely. But they are a little tougher to acclimate and may not be the hardiest of the species. They also carry a heftier price. I just bought six Melanistius 

http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/species.php?species_id=311 

for a 90G and these guys can REALLY hold a tight formation.


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## pandacory (Apr 18, 2011)

Thanks for the responses. Maybe I should back up a little.

My goal for this tank is to be dimly lit, and run seasonally between 78-82 degrees due to the tradeoff in the cost of ac in summer and heat in winter. I will be running a mix of treated tap and remineralized ro water to target ~6.8 ph. I have already proven that I can maintain this in my apartment over the year.

This will be a sand capped soil tank with driftwood and a few small stones. I won't be doing a true biotope because the tank will be planted with my growing crypt collection. I don't want to do any epiphyte unless I choose a fish that needs a coconut cave.

The added complexity is that I need a very high bio load to provide nutrient to the grow beds I will be connecting to the tank's sump.

If I prevent pairs from forming (how do I do that?) How many angels would be OK in a 55. I read so much conflicting information, from 1 pair to 2 pair to 6 individuals etc. Suggestions welcome.

The amount of filtration I will be providing between mechanical and grow bed is more than sufficient for the way an aquaculture operation would stock.

I am interested in Peruvian altums, a Cory sp., otos, a dwarf chiclid of some kind, a schooling tetra or other plant friendly fish, and maybe some marbled hatchets. It will be packed for sure.


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

The guy at the lfs is either an idiot, or most likely just bs-ing you to sell you more fish, 10 is far too many for a 55, there will be deaths (unless you can react very fast at taking out the bully or bullied fish)! As for preventing mated pairs.. that's not really easy since they're hard to determine sex of 100% before they pair off, some people say they can tell but I don't think its possible when they're juveniles. You can buy several (3-4) and if a pair forms sell/return/raok them away and get another fish and hope everyone in the tank is the same sex then. If another pair forms, get rid of it and try getting another angel (be careful to not get younger/smaller replacements or they're more likely to be bullied by the existing residence).
Honestly I'd just get 2-3.. if a mated pair forms, be ready to remove "the 3rd wheel" and let the lovers have their way. You can sell babies or trade them for credit at a lfs.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

+1 to the idiot statement. When my 2 Angels are spawning in a 6Og tall, everybody else are in the upper back corner, trying to look invisible.

v3


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

OVT said:


> +1 to the idiot statement. When my 2 Angels are spawning in a 6Og tall, everybody else are in the upper back corner, trying to look invisible.
> 
> v3


They were all just pepin' toms watching the action.. yeh that's it.. defiantly not bullied into a corner.. ^_~


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## Jesseter (Jul 28, 2013)

I bought 4 angels for my 75 gallon tank. I had a pair turn out to be mated(even though they always eat their eggs). They beat the crap out of another I suspected to be another male. Mind you a 75 gallon was not enough room! The third wheel just hangs out almost all the time under the amazon sword so they don't even notice. I ended up trading the beaten boy back to the LFS for credit. Got more plants.


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## pandacory (Apr 18, 2011)

Thanks for the replies everyone! This is a great community.

Kind of aggregating everyone's advice/experience, it sounds like a reasonable procedure would be to:
1. Buy 4 angels
2. Hope no pairs form
3. If 2 fails, hope for 2 pairs that will share 1 tank
4. If 3 fails, remove 1 pair.

does that sound reasonable?


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

Sounds like a good plan, exactly what I did.

v3


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