# Shoaling fish recommendations for an large Angelfish tank



## Ajm200 (12 Jan 2016)

Hi,

I currently have a group of 8 Angelfish in my large 520l tank. At Easter,  I'll be moving my Son's goldfish into a garden pond so that I can use their 120l tank as a community tank for the smaller fish currently in with the Angels.

I'm planning on leaving the larger tank planted and stocked with the Angelfish, a Bristlenose, corys and a group of shoaling fish.

Any recommendations?  Everything I've liked so far has either been too small or likely to nip fins.

I quite like Congo tetras.  Do they shoal well?  Whenever I've seen them at the LFS they have been in a tiny tank so it was impossible to tell. Also, are they good with Angelfish?

I'd love to hear your experiences

Thanks


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## RossMartin (12 Jan 2016)

I like Rummynoses!


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## NC10 (12 Jan 2016)

If you're not sticking with South Americans, I've always fancied a decent shoal of glass catfish.

No experience with them, but another one to think about anyway


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## Ajm200 (12 Jan 2016)

I did want to have South American fish but everything I've liked so far will become live food for the Angel Fish at some point  or needs soft water.  Our water is very hard.  I live near London.  Limescale on everything is the norm


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## Ajm200 (12 Jan 2016)

Congo Tetra were suggested by my son as he likes the look of them and they are big enough to be safe


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## NC10 (12 Jan 2016)

Sorry, can't edit original post.

Was going to suggest Bleeding Heart as well, another decent sized tetra, again no experience 

Flag cichlids another, both South American anyway. I'll stop now


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## Martin in Holland (13 Jan 2016)

Emperor Tetra would be good too, but watch out for nipping the Angels fins.


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## EnderUK (13 Jan 2016)

I think you could get a good shoal of otos in a 520l  20-30.


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## PARAGUAY (13 Jan 2016)

Rummy Noses and Cardinals keeping to the South American theme and big enough not to be seen as food by the Angels or something more like Lemon tetras or Diamond tetras peaceful in a large group


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## Derek113 (13 Jan 2016)

I like the bleeding heart tetra. The trouble is, mine looked better than the angels! 

Not sure on requirements but a large group of peacock gobies would look nice?


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## alto (13 Jan 2016)

Much depends on your angels - adult angels can be rather territorial so whatever shoal you choose, it's recommended to remove the angels to a large bin, make some physical changes in the tank, add the new fish shoal, allow them some time to settle, then return angels  ... 

I've had angels hunt & eat new additions to an existing shoal of dither fish, original shoal group having been in the tank when angels were added as juveniles - I'd had a group of 10 dither fish, lost a couple over the year or so, added 8 (quarantined for a month before adding to the angel tank - this is very important with angels) ... a month later, only the original 8 dithers remained 

I've had angels eat otos - took a bit of effort as the oto was too large to be swallowed whole (ie  not pretty) - I'd assumed the oto disappearances were just those frustrating losses one can have with otos

Emperor tetra shoal did fine with angels (though again, I'd introduced the shoal while angels were juveniles), I eventually removed the Emperor tetras as I found them too busy (the angels seemed to prefer their absence as well)

Whatever shoal you choose, quarantine the new fish for at least a couple weeks first (if this isn't possible, take care with the source purchase, then try to do daily 25% water changes for the first several days, tapering back to your usual schedule)
Add at least 20 individuals

Re nipping fins, what sort of angels do your have? standard fins are less often targeted than long trailing fins; also larger groups of a shoal tends to keep behaviors within the shoal, though hungry fish are maybe more likely to nibble.

I wouldn't add Congo tetras as these can be very active, busy fish ... they'll likely come to dominate the tank  with angels showing less activity/behaviors  (at least that has been my observation in Congo/angel tanks) 

Currently your angels are accustomed to sharing their tank so I'd add the new shoal at the same time as I removed the present smaller fish, again as your angels are accustomed to smaller fish, they may be less inclined to predate the new shoal (I suspect behavior of the new fish impacts angel response)
I've really only included my experiences as possibilities, not as probabilities ...


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## jagillham (13 Jan 2016)

Can confirm Rummy Nose Tetra can be Angelfish food!

I had 3 Angels. Two lived in harmony in the community tank. Added another, and caught it in the act...!


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## Ajm200 (13 Jan 2016)

EnderUK said:


> I think you could get a good shoal of otos in a 520l  20-30.


I'd love them.  Ottos are great but so would the Angel fish.  The outcome would be bad for both fish as the Angels consider anything that will fit in their mouths to be food.  The Ottos spines make them a deadly meal sometimes otherwise I'd have loads already

I saw a friend lose an beautiful adult Angelfish when it tried to eat an otto and the otto got stuck.  Not something I want to risk


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## Ajm200 (13 Jan 2016)

alto said:


> Re nipping fins, what sort of angels do your have? standard fins are less often targeted than long trailing fins; also larger groups of a shoal tends to keep behaviors within the shoal, though hungry fish are maybe more likely to nibble.



They were sold as standard Angels but were very small.  Two have much fins longer fins and tails and very long points on their tails.

One of the black ones is an evil little critter.  He chases the smaller fish and nips our hands when we do maintenance on the tank.  I do wonder if we will have to evict the goldfish sooner than planned if small fish start disappearing


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## PARAGUAY (14 Jan 2016)

Angels can be quite unpredictable in behaviour you may have a single one getting along quite harmoniously for years within a community set up or as shown here exhibiting chiclid behaviour by predation.  Altums are rare and expensive and mainly obtained by request but the others Leopoldi and Scalare.Leopoldi is the slightly more smaller rounded and can be aggressive, and unless it's kept in numbers with larger fish is best avoided with small fish likewise Black and marbled Angels more predatory and unpredictable than Scalare. As always there are exceptions but personally Scalare would be my choice with smaller fish, deep bodied tetras would probably be best tank mates in a well planted large tank


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