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Hey fishy people! I have a stocking question, I have an established 20G tall with an angelfish that is maybe 3 1/2" tall(including fins) and 3"long. What kind of other fish can I add to this aquarium?

~MoFish


Don't worry, I am not new to aquariums so I come armed with information!


~Morgan~

Your Angelfish is probably alright at the moment, but when it gets bigger it will need a larger tank. Have you though of upgrading to a 30 gallon, or in a 40 gallon you could have a pair of Angelfish.

If you keep the angelfish for the moment while it is small, then you could add a school of tetras and some corys if you want. Something like:

1 angelfish
6 cardinal tetras
6 panda corys

Or

1 angelfish
6 harlequin rasboras
2 bristle nose or 4 otocinclus

When the angelfish gets too big, I can take it back to the store and trade it for a smaller one. Thanks for the advise, I was hoping I could get some ottos.


~Morgan~

oops, I also for got to ask, do you think I could do black neons instead?

~MoFish~


~Morgan~

If you are sure you are going to trade your angelfish everytime it gets too big (around 4-5" then that is ok. But you could also trade it for a Lace gourami or a pair of dwarf gouramis if you like. Black neons would be fine, any tetras really, but not big ones or small neons as angelfish like to eat them sometimes. Since you liked the ottos you could have:

1 angelfish OR 1 lace gourami OR 2 dwarf gouramis(not 2 male though)
6 Black Neons
6 Otocinclus

What filter do you have in your tank? and is it going to be planted?

I have a whisper 20 in this tank, and it is planted quite heftily but only one live plant. (I found out I could submerge the house plant Ivy without it needing much light or rotting.) There is also a large space for swimming in the center for my angelfish. I think when my angel gets too big I will exchange it for a lace gouramis.

~MoFish


~Morgan~

What if I didn't have the anglefish in there and all I had was 6 penguin tetras and 4/5 ottos, what other fish could I have that would be a semi-large fish?

~MoFish


~Morgan~

You could have 6 penguin tetras, 4/5 ottos, and you could have either a dwarf gourami, a blue or gold gourami, a pair of blue or bolivian rams, pair of other dwarf cichlids. Anything you had in mind?

I didn't really have anything in mind, but having a pair of dwarf cichlids sounds nice. From what I have read, I can have 2 females or 1 male, 1 female or just one male. Is this right? Which ones do you recogmend? Thanks!

~MoFish


~Morgan~

An Angelfish needs at least a 30g for it to not become stunted. As I mentioned before, your angel may eat your neons. I think that you may want to trade your angel for something like a pearl gourmi, that way you know it wont get to big and wont have to worry about finding a store that will take it off your hands. I say get rid of the angelfish and do this:

1x Pearl Gourmi
A school of neons or tetras
A school of cories or 3x Ottos ^_^

Inky

Mofish has decided to get something instead of the angelfish, as stated in his post before inkling. Mofish-Yes, you could get 2F, 1M 1F or 1M or 1F if you want. Just remember the males are more colourful! If you would like something a bit different, and you don't mind if it is slightly aggressive, you could try a pair of cockatoo dwarf cichlids. The males can sometimes be aggressive, but a pair or 1 or 2 females would be ok. You could also have a pair of blue or bolivian rams. Either of these would be ok.

6 penguin tetras
4 ottos
2 cockatoo dwarf cichlid OR blue rams OR bolivian rams

I looked the rams up and I like the Blue Rams, I think I'll get a pair of those if I can find them. I am not sure yet, but I might be able to get a 40/50 gallon from someone. But until I get a definate answer, I will trade in the angel for 2 blue rams and then get 6 penguin tetras, and the 4 ottos. Thanks for all your help!

~MoFish


~Morgan~

That sounds great!

Make sure the LFS you get the blue rams from is a good one. Blue (or German) Rams can be pretty sensitive. They like near perfect water quality and weekly water changes.

I have one in my 55g who never had any problems. She got ich once, but other than that has thrived well. I bought another one a couple weeks ago for my 29g and it didn't make it after a day. So, really it just depends on the fish alot of times. Buying from a trusted LFS helps though.

Good luck!

And I'm glad you are getting rid of the angel. It really deserves a larger tank./:'

*Kristin*

Great news people! I just found out that I am able to get the 40/50 gallon aquarium! I already has fish in it so I am not sure if I can put my angel in there. It has 1 10" pleco and a smaller catfish (maybe 4-7in.) and a blue cichlid-he did not specify. The cilid is about 5-7" long. So I am waiting on more details so I will post again when I get the info!

~MoFish
PS-YAY!!!


~Morgan~

Um Mofish, I'm sorry to say, but a 40/50 gallon is not big enough for a pleco 10" with is probably a common pleco. Depending on the species of the smaller one, it could be ok to keep, but I would need the species to be able to tell. We also need to know what the blue cichlid is as it may be a very aggressive sort. You could remove the pleco and cichlid, and maybe keep the smaller catfish, then add your angelfish and other fish.

If the fish in the tank don't go along with the stocking scheme you want, sell them on. The pleco needs to go, because it will get to big, the cichlid will probably be agressive. The catfish, depending on the sort, could stay or go.

The you could probably have about
1 Angelfish
?15? Tetras/Rasboras of choice
?8? Corys of choice
1 BN or other SMALL plec

And maybe something else

Blackneon ferrets stocking idea was good. I would do this:

2 Angelfish
15 Tetras (rummy-nose, lemons or Black neons would look magnificent!)
10 Corys of choice
1 BN or other SMALL plec (maybe the small one that came with the tank depending on the species)

I did look up all the blue cichlids on the profiles and plenty of them were agressive. The owner of the fish doesn't know what species of fish they are (as he got them from some one else) and I was given estimates on their size, so I will have to ID them once I get them.(Which could be this or next week.)

I know I'll have to get rid of the pleco but if it turns out I have to give up all the fish I like BlackNeonFerret's idea of stocking. I think I might do black neons because my angel is solid black.

Thanks!
~MoFish


~Morgan~