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Well, I have 2 angelfish as my centerpieces in a 46gallon south american setup with rams, cardinals, rummynoses and dwarf plecos and one angelfish became dominant over the other one and keeps him/her pushed in a corner 80% of the time. During feeding the dominant angel will get very aggesive toward the other one. When I got them they were both the size of a nickel now both are bigger than a silver dollar and one is much bigger than the other one.

My Scapes

Hello! For my future 46 gallon, I would love to have a pair of angelfish, but I'm not really interested in breeding them though. So my question: Is it okay to keep angelfish in pairs that may possibly be of the same sex?

I agree. A 75 gallon would be perfect for a group, though 55s are perfectly capable of housing a pair or even up to 4.

The problem is space. In order to get more than two I think you need at least a 72 gallon tank, especially if you have plants, rocks, etc....

My Scapes

Angelfish are social animals. They should not be forced to swim solo. A pair is generally speaking, fine, and bullying does not usually occur amongst two evenly match individuals. 5 is the magic number if you have the room.

With Angelfish, except in rare cases, it's generally better to have just one, or more than three. If it's a centerpiece fish, get one outstanding specimen to patrol your community tank. Otherwise, get 4 or more of the same size and agression will probably be duffused among that many individuals. If you get just a pair, unless they are mated, you wil probably have problems with agression and end up with just one angelfish anyway.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

From having kept two angels in a 46gallon I personally think they look alittle cramped when fully grown, but it also depends on how much decor you have in your tank. If you have alot of open space for swimming they should be fine space wise. If you purchase two small angels it's impossible to tell how they will get along. My two angels were the same size when purchased and the dominant one grew much larger and as I mentioned controls where the other one goes.

My Scapes

You can add more Corydoras if you like & make them a school of 10/12.


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Aggression is not sex specific in angels. Two females will fight, as will two males, an unpaired male and female, etc.

Oh, yeah, I guess I mean if it is okay to keep 2 angelfish in a 46 gallon. I'm just worried that they may fight or something...

Also, this is what I was thinking of keeping in a 46 gallon:
-2 angelfish
-10-12 lemon tetras
-10-12 glowlight tetras
-7 bronze cories
So the angelfish should be fine right?

Last edited by egtrixie at 01-Aug-2005 14:38

2 Angels in a 46 gallon would be fine, but hope they aren't 2 males as problems MAY arise. Not undoubtedly, but they mihgt happen. They wouldn't be considered a pair if they were of the same sex. But, if your question is can you keep 2 angelfish in a 46 gallon...the answer is yes.

If you have a pair, they can be a bit aggressive, especially if they breed. You can keep Angels of the same sex & they'll be fine with most other fish like Tetra's & Corydoras.


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would they still be considered a pair?

but anyway two female angels will be ok, if u can find any. i think that there have been reports of two females trying to breed, and release the eggs from there body.

that sounds awesome.
I think you will be fine.
You could even up the number of corys to 12, or get 2 schools of 6 each of 2 different types!


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Well because tetras need plants to hide in and to feel secure. I also read that angelfish prefer planted tanks with open space for swimming.

Angelfish are not active swimmers. In the aquarium, as with in their natural habitat, they prefer to hover amongst tall reeds and branches, which can easily be simulated by placing a series of long, cylindrical objects vertical from the bottom plane of the tank.

So because tetras prefer planted and angels don't, will my stocking plan still work? Don't I still need plants for the tetras?

Actually, many tetras we associate with this hobby live in muddy floodbanks amongst bogwood tangles, not plant choked streams. Most plant choked bodies of water are seasonal habitats, and the fish that subsist there either move downstream or die come water summer weather. The lush plant meadows generally associated with the South American aquarium are few and far between.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 04-Aug-2005 13:45

"A lot of tetras live in the river amongst plants and clear water. Some tetras live in amazon acid pools, but the water is murky because of the rotting debris, not mud."
There is a difference between rotting debris (black water) and whitewater (silt and mud). Tannins do not cloud the water so much as color it. Silt is a completely different story.

"Their habitat is anything but muddy,"
You'd be surprised. Phantoms, larger hyphesses, leps, procs, aphyocharax, and exodons are all midwater whitewater swimmers. Even most blackwater enviornments are somewhat turbid, simply due to the flow.

"the river is clear and they usually don't actually live amongst the banks."
Black and clearwater (both are generally shallower, slower flowing channels of water, though this is a definite generalization) tetras do tend to be smaller schoolers and prefer riverbanks, as in midwater, there is very little cover. The pools that are heavily choked with vegetation are usually seasonal pools and/or streams. Here's just an idea:

http://visual35.tripod.com/amano/biotope0392.jpg

http://ct.gsfc.nasa.gov/journeys/amazon_underwater.jpg

"They will venture into the stream/river quite often where there are several plants floating and planted in the stream/river bed."
That's not accurate. Most rivers with any considerable flow actually have little (or rather, sparse) plant matter. This is why most midwater swimmers are either large, robust, and schooling or bottom dwelling.

"Angels do not prefer a bare tank."
When did I ever say that?

"Cylindrical items from the aquarium floor would look ugly, so instead of having an ugly tank why not plant it with verticle plants and have it look nice?"
Because space will be an issue. Planting one stem every 4 or so inches is not exactly a feast for the eyes, either. A few branches and properly placed bogwood would look much better.

"Angelfish do however like to swim. I had 3 angelfish that would sometimes race up and down and all around my 40 gallon irregularly shaped and tall tank. Where did you get the idea angels only hoverd in the reeds? They should only do this when unhealthy or lonely."
I got this idea from keeping and breeding said species for, oh, nearly my entire life (9 breeding pairs--3 DD Blacks--thus far, and probably 12 or more other scalare over the years)? They are not active swimmers, I'll tell you that. Once you muster together a group of 6+, they tend to shoal in nearly one place. If you've ever seen videos of these fishes in their natural habitat, they literally blend in amongst bank vegetation with vertical striping and nearly motionless hovering. They do indeed move, but they are not what I would consider active.

"And I suppose public aquariums are wrong when they have angels and tetras in a natural habitat set up with plants among them?"
They aren't attempting to fit 3 in a 46.

"The slow moving rivers in which tetras inhabit are slow enough to have plants grow."
Each tetra species is different morphologically, kthnx. Vegetation, though present, is rarely, if ever, at the concentrations which they are usually at in our aquariums.

"No tetra that I can tihnk of, not even the black phantom, will live in any current comfortably, so I would hardly call their natural habitat "whitewater"."
Astyanax, exodon, moenkhausia, tetragons, triports, petitella and other common tetras are found almost exclusively in fast, whitewater enviornments (emphasis on the fast moreso than the whitewater). Other tetras and characins stated above are also commonly found in these conditions.

"Most rivers in South America are not fast flowing or even close to whitewater."
Every major river in SA has whitewater. Water flow varies between season and location, but several tetra riddled streams are WELL known for high flow rate (which is not to say others are not fast flowing): Tocantins, Xingu, Tapajós, Magdalena, LLanos, Tuy, Valencia, and these are just off the top of my head (I'm mainly familiar with these from my loricariid fanaticism).


"Tetras will school in the open, but will school down towards where the plants are growing, not out in midwater right in the open."
A generalization--it depends on the species. Many small schoolers do TEND to stick towards cover near the plant matter, which incidentally, grows more lushly in the banked shallows. A good selection of small species, however, are quite well adapted for mid water swimming, many of which I have already listed.


"They are caught usually in streams however, I was mistaken saying they are from rivers, they usually are at the beginning of rivers which are more stream-like than a flowing river."
Again, generalizing that a collective group of fish is caught only in one region is scienticifically unsound. In fact, river trawling is a very expediant and efficient way to catch large, open water fish.






Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 05-Aug-2005 09:32

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 05-Aug-2005 09:34