60g angel tank

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loki132

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 27, 2009
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I have a 60 gallon aquarium cycling that i plan to make an angelfish tank out of and i have a few questions about stocking. I am planning to have 2-4 angelfish in this tank with more small schooling fish. I plan for the angels to be the main centerpiece with many other schooling fish. Also, i would like to have fish for the top middle and bottom, such as hatchetfish, angels, and otos, respectively. I have a few questions about this.

1.) With 2-4 angels how large/small should my school of tetras be?
2.) Can i put oto's with my angels?
3.) Can i put hatchetfish in with my angels? (with a lid of course)
4.) Will different species of tetras school together? Such as glowlights and cardinals, cause that would be awesome
5.) Are cories a better alternative to oto's? (maybe even both?)
6.) If there are many types of fish in the tank will i have lots of difficulty in feeding the more timid fish?
7.) Are there any more medium sized fish that can be kept with angels? I i read somewhere that ram cichlids are, but theres always contradicting accounts of it happening.
8.) Is having such a varied aquarium discouraged?

I am not new to fish but i am not an expert either. I have kept tropical fish in the past, but i have never attempted to keep such a varied aquarium. My main worry isn't that the angels will eat the smaller fish(i know they will) but that some of the fish are too small to co-exist with the angels. I'm not really aware of the size of fish that angels can fit into their mouths.Your advice is appreciated :)
 
Hi,

If you hope to keep two angelfish, please make sure they are a breeding pair otherwise you risk stunting the other one as angels have various personalities and some have a tendency to harass each other constantly. If you want four, buy four young angelfish all together and start from there. At this point, you could attempt keeping corydoras, otocinclus catfish, cardinal tetras, glowlight tetras and hatchetfish. By the time your angelfish become adults, the community setup should work just fine. Simply avoid small torpedo shaped tetras particularly neons and embers which are likely eaten. Glowlights and cardinals tend to be a little larger hence they will work much better than the others. Keep both corydoras and otocinclus assuming you have plenty of algae for the latter to eat. I would advise buying your otos only when your tank has established well enough.

For other cichlids, I prefer sticking to apistogrammas and rams as their tankmates although keyholes and festivums also work but you need to watch carefully that the smaller tetras won't get eaten by some of these cichlids. What may fit in their mouths, will unsurprisingly end up there in no time at all.

Hope this helps.

Lupes
 
In my experience, some tetras are better schoolers than others, and I would not expect different species to school together at all. Rummy nose tetras are the best I've ever seen as far as really sticking together and swimming in formation. I guess it really depends on what you mean by "schooling". The behavior I described, or more of a loose affiliation within your tank. Other tetras will kind of hang out together, but there's really no choreography in their movement. They'll just be doing their own thing, and more likely scatter when threatened or scared. My rummy nose are definitely a pack of fish. They swim end to end of the aquarium in a tight formation.
 
Sorry for the late reply I was on vacation for a bit:). Anyways, I have compiled a rough stock list that is subject to change. Please tell me if you think my tank is overstocked as I'm not familiar with the levels of bioload of these fish. I plan to run this tank through peat filtration to keep the ph a bit acidic and the water soft.

4 angelfish
6 common hatchetfish (I'm afraid marbled hatchetfish will be eaten?)
8 cardinal tetras
6 otocinclus catfish (still debating on cories)
2 striped raphael catfish
2-4 ram cichlids
Maybe an apple snail or 2 but I'm not sure it'll work out with the amazon water params(soft and acidic) which is the opposite of what they like.
So far this is it but I might change it depending on space, bioload, etc
 
Bioload wise, I think you look OK for a 60 gal tank. Just keep in mind that if you get 4 young angelfish, eventually 2 are likely to form a pair and not tolerate the other 2. That's probably many months down the road, but something to think about as you choose the type and size of angelfish you buy.
 
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