Goldfish & Angelfish in CA cichlid tank?

[karate626]

The angelfish was in a 29 gallon with tetras, guppies, the comet goldfish and some rosy minnows. This worked fine for years until this angelfish began getting really aggressive and territorial. In the 220 gallon tank, the cichlids are all very mellow. Almost no nipping, just the occasional short chase. Everything I read said to not put angels with other cichlids other than possibly rams or discus. I tried it a week ago and it seems to be going fine. It even chases some other fish a little and never gets attacked. The goldfish just ignores the other fish and the cichlids seem to ignore it. Is this unusual?
The current stocking in the tank:
2 Male Convicts (1 is 3-4" and the other is 6")
1 Female Jack Dempsey (6")
2 Paratheraps Fenestratus (Male Female pair. Both are about 10")
1 Midevil (3")
5 Veija Synspilums (1 male is 10" the rest are 3-7")
1 Angelfish (5 years old, twice the size of a half dollar...it is a very large angelfish)
1 Comet Goldfish (2 years 4-5")

 

[karate626]

Here are more pics...sorry they are blurry, I am using my iphone

 

[GS1981]

Just wait till the Devil gets some size on it...

 

[bbortko]

It maybe fine now but if anyone decides to challenge the angel it doesnt stand a chance. The only things the angel has going for it is its shape and size. Since it is smaller and shaped differently the ca might not see it as competition but some particularly the midevil may see every living creature as competition at which point the slow weak angel will be a goner.

 

[tiger15]

Not until you try it, you never know. I kept a female black angel in a 75 gal with as many as three 8 inch Green Terror, a firemouth and a colony of small Tanganyikans with no problem. I didn't design to place the angel there, but my friend was moving and asked me to take care of his angel fish. At first, I though the angel wouldn't survive for 2 days, but she ended up surviving there for over a year. In the first two weeks, she was so terrified that she hided all day long in the rock and scratched herself. Finally, she came out more and more and eventually, she was totally confident to swim around the giants. I learned a year later that it is a female because she laid eggs on the suction tube. It was funny to watch her guard the eggs against the giants as if Larry King is fighting summo wrestlers. The big fish totally ignored her, but once for a while the small Tangs nip on her fins because she got too close to their territory and she is slow. Finally, I sold her away in a fish aution, still command a good price because her finnage was in near perfect condition.

 

[BC in SK]

The only things the angel has going for it is its shape and size. Since it is smaller and shaped differently the ca might not see it as competition

Kept angelfish with CA/SA many times over the years. For what ever reason (there odd shape and/or because they do not represent a threat), often they seem to get 'special' consideration and are largely ignored. But there definately is a risk housing them with midas/RD. Many years ago had an anglefishin in an aggressive tank for over 5 years....then one day as it swam in front of my RD/midas it got bitten in the gill area. As the angelfish tried to swim away, it was caught in the RD/midas mouth and ripped the whole side of the face into a big flap that hung over to the other side of it's face. Happened right in front of me. The risk with things like RD/midas and Parachromis is that one little bite can do enormous damage and kill an angelfish. Veija can do very similar damage like other large CA if it takes a run at something....but generally just a little bite doesn't do the same kind of damage.

They certainly can get 'special' consideration. Had oscars lay eggs a number of times with a group of angelfish that hung out directly above the oscars.....the oscars never chased the angelfish away, but certainly made every attempt to chase all others away. In more recent times (2010-2011) I had a mature pair of convicts with eggs and the angelfish at times, would have the bottom part of their fin inside the breeding cave and the cons made no attempt to chase them away...... yet no other fish were ever able to get very close with out getting chased away and/or a fight. Here is some video of this tank:
http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z116/Bern-C/?action=view&current=058.mp4

http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z116/Bern-C/?action=view&current=045.mp4

I moved 3 more bumble bees (Pseudotropheus crabro) to this tank. They were no different then any others in this tank, in that they were completely uninterested in the angelfish. However, they bred and 15 fry survived in the tank. Nippy little buggers, they chewed the ends of the angelfish's fins. Not so serious as the little damge did repair. Often i would see the angelfish chase these liitle crabros away. But then my 125 sprung a fast leak and pretty much everything in that tank was moved to this 180. Swap out the convict pair for a younger salvini pair that regarded the angelfish no differently then any other SA/CA in the tank. Lot's mbuna in the tank now.....kenyi hybrids that chased the angelfish. Lot's of commotion and chewed up angelfish fins. The angelfish did very poorly in this tank now, so i gave them away. Here's a pic of them and some tankmates during this period of time:


So it's hit and miss with angelfish. High risk with something like RD/midas. Pretty good chance, IMO, that it will be ignored for the most part.....but all it takes is one bite to do irreperable damage

 

[gutted]

And I thought I was the only crazy person who housed angels with my CA cichlids. Although it was only temporary for about 2-3 weeks, I was quiet surprised how no one paid attention to them but the angels were definitely on the wary side.

On the middevil, thats definitely a ticking time bomb. They can get very aggressive very quickly.

 

[fish042099]

No offense but those are some cowardly cichlids! My 4" synspilum is so aggressive, an angelfish would get crushed. Mine beats up 10" peacock bass.

 

[BlueKiller82]

I've kept angels with oscars, under right conditions you can get angels to live with others, just be careful!

 

[ryansmith83]

There's a cichlid dealer near my house who has always mixed large angels with big CAs and SAs with no issues. He used to have a 300 gallon display tank with big CA fish and silver angels, but the angels never had a mark on them. I was always surprised to see this. I'm guessing it has a lot to do with the fact that angels are non-threatening and would rarely challenge (or even acknowledge) a large cichlid, so the cichlids probably don't see them as a threat.