Angel Question

[Swatman05]

I plan on doing a 240gal FOWLR Setup, and I really love Angelfish. Are there certain larger species that can be housed together without aggression problems? I know dwarf angels and be housed with larger. Looking forward to hearing from you guys!

[Dkuhlmann]

There are a lot of threads of larger tanks with several types of angels and mixed in with butterfly fish too. Go to the large tank forum and read to your hearts content!

[mattsilvester]

Generally speaking, angelfish are not inherently aggressive, they are territorial. That is to say they will drive away anything they see (or recognize) as competition. So you want to avoid putting fish together that are a similar size, shape, and behavior.

The variables that count most are genus, size, and disposition. The bigger the difference across these variables, the greater your chance of success. This is why we say that 2 angels in one tank is possible with caution, but 3 or more is starts to become unlikely over extended periods since the fish grow and slowly those difference across those important parameters decreases and the individual fish begin to see each other as competitors. Initially, order of introduction matters, but over time if two potentially large "alpha" species are confined to a glass box, then they will grow (literally) to hate each other, not love each other.

For example. You might initially have two pomocanthus angels; one 4-5" in adult pattern and one 2-3" in juv. colours. Adolescent fish grow more quickly, and so over 2 years the bigger fish will grow perhaps 1-2" and the smaller one will grow maybe 2-3" so you will then have one fish about 6-7" and another about 5-6"...... Generally I don't like fish-to-human analogies but consider this. 14-15 year old school kids don't generally bully 11-12 year olds because they see them "only a kids"..... but 15-16 year olds will bully 13-14 year olds......

So it is not entirely that simple, but hopefully it illustrates the point. You've got to be somewhat pragmatic in your thinking. For example, I would give good odds on (say) a 3" emperor angel followed a month or two later by a 4-5" queen angel. The emperor will make some noise but will not be able to take on the bigger the queen; the bigger queen will likely put the emperor in its place and thereafter dismiss him. In the wild these species reach a similar size, but in the aquarium the queen will grow more quickly and continue to do so and hence there will probably always be a significant size differential. Whether the queen becomes a big-*** bully over time is anyone's guess but she is equally as likely to terrorize any other similar sized fish as she is another angel. Such is the nature of alpha-species.

So in summary, I think you will find that if you manage to keep a large angelfish species through to maturity and sizes beyond 12", then question will become "what fish can I keep with my 12" angelfish" rather than "what angelfish can I keep together".

On a personal note, I would say this. If you really want to keep multiple angels then just go ahead and do it; but do so in the knowledge that it is not a "for life" project. At some stage you will need to trade bigger fish in for smaller ones, or remove the victims of the alpha and be content with one big one. I've just posted in another thread "in the time it takes for a 2 inch queen to reach and exceed 10 inches, a lot changes in life; people change jobs, move home, get married or divorced, have kids, move home; there is no telling what will happen in life so if you can properly care for a species for the foreseeable future, which is 2-3 years or 5 years at most, in the tank that you have now, then go for it!". The debate of ethics on this topic is a false argument, since we are in the moral wrong from the minute we take a wild fish off the reef.

Hope that helps.

[Swatman05]

Thanks for the insight! I really appreciate good sir!