29 Gallon Planted Angelfish Aquarium

[fishboy87]

Hi. I'm taking down my 29Gallon community aquarium and turning it into a planted angelfish aquarium.

I have
-an Emperor 280 50g Bio Wheel Filter
-a Stealth Heater
-30" Coralife T5 Bulb

I'm trying for a 1.5" bed of non-fertilized topsoil topped by a .5" bed of Aquariumplants.com substrate again topped by a .5" layer of play sand.

My fish choices are
-2x Angelfish
-9x Rummy-Nose Tetras
-6x Cardinal Tetras
-8x Otocinclus
-5x Hatchetfish

I was hoping that because I'm planning on so many plants the slightly large bio load wont have a negative effect

The plants I was hoping for is
-Jangle Val.
-Crinum Calistratum
-Rotala Indica
-Java Moss
-Micro Sword
-Giant Swordplant
-Blyxa Aubertii
-Lace Java Fern
-Ludwigia

If any of you have any suggestions/comments please share

[legomaniac89]

Angels do better in small schools (3 or more), that way, if you get an aggressive male, he won't just terrorize one other angel.

Eventually, the angels will get pretty big and will be able to eat the tetras, but you've got a while to go before that comes, so your fine for now.

Keep a cover on the entire aquarium because the hatchets can and will jump.

The bio-load is pretty heavy, but if you keep up on water changes, you should be fine.

[fishscale]

I'd highly recommend you not put angelfish in this tank. They really need more room. There are factors other than bioload to consider.

[fishboy87]

Yeah, I've read that if you keep angelfish with tetras at a young age, they'll be less likely to attack when of an adult age. I have 2 nice pieces of driftwood that make good caves as well as a dense section of jungle vallisneria to spread out the aggression. As far as water changes go, I was thinking about 25-50% a week. For the plants, what is a good/recommended fertilizer and are there any plants that might be to difficult for maintenance?

[lauraleellbp]

I would say a 55gal tank is the minimum I'd recommend for all of those fish- and I do mean minimum. Angels simply grow too large for 30gal tanks.

IMO you'd be OK if you didn't stock the angels at all, however; though the rummies also would be happier with more room to school. A 30L might help.

You'll also need to go with dwarf hatchetfish; the "regular" hatchets also will get too big and need more swimming room. Make sure you keep the tank covered or you will end up with nothing but dried sushi. Unfortunately I speak from experience; and my tank only had a 2" gap in the back where my equipment was...

You'll need to let us know what type of lighting and substrate (and will you be using CO2?) are on this tank before we can help too much with plant selections. www.RexGrigg.com is a great place to research lighting and ferts, and also to buy dry ferts.

[valerietheangel]

I keep angelfish and they will not do well in a 29. For my birthday last year (a year ago this month) my boyfriend and I picked out 4 quarter to nickel sized black angels. Exactly one year later, the long finned angels are 6.5-7" from top to bottom tip, the non-longfinned two are 5.5" - 6" (male) and 5" (female, smallest of the four).

Mine are kept in a 55 currently with Australian rainbows (not the best tankmates either) and a large pleco and a ram. You could not cram another fish into the tank, even with the 50% water changes we do diligently once a week. We also have a 29 and the angels would never be happy in it. You have to remember that angels are one of the more sensitive fish to keep, very susceptible to hole in the head, and need large water changes to keep the water in good enough condition to prevent the build up of wastes that will bring on HITH.

Also consider this: my female has paired up and laid eggs with one of the males at least three times that I have seen (these were immediately eaten by all in the tank and enjoyed immensely). While pairing, there is a ton of aggression toward the other angels and some pretty nasty fights break out between the males.

I don't mean to rain on your parade, I know exactly what it feels like to be told "You can't keep that, your tank is too small" but I would rather pass on my first hand experience than have you have a bad experience and never want to keep these wonderful fish again. My angels will have to be upgraded to a larger tank when we get a house (apartment is sort of running out of room with 4 tanks currently :P) and probably still have some growing to do. There are several other types of cichlids you could consider for your 29, angels just shouldn't be one of them.

[JustOneMore21]

I agree with the advice above......no Angels in a 29g. I think even 1 Angel would be best kept in a 40g tank with other fish. For all the fish on your list a 55g would be best.

Trim it down to 1 school (preferably Cardinals, since Rummies are more active IME), the Otos, and a centerpiece fish like a pair of Rams or a pair of Honey Gouramis and that would be ok for a 29g.

[skabooya]

While i agree with everyone here ive read over and over that you can have 2 angels in a 30 gal. general rule being 10gal per fish but for angels that does not mean 1 in a 10 gal is fine. It starts at 30gal. So angels should not be kept in anything smaller than 30gals. yes you can have 3 in a 30 if you have no other fish in the tank but even then they do get quite large and very agressive.
I started growing out 4 small angels in my 32gal. When they got to 2 inches across, almost 4 inches from top to bottom i thinned it down to 2 angels. I may have to thin it out even more and end up with only one angel but that decision wont happen for a while.
In my tank i also have 4 rummies currently (6 more on hold in the lfs) making it 10 rummies total and
2 german rams
I am going to add a few ottos though so they can handle the algae i got because of my lack of plants (been waiting 2 months for my shipment of plants to come in due to weather)
waterchanges every other week

just wanted to give another perspective to this angel tank.

[fishboy87]

Well. . .ok. So I've redone my bioload list (though I'm still up for recommendations) and this is what I came up with. I've decided on:
- 15 rummynose tetras OR 10 rummies and 5 cardinals
- 7 Otocinclus
- 3-4 Corydoras Sterbai
- 2 German Blue Rams OR 3 Green Swordtail

Too Much? Just Right? Not compatible? Any help at all. . .feel free.

[fishscale]

It's refreshing to find someone who takes advice. I think it's a pretty good stock list, just stock slowly.

[lauraleellbp]

IMO that's great stocking!

If you go with swordtails, IMO you should get a trio (only 1 male with 2 females)- males have a tendency to fight with each other.

[fishboy87]

Thanks alot :-) Once I make my final decision on my listed choices, I'll start a pic. post and keep everyone updated on the progress

Thanks again