38g angelfish setup

[dbondi]

OK so my mom love my tanks and really wants an angelfish setup in her room

I have an old 38g that i am going to setup for her...I want to know what I can keep in there? I was thinking 5 small angels(she will most likely kill 1 or 2 before they reach adult size, if not ill sell one if I see a problem), some corys and maybe a type of tetra. What do you guy think I should get?

Im going to add some plants as well as some driftwood.

I know nothing about tropical fish. Any help would be appreciate. What should the substrate be? anyone have good articles?

thanks!

don

[fischfan13]

I bred a pair of Angels in a 38g many years ago.
Start off with four or more. Once you see a pair bond you might as well remove the rest.
Driftwood is fine (Malaysian driftwood is my choice) and plants like Java Fern and Swords will look nice as well.
Cories are great and they should do fine. As for others, I guess I would go with some Black Phantom, Serpae or Bleeding Heart Tetras...all three worked with Angels for me.
For substrate I used a dark natural gravel.

[AlishanAS]

You can get terrific angels from some of our sponsors.

Remember to use a group of cories as they like to be in a school. Any of the spotted varieties should be fine or if you want to go a little more high end there are the laser types(orange, red, green), weitzmani, adolphoi or oiapoquensis.

[Heyguy74]

I've been using the same tank for angels for a while. IME, Once a pair forms evything but catfish could be in trouble. My angels killed every tetra I put in tehtank. Regardless of size. They also killed guppies, swordtails and bettas. I'm talking about full grown angels. I would plant in heavily and leave some slate leaned up against the glass. They like to spawn on the slate. I have also had them spawn on large leaves.

[dbondi]

I setup the tank with 6 bloodfin tetra and 3 lonfin rams..gettin the angels and corys next week.

the rams are beautiful!

[dbondi]

well im down 2 rams. I think my mom filled the tank too much...every fish was gasping for air. I lowered the water level and added an air stone. They made a drastic turn around within 20 minutues.

I also added driftwood...how do you guys remove the tannins in the water? I really like the tinted look...but my mom doesnt. She doesnt understand that keeping fish is not all about her..its about the fish too =)

[fischfan13]

Before I put a new piece of driftwood in a tank I treat it for about four or five days. Boil, soak, boil, soak. Not all tannins will leach out though. Right now your best bet is to add charcoal to the filter that you are using to attempt to clear the water.

[Flareside]

the tannins are the main reason I have so much driftwood in storage. I cant really stand the stained water look for too long. Im too anal. Only my pleco tank has driftwood in it now.

On a stocking note: what do you think of koi angels? They have some nice coloration

[joe_jaskot]

I have a pair of koi angelfish. Really nice looking fish. Black angels are nice looking too. Pearl scales are neat looking. Lots of different angels to choose from.