Angelfish

joboblaw

I bought 2 Angelfish and 6 Black Skirt Tetra's a week ago, to add to my established tank, which already contained 2 Black Skirt Tetras that I've had for awhile (the only fish in the tank). The Angelfish were really small and the Tetras somewhat larger. I just got them into my 20 gallon tank and one of the Tetras ate one of the Angelfish. I went back to the store and they replaced it with a bit larger Angelfish. A few days later, one of the Tetras ate the other small Angelfish. The larger Angelfish (size of a quarter maybe) was cowering in the tank, behind the heater. I quickly set up a 5 gallon tank for the remaining Angelfish, using substrate and a carbon filter medium from my 20 gallon tank, but the air filtration system won't work. Will my Angelfish live in still water until tomorrow?

Byron

Yes to your question.

But you are going to have problems with these fish. The behaviour of the Black Widow Tetra (another common name for Black Skirt Tetra) is not unusual; this tetra is known to fin nip even grown angels, and that is very stressful to the angelfish. They should not be together.

Angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare) also should be in a larger group for security, and in a much larger tank. I would not get angelfish for your 20g tank. You can read more in our profiles; the names shaded so you can click them for that profile.

A group of just the tetra in a 20g will work.

Byron.