angelfish compatibility

[johnhenry1]

So I have a 300 gallon tank, 96 by 24 by 30 tall that I plan on making fowlr. I'm currently in the process of making my fish list, and I really want to get some large angels. My three favorite are the french, emperor, and queen. My question is if I added them all at the same time when they were babies, the queen being the smallest of the three and the french being the biggest, could they get along? If all three don't work then could I get a french and emperor? If I can only get one, which one would you guys recommend because I can't decide! Thanks.

[sandwi54]

I have these exact three angels in my 96x30x30. The French is 12", emperor around 8.5-9", and queen still small at 4". I have very little aggression issues between the French and emperor, but I'm waiting until the emperor becomes a full adult at 12" before I can call it a long term success.

[johnhenry1]

Originally Posted by sandwi54

I have these exact three angels in my 96x30x30. The French is 12", emperor around 8.5-9", and queen still small at 4". I have very little aggression issues between the French and emperor, but I'm waiting until the emperor becomes a full adult at 12" before I can call it a long term success.

in what order did you add them?

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by sandwi54

I have these exact three angels in my 96x30x30. The French is 12", emperor around 8.5-9", and queen still small at 4". I have very little aggression issues between the French and emperor, but I'm waiting until the emperor becomes a full adult at 12" before I can call it a long term success.

I think a full grown queen angel will be the binding constraint on this group. However a French is definitely not a pussycat.

[RayL]

My cousin has a 350Gallon and he had all three at one point. A power failure killed the French and then eventually the emperor killed the queen. The emperor was about 4 inches larger then the queen. The French and emperor always were fine together but the queen and emperor never got a long that well, even with a large size difference. My favourite of the 3 is the queen, so if you add one, I would go with that, but if you want two, the emperor and French worked well in this circumstance.

[sandwi54]

Originally Posted by johnhenry1

in what order did you add them?

The French and emperor were in separate tanks initially before being added together into the 375g 20 months ago. The French was around 10" and emperor around 5". They both grew somewhat in the last 20 months. The queen was added last as a small 3" juvenile about 15 months ago.

Nowadays I would actually advise against a French (even though it's my favorite angel) in anything less than a 500g tank. It's just too big of a fish because it's almost as tall as it's wide, and it makes my tank look small. Here is a video of my tank to show the proportion of the French to the rest of the tank. As a reference, the male scribbled angel is 7.5" long, so you can see how much bigger the French looks.

[sandwi54]

Originally Posted by snorvich

I think a full grown queen angel will be the binding constraint on this group. However a French is definitely not a pussycat.

Now that you brought it up, I think I will agree with you as queen has always been known to be very aggressive. I am getting away now only because my queen is still small. I may have to figure out a solution in the near future.

[johnhenry1]

Originally Posted by sandwi54

The French and emperor were in separate tanks initially before being added together into the 375g 20 months ago. The French was around 10" and emperor around 5". They both grew somewhat in the last 20 months. The queen was added last as a small 3" juvenile about 15 months ago.

Nowadays I would actually advise against a French (even though it's my favorite angel) in anything less than a 500g tank. It's just too big of a fish because it's almost as tall as it's wide, and it makes my tank look small. Here is a video of my tank to show the proportion of the French to the rest of the tank. As a reference, the male scribbled angel is 7.5" long, so you can see how much bigger the French looks.

Wow that French is massive! Living in Florida, I snorkel alot and i've seen some french angels that were easily 15 inches tall and long. Of the three I like the emperor the best. It sounds to me like a French and Emperor could get along but the Queen might not. Are there any other angelfish that go along with the emperor since the French will be too big, or could I add an adult emperor and juvenile queen and see how it works?

[RayL]

Going back to my cousins tank, the emperor killed the queen and a regal but is living peacefully with a majestic

[sandwi54]

I think it's risky in any of the combinations, and if you want to keep any two aggressive large angels together, you'll have to accept the risk that one day one may kill the other. In general, French, emperor, and queen are all among the most aggressive large angels, and there's no set rule on whether they can all co-exist peacefully forever.

Many of us are guilty of doing things that we know we probably shouldn't, and to be honest, the most responsible thing is to keep only one of the three angels you listed and call it a day. Or, if you really want to keep multiple angels, in a large 300g tank it is easily achievable if you choose mild-tempered ones, such as majestic, asfur, or any one from the Chaetodonplus genus (scribbled, personifer, etc.). Regal angels, while hard to keep, will be very easy to keep together without aggression in a large tank.

[johnhenry1]

Ok, I've decided that I like the emperor the best, so that is the one that I'm planning on getting. I plan on buying one with adult coloration from the xmas islands. Are there any problems that you all see with this?

[jhentr]

I think should be fine in your tank for a emp. Are you getting it from the xmas islands for the more orange tail/coloration? I had the angelfish bug hit me two years ago and I have a french, annularis, koran, emp, blue face, gray poma all co-existing pretty well together. All stay out of each other's way but you'll hear lots of grunting though. My french is the bigger of all of them, yet the most timid. My annularis and emp is the boldest of the angels.

[johnhenry1]

Originally Posted by jhentr

I think should be fine in your tank for a emp. Are you getting it from the xmas islands for the more orange tail/coloration? I had the angelfish bug hit me two years ago and I have a french, annularis, koran, emp, blue face, gray poma all co-existing pretty well together. All stay out of each other's way but you'll hear lots of grunting though. My french is the bigger of all of them, yet the most timid. My annularis and emp is the boldest of the angels.

I don't care if one has the orange tail or not; I'm really looking for one with straight yellow linesmand vivid coloration. I read somewhere that the xmas islands emperor has the most vivid colors.
Ideally, I want to find one that looks like this

[johnhenry1]

I would like to raise it from a juvenile, but I've heard emperors can get stuck in the transformation. If I provide it with a healthy diet and excellent water quality, can I expect to see an emperor that will look like the one above in a couple of years?

[sandwi54]

Originally Posted by johnhenry1

I would like to raise it from a juvenile, but I've heard emperors can get stuck in the transformation. If I provide it with a healthy diet and excellent water quality, can I expect to see an emperor that will look like the one above in a couple of years?

I think so, but I would let others who have raised theirs from juvies comment.

[johnhenry1]

Does anyone have any experince with raising there emperor angel juveniles to adults? Pictures and the time it took for them to change would be great. thanks.