Is it okay to keep an Angelfish alone?

[janice]

Is it okay to keep one Angelfish alone in a tank? I know they are shoaling fish in the wild but I see a lot of people recommending and keeping them as centrepiece fish. I've recently been advised on another forum that that's not actually appropriate to do?

[Tanked]

 

On 2/27/2022 at 7:32 AM, janice said:

Is it okay to keep one Angelfish alone in a tank?  I know they are shoaling fish in the wild

Can you? yes.  Should you? probably not.

(Strictly opinion here) There is a difference between being a centerpiece fish and being the sole occupant. I would never buy just a single fish.  We all prefer to have friends as well as neighbors.  In the community tank, I have had a single adopted centerpiece Angel for some time with no apparent issues.  Later I adopted two more Angels.  There was some tension between them until the proper pecking order was established.  They get along fine, but the centerpiece still prefers his own space.

[janice]

On 2/27/2022 at 10:03 PM, Tanked said:

There is a difference between being a centerpiece fish and being the sole occupant.

Oops sorry I phrased that badly! The Angelfish won't be the sole occupant of the tank, I meant one Angelfish alone as in without other Angelfish 😅

[Flumpweesel]

I believe it's either one or many with angels due to their being a tad grumpy in small numbers but fine on their own as @Tanked explained.

[Tanked]

On 2/27/2022 at 9:33 AM, janice said:

Oops sorry I phrased that badly! The Angelfish won't be the sole occupant of the tank, I meant one Angelfish alone as in without other Angelfish 😅

I thought that was what you meant, but wanted to be sure.  I have two varieties of angelfish, they won't shoal.  the single (formerly centerpiece) Angelfish hangs out on the left side with the single Gourami.  All of the more social fish hang on the right side.

[Brandon p]

I don’t know if this means much but I have several angelfish in one tank. But one is much old and really seems annoyed but other angels that were put in later. He hangs out with a Gourami that enter the tank with him years ago. 

[KaitieG]

I had 3 angelfish in my 95 gallon community tank, and one of them was bullied by the other two.  She now lives alone (in another community tank) and is much less stressed--lays eggs and generally just hangs out and explores around in the plants.  The other two are doing great together in the big tank.  I think it's fine to keep just one--if you get more than one you might want to have a backup plan in case they end up not liking each other.

[Fonske]

On 2/27/2022 at 8:32 PM, janice said:

Is it okay to keep one Angelfish alone in a tank? I know they are shoaling fish in the wild but I see a lot of people recommending and keeping them as centrepiece fish.

Cory recommended single angel as a centerpiece fish in one of his videos and I took advice from him. My solo young angel lives with congo tetras and a  rainbowfish; he/she chases them around a little bit when in breeding mood but seems happy and healthy in general. I think it's ok. 

[Tanked]

On 2/27/2022 at 9:52 AM, Tanked said:

I have two varieties of angelfish, they won't shoal.  the single (formerly centerpiece) Angelfish hangs out on the left side with the single Gourami.  All of the more social fish hang on the right side.

A slight addendum here.  I had occasion to be up at first light today, and decided to check on the fish.  To my surprise, the smaller marbled angels do regroup with their larger cousin after lights out.  As soon as it was light enough to see, they were again on opposite sides of the tank.