How long can you really keep a group of angel fish together?

[bettaballistic]

I have completely redone my 55 gallon, it used to be a sorority tank with all artificial plants. Now it is a fully planted tank with essentially just 9 black skirt tetras.  I'm planning on adding a large piece of driftwood with some moss and more plants.  But this is essentially what I'm working with.  My plan is to add cory cats and 6 juvenile angel fish.  Is that realistic? How long am I really going to get out of that group before they become aggressive and I have to separate them?  I'm also wondering about my fish choice to have with them are those fish too small? Maybe angel fish do really well with a different kind of fish that I haven't found yet. I'm still in my planning stage, so I'm very open to ideas and suggestions for this tank. My big goal right now is to grow these plants up and get my algae figured out. In the mean time I get to decide what fish to put in I'm really leaning towards angel fish but it seems like kind of a crap shoot.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 2/9/2023 at 5:14 PM, bettaballistic said:

I have completely redone my 55 gallon, it used to be a sorority tank with all artificial plants. Now it is a fully planted tank with essentially just 9 black skirt tetras.  I'm planning on adding a large piece of driftwood with some moss and more plants.  But this is essentially what I'm working with.  My plan is to add cory cats and 6 juvenile angel fish.  Is that realistic? How long am I really going to get out of that group before they become aggressive and I have to separate them?  I'm also wondering about my fish choice to have with them are those fish too small? Maybe angel fish do really well with a different kind of fish that I haven't found yet. I'm still in my planning stage, so I'm very open to ideas and suggestions for this tank. My big goal right now is to grow these plants up and get my algae figured out. In the mean time I get to decide what fish to put in I'm really leaning towards angel fish but it seems like kind of a crap shoot.

6 juvies is a good starting number. I started with 3, and 2 didn’t grow (stunted?) while the platinum one got massive and beautiful; but had a vile temper.

[Lennie]

Black skirts have a reputation of being a bit nippy. I haven't kept any, but I would think twice before keeping them with angelfish, betta  or livebearers like male guppies. Long fin fish with nippy fish is not a good duo. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

In my 55 I had 6 Angels, 20 Cardinal Tetras, and 13 Albino Cory’s. They’ve all done very well together. 4 of the original 6 are still in there as I moved my breeding pair of Panda Angels to their own separate breeding space. 
 

Of the 4 left, 2 of them are currently a pair. When they’re about to spawn/protecting they’re spawn they get territorial but that’s to be expected. They are cichlids, after all. 

[Sweet Fish O Mine]

I've had a single angelfish in my 75 with 7 Black skirt tetras for about two years now. (and some cory's) My BST's never dare nip at my Angel. In fact, she occasionally gives them the bum's rush when she's feeling ornery. I've never kept more than one angel because I didn't care to deal with the aggression issues you note. Beautiful fish!

[Ken Sonnier]

they will be fine for about 8 months to a year. sorta depends on how fast they grow or mature into adults, but the only issue you might see is if a male/female pair up together. Then that pair will be super aggressive to the others. If they don't actually pair off then you shouldn't have any issues.