20g x-tall Angel tank

[Steve]

Well I was not planning on yet another project, nor tank for myself, but when a good friend called me this morning telling me his son was getting rid of his tank he had taken down a few months ago and was going to give it away free so did I want it?....well duh, of course I'll take it

So since he only lives a few blocks from me he dropped off this set up that was in much need of cleaning.





 The stand had paint marks on it from from his grand kids and the tank itself was covered in dried on algae, but after some elbow grease and scrubbing it all cleaned up very nicely. Glass has zero scratches on it which is nice.



The background I'm doing for this one is super thin so it does not take up much room since there's not a ton of room to start with. After the background is done I an thinking of using some spray on type foam to make some round underwater "vines/roots" that will adhere flush to the background itself then paint the vines brown to give it a realistic SA type look.

Current state of tank


And where I decided to put it. Since the 265g is in the adjoining room which is my office I decided to rearrange a few things so I could have this tank in my work shop area so I can enjoy this one while I work at the bench since I spend so much time in this area.

[Steve]

First coat of drylok applied.

[Steve]

Was at Royal Tropical today and picked up a nice young trio of Angels for this tank today. Figure by the time they are done with quarantine the tank will be ready for them. They are small right now, probably about 3" tall with a body about the size of a silver dollar coin. I liked the coloration of these three as well as the nice long tails so couldn't resist bringing them home. Also picked up some nice flat "spider wood" pieces for a really good price so going to just go ahead and incorporate these pieces into the background rather than make vines.

[Ron]

Using real wood instead of making vines sounds like a better plan of attack. I keep coming across threads online where people try to make fake wood stumps or limbs and have a lot of trouble trying to get them looking realistic.

[Steve]

Been bouncing between this and the other 90g background tonight. This one obviously is much faster to get done due it size  Got the BG paint work and all the shading & highlighting done now. Went with a light sand/tan color with gray and darker shaded area then white highlights on the tips & edges. Also mounted the branches directly to the background so it's all one piece.

 I'm still trying to decide on sand color, and since I'm going for a SA style theme I'm thinking tan sand with some live plants. You guys think tan sand or some other color?

[Ron]

Tan probably makes the most sense IMO. Maybe add some leaf litter if you want to get fancy.

I tried to find some good biotype examples of angelfish habitat, but had some trouble in the brief time I had available. Here was one interesting one I found: http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=3604

[Steve]

Thanks for the link Ron. I never thought about adding leaves but those Indian almond leaves they mention look pretty good (I see you can buy them on ebay) I may grab a bag of those for this tank.

[djlamonica]

Usually tons of angels at the auction, do you plan on picking up some more or being responsible and just keeping the three?  I vote add more.  Tank looks great as always. 

[Steve]

Probably just keep the three, and eventually will move one of them and just keep the pair in the tank. Might add a few neons but that would be all. I am REALLY liking these guys though, they are the first angels I have ever had and I'm kind'a diggin' the way they just glide around so graceful. So if there's some nice larger angles at the auction I may just have to twist my own arm and grab them and then set up another bigger angel tank 

[linuxrulesusa]

Probably just keep the three, and eventually will move one of them and just keep the pair in the tank. Might add a few neons but that would be all. I am REALLY liking these guys though, they are the first angels I have ever had and I'm kind'a diggin' the way they just glide around so graceful. So if there's some nice larger angles at the auction I may just have to twist my own arm and grab them and then set up another bigger angel tank 

Angels will eat the neons (regular neons). Black neons may fare better but will eventually get eaten.  Cardinal tetras may do OK but are pretty finicky/hard to keep alive.  I'd vote just the angels, or else go the other route I suggested with tetras/hatchets/small pair of cichlids for the different levels.  Up to you though.

[Steve]

Yeah I figured with the angels still being pretty small right now the neons might be okay for awhile till they became dinner later once the angels get bigger. I had thought maybe cardinals but most the things I read about angel tankmates last night said to avoid cardinals because they can be a bit nippy. Then I read another article that said cardinals were okay in some cases to keep with them so I dunno, I'll just wait and see, might just keep it at the trio and leave it as that.

[fishandcards]

Go with a pair of dwarf cichlids - cockatoos are cool and Moby Dicks has some good prices on them right now (pair for under 20 bucks if I read it correctly).

[Steve]

I've actually never heard of cockatoo cichlids before, but I just googled a pic and those are really cool looking. Definitely would consider a pair of those I like the looks of them.

[Ron]

Probably just keep the three, and eventually will move one of them and just keep the pair in the tank. Might add a few neons but that would be all. I am REALLY liking these guys though, they are the first angels I have ever had and I'm kind'a diggin' the way they just glide around so graceful. So if there's some nice larger angles at the auction I may just have to twist my own arm and grab them and then set up another bigger angel tank 

Angels will eat the neons (regular neons).

Just what I was thinking too. Everyone keeping angels for the first time always wants to get neons to go with them. It's like they *sense* they are from the same biotype. They just don't realize they are connected on the food chain. 

[Steve]

Honestly only reason I was thinking neons Ron, is because I have the worst luck in the world with neons, for some reason I can't keep neons alive more than 3-4 months. So I figured by the time my little angels got big enough to fit a neon in its mouth the neons would already all be dead LOL. I'm cursed when it comes to neons for some reason


Oh BTW I bought a pack of 10 Indian Almond Catappa Leaves off ebay last night. $5 for 10 with free shipping so gonna add them to the tank to give off some tannins and more amazon look to it.