I bought a 55 gallon aquariam...

Question
I bought a 55 gallon aquariam from my friend, and she has 3 angel fish, and they are so neat to watch, but one is more aggressive to the black one, is this normal social behavior, will the fish live, or be stressed and die, because I would hate to see it die.  Are discus fish safe to put in with and the angel fish?  My angel fish are not babies, they are about 2 to 3 yrs. old so does that mean I have to get fish that are their size? I would like to get some more guppies, but would it be wise, and if so do they have to big, I have one in there and he is doing great.

Thanks, for your time, and I hope you can help me, I am a beginner.  

Answer
Hi Shelly!

First of all, welcome to this wonderful, tranquil, and SO VERY addicting hobby! ;-)

~I, myself, keep 4 large angels in a 55 gallon aquarium. I started out with three which I bought together the very first time, then later I added another striped angelfish. I was worried about adding another but they got along just fine. The nature of Angelfish in a group is their social pecking order. There will always the leader fish and on down the line to the most submissive one that gets nipped frequently. :( This system appears in my angel group all the time. The king member is a big large striped male and the most submissive is a cute little heavily black marbled male. It seems so unfair to us, but it is part of nature with Angelfish. "{

~I have been looking into adding at least 2 more angels to help keep my little black marbled male's tail from being nipped so much. In a group of six fish, it is really hard for the king of the group to concentrate his nipping and chasing on any one single fish. I suggest you try this method too. With your group of three together, it is very easy for the leader fish to really concentrate his bullying on the most submissive angel. I recommmend you buy at least 3 more of any color variety you like. It's best to buy angels a bit bigger than the ones you already have. This will help insure the new arrivals aren't picked on too much during their test on social status. Don't buy too much larger please! ;) It's sad to say, there is a possibility that your little black one could become so stressed from being nipped and chased that he might catch an illness, or worse might die from stress. I don't want that to happen! :(:(:( The best solution to this is adding 3 more angels.
Remember when acclimating fish to your aquarium water that you float the bag for 15 minutes, then add 1 small cup full of water from the aquarium to the bag. Let it stand for about 10 minutes the if you really want to be careful, add another cup of water. Your new Angels should be use to the water conditions somewhat by now and you can net them out of their bag carefully and into their new home. It's best not to allow any of the bag water into the tank, it often contains many pollutants that can mess up the water quality.

~Angelfish and Discus~
In general, Angelfish and discus will do fine together if you pay attention to details. They seldom have any interaction together. It is the other things that cause problems. Neither fish should have any parasites and the water conditions must be kept perfect, especially for Discus. Probably the most important thing in water conditions is doing many frequent large water changes. Some owners of Discus I know do 50% water changes every day!!
Also, temperatures should ideally be in the 80 degrees range. More so for the benefit of the lovely Discus.
A more recommended water changing regimen is 50% twice a week. Believe me, you can never change too much water. Clean water is the most important ingredient to healthy fish. As long as you add enough good quality water de-chlorinater conditioner, and be sure the new water is the same temp as the aquarium, water changes are a amazing route to having extremely healthy, beautiful fish!

~Angelfish and Guppies~
Guppies and Angelfish are truly beautiful together, but though they might do well for awhile, the angels may grow large enough to eat the guppies whole and this may not be the best idea. I keep my Angelfish with a parrot cichlid, a paradise fish, 1 blue male gourami, 4 black skirt tetras, and two tiny little Julii cories. It's best to keep Angelfish only with the larger species of tetras or Livebeares (platies, swordtails, mollies) And a few other large fish that are not too aggressive, nor grow too large.
Yes, it is generally best to get fish that are about the same size as the Angelfish or maybe just a bit smaller.

I hope I helped! If you have anymore questions on Angelfish, what species to keep with them, or anything your having a problem on, just email me again! I am more than happy to help you out all I can, Shelly!

~Wishing the very best to you and your new Aquarium! Congratulations on getting the new 55 gallon! :)

~I appreciate people who do much research, asking, and carefuly planning in their new aquarium! It's so nice when people care and take the time to do research on their concerns! A million and one cheers for you Shelly! Thanks for caring! :)

Happy fishkeeping!
Karen~