Whenever we plan to make a community tank by adding different fish species, it is essential to know about their nature and other things to ensure that they are compatible with each other or not. So, Can guppy fish live with angelfish? Are they compatible with each other?. Let us find out.
Guppy and angelfish fish cannot live together as they both have different temperaments. Guppies are peaceful, whereas angelfish are aggressive. Keeping them together will result in angelfish bullying guppies and hunting them down. So, avoid keeping guppies and angelfish together.
This article will discuss more reasons for not keeping guppies and angelfish together. Also, we will discuss how to keep them together if you have decided to keep them together. So, let us get into it.
Contents
Can guppies and angelfish live together?
Guppy fish and angelfish cannot live together.
Guppies are peaceful fish, whereas angelfish are aggressive.
Angelfish are territorial and will not like guppies to live in their territory.
Angelfish is bigger. They can get up to 6 inches long and 8 inches tall.
It will look at your guppies as a tasty snack and try to chase and hunt them down.
Keeping guppies and angelfish together is a bad idea, and we should not do it.
Reasons why we should not keep them together?
There are some reasons why we should not keep guppy fish and angelfish together in the same tank:
- Guppy fish and angelfish nature.
- Your guppy can come under stress.
- Angelfish can get much bigger.
- Angelfish will feed on smaller guppies.
- Your guppy fry is the primary target for angelfish.
Guppy fish and angelfish nature
The nature of guppy and angelfish is the primary reason for not keeping them together
Guppy fish nature
Guppy fish are peaceful fish and love to interact with other compatible tankmates.
However, you can see some signs of aggression when you keep only male guppies or more male guppies with few female guppies.
Male guppies will chase each other to mate with the female guppy.
Consider keeping male and female guppy in a ratio of 1:2, one male guppy for every two female guppies.
You can also keep three female guppies and one male guppy. This will eliminate the chasing of male guppies for mating with female guppies, and female guppies will not come under stress because of the constant chasing of male guppies for reproduction.
Angelfish nature
When it comes to angelfish, it is completely different than guppy fish.
Angelfish are more aggressive and territorial.
Angelfish and guppy together are harmful to guppies.
Angelfish will constantly chase your guppies if you keep them together.
Angelfish are territorial and don’t like any other fish to swim in their surroundings.
Your guppy can come under stress.
Guppies are non-aggressive fish, and angelfish are more aggressive fish.
Angelfish will chase the peaceful guppy constantly.
Guppy will come under stress if being chased by the angelfish regularly.
Guppies need enough space to swim freely and comfortably.
Guppies will majorly swim at one side of the tank when angelfish is there, so they don’t have to face the aggressive angelfish.
Angelfish are territorial and will mark their territory.
Angelfish don’t like other fish in their area and will show aggression if some fish enters their space.
Swimming at only one side of the tank will make your guppy come under stress as they will not have enough space to live and swim comfortably.
Also read: Are My Guppies Stressed?
Angelfish can get much bigger.
Angelfish are much bigger than guppy fish.
Angelfish can grow up to 6 inches long and 8 inches tall.
Guppies can grow up to 2.4 inches.
Male guppies can grow up to 0.6-1.4 inches long, whereas female guppies can grow up to 1.2-2.4 inches.
Usually, you can keep about two pairs of angelfish in a 20 gallon tank.
However, you will find your tank quite empty with just two pairs of angelfish, but they need enough space to live.
If you add any peaceful fish to your angelfish tank, angelfish will hunt them down over time.
So, make sure not to add peaceful fish like guppies with aggressive fish like angelfish.
Also read: How Many Guppies In A 20 Gallon Tank?
Angelfish can feed on smaller guppies.
Angelfish can grow up to 6 inches long and 8 inches tall.
In natural habitat and captivity, big fish chase and hunt small fish.
Angelfish will chase and feed on smaller guppies.
Once the angelfish get big enough for adult guppies, they can also eat them.
Keeping angelfish with guppies is not a good idea as your guppies will never be safe with angelfish.
If, by any luck, your guppies get able to breed, angelfish will chase and hunt down the guppy fry.
You can create plenty of hiding places for guppy fry, but they will hardly be able to protect themselves until they become adults.
Your guppy fry is the primary target for angelfish.
Guppy fry are very small in size when they get born. They are about 0.25 inches.
Not only adult angelfish, but even a small angelfish will not back off when it comes to feeding on guppy fry.
Creating lots of hiding places by adding lots of live aquatic plants and other hiding decors will also not help.
Guppy fry will not be able to hide from angelfish until they get adults.
Angelfish are quick and will easily chase and hunt down your guppy fry.
This means that guppy fry and adult guppies are not safe in an angelfish tank.
A breeding box or separate tank is not also much of a help for a guppy fry.
Once your guppy fry becomes adult guppy, you have to place them back in the home aquarium.
Then angelfish will chase and hunt them down as angelfish are grown by that time as well.
What are the exceptions for keeping guppy and angelfish together?
You should never add an aggressive tankmate to a peaceful fishes tank.
Angelfish are aggressive and territorial fish and should not keep with your guppies.
However, if you have decided to keep them together, then you can do these things to minimize the chances of guppy getting bullied and eaten by some percent:
- Keep guppy fish and angelfish in a large size tank.
- Add a divider to the tank.
- Add lots of aquatic plants to cut the line of sight..
- Introduce young angelfish to your guppies aquarium..
Large size tank
Guppies and angelfish both need big enough space to live.
But, here, providing a large tank is essential to keep guppy as far as possible from angelfish sight.
We recommend having two different tanks to keep guppies and angelfish.
Providing a large-size tank will also not come with the guarantee of keeping your guppies safe from angelfish.
However, consider having a 40-50 gallon tank if you want to keep them together.
Add a divider
Adding a divider is the best you can do to save the guppies from angelfish.
If you have a large enough tank (40-50 gallons), you don’t have to keep two different tanks for angelfish and guppy fish.
Add the divider in the middle of the tank, separating guppies from angelfish.
Doing this will ensure that your guppies and angelfish are not interacting, and hence, guppies will be safe.
Also, you don’t have to maintain two tanks to keep angelfish and guppies.
Add lots of live aquatic plants.
We have discussed above that hiding places will also not do great for keeping guppies safe from angelfish.
But, if you have decided to keep them together, then adding hiding places will somewhere increase the chance of guppies’ survivability.
Lots of aquatic plants will keep the guppies out from the sight of angelfish.
Also, consider adding thick plants to keep the angelfish away from guppies.
You can add java fern, java moss, anubias, water sprite, and hornwort.
Introduce young angelfish to your guppies aquarium
It is a theory that if we introduce guppies to angelfish when they are young, then angelfish will not harm guppies.
The explanation behind this theory is angelfish will be habitual for living with guppies and will get along.
However, it is a very risky step if you plan to do this.
Angelfish can get aggressive anytime, and then there will be a problem for your guppies.
Best tankmates for guppy fish
Guppies are non-aggressive fish species.
Guppies do great in a community tank.
But make sure not to add aggressive and big fish like angelfish.
Non-compatible fish will make your guppies come under stress, opening the gate for various infections.
These are some best tankmates your guppy will love to live with:
- Tetras
- Molly
- Platies
- Zebra Danio
- Shrimp
- Sparkling Gourami
- Cory catfish
Also read: Can Guppy Fry Survive In A Community Tank?
Best tankmates for angelfish
Angelfish are aggressive fish.
Angelfish are big in size and will be compatible with other tankmates who are of their size and have a similar nature.
These are some best tankmates that you can keep with your angelfish:
- Boesemani rainbow fish
- Zebra loaches
- Praecox rainbow fish
- Platies
Conclusions:
Guppies and angelfish cannot live together.
Guppies are non-aggressive fish, whereas angelfish are more aggressive.
Keeping guppy fish and angelfish is not a good idea as it will make your guppies come under stress because of angelfish aggression.
Angelfish will happily feed on guppies.
A full-grown angelfish will feed on adult guppies too.
If you have a large tank of about 40-50 gallons, you can put a divider in the middle of the tank to keep them in a separate way.