Can guppies and angelfish live together? First-time fish breeders often ask this question.
Indeed, many people often put different kinds of fish together in one tank when raising fish.
However, not all fish can live together in harmony.
The crucial thing you need to know when doing this is to find out if your pets are compatible with each other or not.
Contents
Can Guppies And Angelfish Live Together?
No, leaving them together in a fish tank is not a good idea.
Guppies are friendly animals that can mix well with various kinds of fish. However, angelfish often get more aggressive as they grow up.
Thus, one wrong move and these fierce fishes will attack your cute guppies.
Besides, a mature angelfish is significantly bigger than a guppy, making the latter appear weak and vulnerable when living with the bigger.
Angelfish, with their predator instincts, make it even more dangerous if you try to leave them with other creatures in the tank.
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Why Can’t I Keep My Guppies And Angelfish Together?
Temperaments
These two creatures’ temperatures are quite different from each other, which prevents them from peaceful cohabitation.
The smaller ones are wonderful for starters as they are very gentle and get on well with other beings in the same environment.
Unfortunately, angelfish are the opposite end of it. They don’t like it when other fishes enter their territory.
If an outsider intrudes on their place, they will attack them.
Therefore, these two living together will result in the smaller one being bullied.
In most cases, the bullied ones without anywhere to flee will end up being killed.
Size
When the predators reach their full size, they can be 6 inches long. However, their prey – the puny guppy can only grow to 2 inches when fully grown.
This difference can put the latter at a great disadvantage. Thus, it is no surprise that those bigger fish can easily compete for food with the smaller ones.
Even if the bigger ones haven’t grown fully yet, the size difference is still significant and puts the tiny guppy in danger.
On top of that, the speed at which this tiny prey swim is not very fast, making it nearly impossible for them to escape the hot-tempered angelfish.
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Stress For Guppies
If you decide to keep these two together, you’ll notice your little pet’s health deteriorates rapidly over time due to stress in fish.
Why is that? It is just a matter of time before the angelfish harms the poor puppies.
Thus, the weaker have to live in constant fear. This will take a toll on them and damage their health.
The predators, with their aggression and tendency to bully, often take up a lot of space in the tank.
If you left these two in the same tank, your guppy would have to hide and struggle in a narrow and small area.
In other words, you are practically taking away the smaller ones’ freedom and placing them in danger.
Risks Of Guppies Being Eaten
Will angelfish eat my guppies? We’re afraid yes.
Guppies, when they’re just born, are very tiny, only 0.25 inches.
This size makes it incredibly easy for angelfish, even the small ones, to harm them.
In other words, no matter how old your guppy is, it is still easy prey to the other animal.
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Additionally, angelfish can move swiftly, helping them in hunting quickly and precisely.
Even if you put plants on the tank for the guppies to hide, this is not a long-term solution.
One more small problem is that guppies tend to give birth to many fries. This comes off as an easy snack for angelfish.
On the other hand, if those predators eat too many fries, they will have constipation.
They Prefer Different Hardness
Many of you might not know this, but these two animals prefer different water hardness.
While the small fishes like soft water, the predators usually stay in hard water.
Therefore, putting them in the same tank is not recommended.
It would be best for their development if you prepared the right kind of water for each animal and raised them separately.
FAQS
How Can I Raise Guppies And Angelfish At The Same Time?
As we have explained above, keeping them in the same environment is not a good idea.
However, if you still want to do it, we’ll offer tips to compromise the two different living habits.
First, you can opt for a bigger tank with a divider. Your new tank must have a size of about 40-60 gallons.
This will be big enough to provide the space for your fish even after being separated with a divider.
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Besides, this is also an economical choice. This way, you won’t have to buy two aquariums with two water filters.
You also don’t have to clean and maintain two tanks simultaneously.
Another option for you is more plants on the tank. Those plants need to be thick so that the small prey can hide safely.
However, this is just a stop-gap. The tiny fish can’t hide inside the bush forever.
You should decide after considering all factors to keep your pets healthy and safe.
What Fish Can Angelfish Live With?
These predators can live with animals that have the same size as them. This will reduce the chance they attack each other.
You also need to find out the newcomer’s aggression level and how much of the tank’s space they take up.
These factors will affect how peacefully they live together.
For example, if the newcomer lives on the tank’s bottom, he’ll make a perfect tankmate with your fish (angelfish likes the tank’s top and middle area).
That being said, the suitable candidates for tankmates are plecos, loaches, and platies.
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What Fish Are Best Kept With Guppies?
You need to consider the same factors as above when finding a new partner for these pets.
All you need to remember is your pets are harmless and gentle, so the newcomers also need to be kind and mind their own business.
The following options will be a good start: common molly, suckermouth catfish, and swordtails.
Conclusion
Can guppies and angelfish live together? No, that’s not safe for both of them.
Hopefully, through our article, you have figured out a way to make your tank thrive and be healthy.
Thanks for reading!
