Ladybug

I've read several blurbs about aggressive angelfish and that they may have to be removed. My question is, do fish stores take them back? I can't handle more than one tank and therefore would require someone to adopt them. Any suggestions?

lilsoccakid

most local fish stores wont have a problem taking your fish back, im sorry it didnt work out for you!

Neville

hey ladybug....welcome to fishlore!!!! hmmmm angels r not that aggressive.....what is your tank size? and what other fish do u have?

sgould

Just to clarify...angel aggression tends to come out when they form a mated pair. Then they become aggressively territorial as they claim an area to lay eggs and raise young. So long as you have no mated pair, they are generally not aggressive.

Ladybug

I'm sorry to not respond sooner. I really didn't expect anyone to help so fast so I didn't even check back. I can be pretty flaky My tank is a 55g and from what I read on this site I suspect it's overstocked. I have 6 angels, 5 prislella tetras ( I think....they're silvery with a black/yellow striped dorsal fin), 1 neon tetra, 2 plecos, 2 tiny little see-thru schrimp and a dwarf African frog named Joey. re: angels, I first bought 3; 2 of them teamed up and the male(?) chased the 3rd till he became ill and died. I talked to the fish store guy and his solution was to add more angels (recommeded 4). Now one of the new ones is constantly being mean to the one who was formerly dominent. I'm hopelessly empethetic and hate to think I'm aiding and abetting terror. Fishstore guy said to move things around in the tank so individual territories get messed up. Won't that just create new arguments as they try to re-establish them?

sgould

That could work in the short term, and is certainly worth a try. It should not create new arguments as they will all be staking out new territories at the same time. However, with that many angels in the tank, there is a very high probability down the road that as they reach maturity at least 1 pair bond will be formed. At which point all bets are off...a mated pair will likely be aggressive towards the others no matter what you do.

Ladybug

Do you think then that it would be best to only have 2 in the tank to avoid the sparring?

sgould

That would probably be the safest bet. You might be able to make multiples work for several months, then have the fighting break out again seemingly out of the blue if 2 of them form a pair. At that point you would need to separate them to prevent fatalities. If you had the capability (and desire, of course) to house a 2nd tank, I would say keep them and just seperate them when the time comes. But, if you already know you can't add another tank, it might be best to just go ahead and take that step now.

Ladybug

Thank you. I think maybe I'll take some back and play it safe. I thought everybody might get a kick out of this, though: Last night my bully was being particularly aggressive with the others. I tapped on the tank to break it up and everybody scattered but him. I tapped again and he came over to where I was to take me on. I have to admire his spunk

kel00

Hi Everyone,

New to this forum but have question on aggressive angels. I have 4 angels in my tank and they have paired up and live at seperate ends of the tank. They do chase each other when they swim into each others territories but the pairs also fight each other - locking lips and chasing each other, why do they do this? If they are a pair shouldnt they live pretty happily? Any help would be great. Thanks

Callum The Cat

Ladybug

Just a quick update on my aggressive angel fish. The LFS took back the three I separated out and they had a new home already that afternoon with a guy who's a "serious" fish host, whereas I'm more in the "layman" category. All's well with the remaining pair who are now quite active and playing in the bubbles again. Thanks for all the support!

Sabi

Goodluck!