Ryan.O.

hey evr1

in my 215L tank i have among other fish 2 angelfish. i have had them 4 a year and a half and about 6 monthz ago i moved them from a 60L

1 of my angels always hides at the back of the tank behind the heater and the filter intake tube. this is hidden behind straight val. so most of the time u cant c him. the other angel in the tank is aggresive towards him. when the 1 that alwayz hides comez out he alwayz getz attaked by the aggrezive 1. h pecks him and chases him away.

can some1 tell me what 2 do with these 2 because they are nice fish and i would like 2 keep them. should i get 1 or 2 more angels to even out the aggresion.

capekate

Hi Ryan
your angel fish must be beautiful at that adult age of four years. Its a shame that the two are not getting along. I also have two angels in a tank by themselves tho and they do get along, thank goodness.
I would suggest you get a few more angels, but not sure what your liter tank is in gal size?? So not sure of how much space you have for more. But if you do have the space, I would add two more, but try to find them as close in size as the ones in your tank already. Im betting that would at least give some relief to the one that is being bullied.
Good luck with your angels...
~ kate

Isabella

When you get 2 Angelfish, sometimes, unfortunately the 2 won't get along. Or they may not get along for a short while for some reason, then it passes away. The reason they may be fighting is that they're either both males and females ready to breed but having no partner (that's my personal guess). Evidently, your Angel is hiding because it's being harassed by the dominant one.

Hmm, what other fish and how many do you have in your 215 liter (~ 55 gallon) tank? I think maybe adding more Angels could even out the aggression, as CapeKate said, but adding more Angels would require a lot more space. A 55 gallon tank is not that large at all for Angelfish. If you added more Angels, some of them would probably pair off. Maybe the aggressive one would find a mate for itself. But then again, once you get a mated pair in a tank, the mated pair will become aggressive towards all the other Angels in your tank. So, in effect, you'll get even more fighting and harassing.

I understand you don't want to give away any of your Angels. I would never want to give away any of mine either. That is why ... I got another tank for my Angels! I know this may be too much for you, but if you can, get another tank so that you can keep all of your Angels with you. Get 2 more Angelfish, for example, so that you have a total of 4 Angels in your 215 liter tank. And see if any of them pair off. (You'd have most chances of getting a pair with at least 6 Angels.) Once the dominant one has paired off with another Angel, or at least shows no signs of aggression towards any of the new Angels you'd get, leave the dominant one and the new one towards which it is friendly in that tank. And move the rest of the angels to the new tank. I'd recommend at least a 30 gallon (115 liter) tank per 2 Angelfish.

Otherwise, I don't see what else you can do except returing one of the Angels to your fish store. I mean, if you let them fight, one might die from bullying. It's sad, what else can I say

Ryan.O.

hey

in the tank there is 5 serpae tetras 1 bristlenose and 3 harlequins rasboras. i am going to get probably 3 or more harlequins soon so they can school 2gether. so do you think the aggresion would even out if i got 2 more angels. would the tank be big enough foe 4 angels? the aggresive one dosn't hurt the smaller fish but sometimes at feeding time he chases them.

Isabella

A 215 L (55 Gal.) tank is a bit too small for 4 Angelfish in my opinion for the reasons I stated above in my response to you. Let me repeat: the reason is that getting new Angels MAY and MAY NOT even out the aggression. Just read again what I said in my response above. I can't guarantee you anything. It's hard to say what will happen. If getting new Angels won't even out the aggression, then you'll have - naturally - even more aggression. Really, it's up to you what you'll do. If I were you, and if I had the money and the time, I'd get another tank and separate the 2 fighting Angels so that one of them doesn't die from bullying (as I've said above).

timg

In a situation like this one, Isabella is right, and the only sure answer is to separate them. I was very lucky with my angels, as from the six I bought, I ended up with three pairs! Of course, this means three tanks too, as pairs are more aggressive than individuals!

I would buy another two angels and see if you can get them paired off, but with caution, as they could very well go to war instead of peace. The dominant one could just be taught a lesson though, by removing him to a qt or similar for a short period, giving him time to chill out, and the submissive one time to make his territory. I do this sometimes, when a particular fish starts bullying, with great effect. When the dominant fish returns to the tank, he's going into someone elses tank, where territories are already set, so he then has to submit to those boundaries. It sounds strange, but it does work usually.

Ryan.O.

i have a spare 60L tank hanging around - would this b big enough to put the aggresive angel in? and how long should i put him in there?

timg

I would say that should be fine for a QT Tank! It's quite big enough for resting an aggressive angel or sick fish. All you need to do is to set it up and give it a try!

I would keep them separate for at least a couple of days, or until the timid one has come out and starts to behave normally again. It may also help to do a bit of re-arranging in the main tank while you're waiting, so that the dominant angel won't try to re-establish his territory again when he goes back in.

Callum The Cat

for a little while on there own and leave them in there for a week or 2 to be save and then re-introduce

Peace Out Callum!

Ryan.O.

well i put the aggresive angelfish in a seperate tank and now the other angel is bullying the smaller fish . what should i do?

timg

what else is in the tank with him? Sometimes angels can be real bullies and are not afraid of taking on much bigger fish than themselves, but other than stressing the little ones out, they tend not to do any harm.

It sounds like the second angel is now establishing his territory, and the aggression should settle down within a few days, but it does depend on what else there is in the tank with him. Check to make sure that they are all compatible and that there isn't anything in the tank that will start the angels off. It can be funny sometimes, but you want to see what angels do while they are breeding! You haven't seen aggression till they have young to tend!

Ryan.O.

in the tank there are 5 juvenile bosemani rainbowfish and 5 harlequin rasboras.

pistorta

I would have started by adding atleast two more angels to the main tank.

Ryan.O.

i think i might give the angels back to the shop

bandito974

can I hijack this thread for a minute, i am getting ready to get a 55 or larger tank, I want to put a few Frontosa's in it, Can I place Angels with Frontosa's?
has anyone done this?

B

Angel man

back to topic if you just put them in they might be just setting up new territories so after another week i think they should stop fighting.