Gamer

I bought four of them which are not very big and already the two marbeled ones have paired off against the two striped ones. They won't let them come down to the left side of the tank and they chase them off to the right end whenever they attempt to come down to "their side". I don't know if I can take two of them back. I really wouldn't want to and I'd like to find a way to make these four work in my 55 gallon as they're all so beautiful.

Later today I was going to add 6 harlequin rasboras to see if more fish would change anything as right now I only keep the four angels in it.

capekate

Hi Gamer, for four small angels, they really do not form that pair that you are looking for in mated angels. Did you get them all at the same place? Introduce them all at the same time? If one pair were already in the tank, then you introduced two more, the original ones may just be defending territory and will eventually come to terms with the new ones in the tank I hope for your sake this is so. You can also pick up a divider for the tank and place it in the middle if they do not eventually behave. Then the two pairs would have their own sides of the tank. Good luck with your angels... maybe they will settle down soon.
~ kate

Sabi

about how big are they?

Gamer

They are about 2.5 inches - 3 inches tops.

I bought them all from the same pet store, from the same tank they were sharing with about 10 other angels. I brought them home in the same bag and acclimated them into my tank and for the first couple of days they all hung out in the same spots now the two spotted ones have formed an alliance and remain on the left side of the tank and chase and nip at the striped ones whenever they come near that end. Ugh, I really didn't want to have to bring in a tank divider and I am wishing I had only bought two. Hopefully it settles down. I plan to add more fish (nope not more angels) to see if that changes anything. Probably harlequins but I'm also considering a tetra like lemons or even serpaes.

Sabi

Well, my angels were that size when they started pairing.

Allie

Mine too...even if it was with other females.

pistorta

It may help to add more angels to the tank. In larger groups, aggression is split and often times, reduced.

Isabella

Yes, but only if there will be no mated pairs among the group of Angels. A breeding pair will become very aggressive towards all other Angels. He already has 4, and if he gets for example 2 more, he'll have a total of 6. With a total of 6 Angels, you have a very high probability of getting a mated pair. Besides, a 55 gallon tank is too small for 5-6 Angels (temperament-wise). I''d also add that a 55 gallon tank is too small for 5-6 Angels size-wise too. I keep only 2 Angels in a 75 gallon tank. If I were to add more Angels to this tank, a total of 6 Angels per 75 gallons would be the absolute maximum for me. I wouldn't recommend more than 4 Angels for a 55 gallon tank either.

pistorta

Isabella - This would depend on the surface area of the tank, which I am sure you know, is a major determining factor in the number of fish that can be kept. I have 8 angels in a 120 gallon tank which has 8 sq ft of surface area. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I have had absolutely no problems with aggression between them. In fact, more so in the past, were often seen together in one group.

The owner of the store where I purchase them is involved in many aspects of aquarium keeping, from private reef setups and maintenace of 4000 gallon aquariums to an extensive collection of freshwater fish. The Angels he distributes come from a breeder in New York who has 600 aquariums for this alone. It was disclosed to me that due to their sensitive nature to other fish diseases (the Angel "plague") that they be kept in a species only tank. I don't practice this, but I thought I'd share this suggestion.

In the store (I understand this is short-term) they are kept in massive groups in moderately sized tanks (~ 55 gallons). When you add several to one tank, not one fish is solely picked on. I guess, ideally, with a small group, you would remove the fish that is being picked on to a different tank or return it to the store. For most people, this may not be an option, or they may not want to part with the fish.

You may have a different experience, but from my history, mated pairs of angels usually only have one agressor, of which I believe is the male. I once had a group of three, which I'm assuming, included a mated pair. I assume this because I did have problems with one of the presumed mated individuals picking on the "single" one. That was years ago. Now, I only keep them as a pair or in larger even numbered groups.

There is an public aquarium in Ohio (I think) close to the Kentucy border that houses adult angels. These things were the largest I've ever seen and would estimate were 7" head to tail. They were in a large group in a tank with a red-tailed shark and believe it or not, cardinal tetras. From what I saw, as they age, become a lot more docile than they already are with regard to activity level. These things barely moved. My point is, I did not witness any aggression as I am sure they had mated pairs in the tank by chance alone.

I am afraid I may be rambling, but one other thing I learned... There is a big difference between angels raised from "Wild" parent angels and those raised from those that are "Domestic" bred. A lot of natural instints are lost with the the "Domestic" bred versions. For example, "Wild" breeding angels will rear their young while "Domestic" breeding angels are likely to eat their eggs.

Isabella, on a different note, how deep is your tank and how much light do you give your plants (Wattage and time)? The picture under your posts looks very nice. I have a lot of algae problems with my plants and I'm afraid I may be giving them too much light for the amount of CO2 I'm able to supply. Thanks in advance.

Isabella

Pistorta, when I was speaking about the number of Angels that should be kept per a certain number of gallons, I had their TEMPERAMENTS in mind. I know that maybe you could have more Angels in a certain size of a tank, but - once again, this is in my personal experience - if you get a mated pair, they will be aggressive towards other Angels. I've had a mated pair in one tank with other Angels and there was aggression in that tank. That's why I had to separate the pair from the rest. Besides, even size-wise, any fish in home aquaria can only DREAM of the vastness of space it would have in nature. Even the biggest tank in the aquarium hobby does not compare to a lake, a river, an ocean. Also, even the biggest and lightest-stocked tank still has a far greater concentration of fish than even the smallest lake has. This is another reason why I always promote understocking. And, yes I do know that commercially bred Angels are a different story from the wild-caught ones, but I personally believe that just because a fish was raised in captivity, does not mean it doesn't deserve as good a life as the wild fishes have. They're live creatures that deserve the best care that we can give them.

Now, to answer your questions about my planted tank. My 75 gallon planted tank is 20" deep (it's 48" long and 18" wide). I have a total of 130 watts of compact fluorescent 7,600K lighting. That gives me 1.73 WPG of lighting. This is a low-tech / low-light tank and I am not using CO2. I know nothing about CO2 injections. Just starting to learn about it because I think I'll buy a CO2 system. I have some algae in that tank but for the most part, my algae eater keeps the tank clean. I am hoping the addition of CO2 would eliminate the algae entirely (though I may be wrong). Anyway, what are your planted tank stats (i.e. tank size, lighting, wpg, CO2, fertilizing, substrate, fish load, fish kinds, etc ...)? Would love to see your tank's pictures too