Isabella

I DESPERATELY NEED HELP!!! If anyone knows the answer to my question, please be kind enough to respond as quickly as possible. I'd greatly appreciate! Namely, I have 2 angelfish. They're about 1 year old and approximately 4 inches long. They're in a 30 gal. freshwater tank with 12 neon tetras and an algae eater. My problem is that they constantly fight with each other. When they were younger this never happened. However for the past couple of months this fighting has been relentless. The slightly larger one seems to "dominate" the smaller one. It will peck the smaller fish most of the time, and attack it more aggressively during feeding times (often not allowing it to eat at all!). I tried to separate the two fish - putting the more aggressive one in a 10 gal. guarantine tank for a couple of days. This did not help. I know that the temperature and the overall environment of the tank is appropriate for the two angelfish. I have no idea what might be causing this problem. The fighting seems to never cease. Can anyone please tell me what the possible cause of this behavior might be, and ultimately, how to stop it? Any comments will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

brydevil666

I dont know wether i would be much help to you Isabella but i have two Angelfish too.I bought them from the same tank as eachother and i think the reason they dont fight is because they were used to eachother to start off with.Angelfish are said to sometimes be agreesive towards certain fish.I'm not sure of a solution for this problem though sorry

Gunnie

Isabella,
Is the dominant angel causing physical damage to the smaller angel? If so, I'd say they are truly fighting, and you may have to get rid of 1 of them or the smaller one will probably die from stress. If they are just "sparring", it may be breeding behavior. Do you see either one of the cleaning a leaf or flat surface?

0morrokh

I'm not an expert on angelfish, but try feeding on both ends of the tank to make sure the smaller one gets some food.

Shabnam

i have heard- that if you have a few more angelfish- that takes the agressive behavior off. although then the angels might end up eating the tetras. hmm.

Isabella

Thank all of you for your suggestions. It seems I will either have to separate my two angels or add some more of them. Since I cannot imagine my tank without them, the only choice will be to add more angels? My tank holds 30 gallons of water. I have 12 neons, 2 angelfish, and 1 algae eater so far. If I add, say, 2 new angelfish and 1 more algae eater, don't you think the tank may be too stocked? The general rule is to have 1 gal. of water per 1 fish, and angels are quite large (mine are 4 inches long).

Isabella

To Shabnam: Yes, I have heard that the angelfish may eat the smaller tetras. I even asked about it in my pet store where the answer was only confirmed. However, I never see my angels bother the smaller fish. They're aggressive only towards each other, not to other fish in the tank. I try to keep them fed so that they never get so hungry as to attack and eat my neons. Is it possible that even if they're not hungry that they will eventually eat neons? Is it only a matter of time? Or is it avoidable by making sure they're never starved?

Gunnie

I have never kept neons with angels, but I have read over and over that some angels will eat them as they get older, and others don't touch them if they are all raised together from babies.

Shabnam

Hi Isabella, spoke to a friend of mine who keeps only angels, and as far as he knows tetras are the natural food of angels- as they grow bigger. but if urs are not bothering them, maybe they are used to them. i really cant say, I have 5 angels but they are very peaceful with the other fish.

0morrokh

That's a good point, Shabnam. I have heard that angels will eat small tetras. You might want to get a separate tank for the neons, and then get some more angels to see if you can get the aggression to stop.

Isabella

I have indeed raised my angels together with neons. I got my angels when they were little together with neons, so they basically grew to a size of about 4 inches while being with neons all this time. Maybe this is why my angels are not aggressive towards the neons. I hope it will stay this way. But if anything ever happens, I keep another 10 gallon quarantine tank, where I could put my neons in. As for my fighting angels, I just bought 2 new angel fish. For now, I am keeping them in my quarantine tank to see if they're healthy and safe to introduce them to my main tank. I hope this will - once and for all - stop this nasty and never-ending fighting!!!