greenidentity

Well, we have ahd our Angel now for about a month, and at first he was really shy and hid a lot. Didn't eat too much and just hung out. The last few weks though, he has been coming out anytime we walk up to the tank, and he will swim about on the middle to top area of the tank on his own. He seems ok being out in the open now, and certainly is a good eater!

The other day, we noticed our Angel starting to sort of swim in a "chest out" manner. He tips his upper body up so his face is pointing upwards and his "chest" and feelers are sticking out, and he charges! I've seen him do this on his own, with no fish around him, and I have seen him do this towards other fish, thoguh he is usually not too agressive at all.....

One thought I've thought is that his tail is quite nipped. We got rid of who we thought was the offender, but it's onlu been a few days so we are waiting to see if the tail will grow back a bit. I don't think it's fin rot, there are no other growths, infections or ulcers around the tail, it's just nipped down quite a bit.

So is he maybe swimming this way due to his tail? Or is it an aggressive behavior? He seems fine overall, eats well, swims about freely and our water levels are good (high pH but it's been that way for awhile now, can't lower so I stopped trying.)

Any feedback is awesome!

Isabella

Your tank is not overstocked and you do not have any aggressive fish in it, so that is very good. If the angel is eating normally, looking well (no discoloration or pale body), no growths and/or films of any sort on his body, then I do not think there is anything wrong with him. The "charging" behavior you're describing is - in my opinion - normal among angelfish. All of my angels do it. And it's not that they're being aggressive at all. For some reason, they just like to sort of "stand up" to other angels or "boast" (that's what I call it, lol). Maybe it's some displaying behavior. This particular trait of angels is what gives them their "personality". But you're also describing that it points its head up, is that correct? It could be simply that it's nipping at the water's surface looking for food. If not, it may be gasping for air ... but I do not think this is the case as all of your other fish are not gasping at the surface. Besides, is its swimming firm and balanced?

P.S. Maybe it wants a mate?

P.S. Just to be on the safe side, try to keep nitrate as low as possible during the time when the angel's tail is healing.

greenidentity

Thank you Isabella! No, he isn't gasping at the surface at all. He usually does this in the middle/upper area of the tank, not too close to the surface. It is so funny to watch him do it, because he gets so....sassy! But he doesnt hurt anyone as far as I know, and it does seem like a boasting behavior. It did occur to me "well maybe he is starting to display some of his quirky personality" becuase I have heard many stories of Angels and odd behavior. I hope he is ok, all I can do is just watch him I suppose.

I would like to get him a mate, but I am terrified of them fighting. I've heard that many Angels will spar when 2 to a tank, sometimes even to the death. I don't want any unhappiness, or any wear and tear on my nervous system, lol! Plus I'd have to get rid of fish and I'm not sure I want to do that. We'll see what the future holds. But for now I am close to completeing my "tank plan". I am going to add 5 more neons to make a school of 6, and PRAY my Angel doesnt eat them as he gets older. I will stay with that occupancy for awhile until something happens/someone dies and then I will change it up a bit.

Thanks again!

Isabella

I absolutely understand you. I've had an extremely hard time giving some of my baby angels away. Even if you buy another angel just to see if it would do well with your current angel, you'd probably get attached to the new angel. And in case it didn't do well with the current angel, you'd also have a hard time having to give the new angel back to the store. Besides, constantly transferring fish from one tank to another can also be stressful to fish. However, I still have to say that you never know what will happen if you do not give it a try and get another angel. I'd like to hope that it would do well with your present angel. When I bought my two angels, I had completely no way of knowing if they were both males or females, or a male and a female. But luckily for me, they turned out to be a male and a female. Do you have any spare tanks or tanks with fish that would do well with an angelfish? This way, if you bought a new angel and it didn't do well with the present angel, you'd have a place to go to for the new angel. I personally love the sight of two angels. I believe they display most interesting behaviors when they're in pairs (or in groups if the tank is really huge).