aggressive angelfish

[toto58]

I have 2 marble veiltail angels-dont know what sex they are
they are both approximately 1 yr old--and huge!
until recently they have gotten along very well together, but for the last week, the larger of the 2 has been extremely aggresive toward the other
they do this lip-locking thing and push eachother to the corner of the tank
I am afraid one of them is going to get hurt (even though neither of them show any injury whatsoever)
thought about putting in a partition for awhile to see if they just need some timeout
:-\
any suggestions?

 

[Gunnie]

It sounds like you either have 2 males fighting for dominance, or you have a pair, and they are going through the mating ritual.  Are they cleaning a spot on a rock or the glass? How big is the tank they are in? That may be a factor also.


P.S. Welcome to FishLore!

 

[toto58]

they are in a 20gal tank with 2 lemon tetras--which the angels never seem to bother, nor do they bother the angels
when I turn the light off, they seemto be fine, but I don't want to keep them in the dark!
I do notice however, that the smaller of the two keeps "pecking" at the heater
my water temp is 80
thought about going to get a piece of slate today to see if they will spawn
sure wish I knew what sex they were--and believe me I have tried every "method" suggested, and quite frankly--I don't think either one of them has a sex!
ty for any suggestions
teresa

 

[Gunnie]

My experience has been that the larger is the male and the smaller is a female. I doubt that has any relevance though. Mine used to peck at the heater also. Putting slate in the tank would be a good idea if you want to try and raise the fry. They will be easy to remove. What type of filtration do you have on the tank? You may need a sponge pre-filter to put on your intake so the fry won't be suck up by the filter.

 

[toto58]

thanks for all your help and advice
I guess I will just wait and watch and see what happens
will keep ya posted if anything else weird happens
have a great day!
teresa

 

[Butterfly]

Sounds like a mating ritual to me also. I have actually had them to spawn on the heater top Doing a huge water change may push them into making up their minds about spawning. You should be able to see their breeding tubes in a day or so.
do you have lots of plants? Sometines they will choose a wide leaf to spawn on.
Good Luck and keep us posted. Welcome to FishLore
Carol

 

[toto58]

have lots of plants--all fake but 2 and they are all small leafed
am going to the fish store today and buy some slate--hopefully I will become a gramma!
thanx again!
teresa

 

[atmmachine816]

one of my grandpas angels I had became aggresive to all my fish in my tank and ther were signs of injury and I had to get rid of it but if there aren't any signs of injury there probly just mating and my angels peck at everything I think ther just cleaning and eating but I don't hav room for babys right now but they still lay eggs on the filter tube and then they eat them