aggressive angelfish

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?

 

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!

 

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 dont 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 dont think either one of them has a sex!
ty for any suggestions
teresa

 

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.

 

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 wierd happens
have a great day!
teresa

 

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

 

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 arent any signs of injury there probly just mating and my angels peck at everything i think ther just cleaning and eating but i dont hav room for babys right now but they still lay eggs on the filter tube and then they eat them