How To Deal With Pairing And Aggression

Soo. The is my first post here after being on this forum for a while . I'm not new to the hobby, I am however, new to Angels. I was never really a fan until I just recently came upon the Phillipine Blue variety. I fell in love with all things blue and pinoy. Anyhow, I have a 90 gal tall glass tank. It's been set up for about 3 months. The inhabitants are as follows. 10 adult cardinals, 6 Von Rios, 4 German rams an Albino 3" Bristlenose pleco and 5 SterbaI Corydoras. I also have a 50 gallon breeder tank I had intended to use as a quarintine tank. I use a mix of Ro water and a bit of tap water. My tap is very hard and high in calcium/tds . I calculated how to keep the water at what I believe is optimum. I had initially set up the tank for Discus but changed my mind as,well , I want a life . Sooo I decided to go with PB Angels. I bought 5 from a breeder online and they came in healthy and not too stressed out apparently because crazy enough within an hour 2 of the Angels decided they wanted to set up shop and paired off together. I had the Angels in the 50 gl. quarintine tank . So of course the 2 very aggressively put the remaining 3 Angels in "timeout". Like literally all 3 were with their faces in the corner not moving and breathing hard yeah totally stressed out! The pair WOULD NOT relent. I freaked out after 4 to 5 hours and against better judgement, removed the 3 unpaired Angels and placed them in the 90 gl. I was going to deworm the 90 gl tank anyhow and thought I guess I'll just do it now. So then of course...2 of the other Angels and all freaking 4 of my Rams all got jiggy with it and decided to pair up and lay eggs...the drama that ensued was like a Telenovela...Omg. I ended up having to separate the Rams as they were both fighting and trying to eat each other's eggs I thought they were going to kill each other! So in the end , in the course of a day , the 50gl tank has the initial paired up Pinoy and Pinoy Leopard Angel, 2 paired German Rams and a pleco. All is well in that tank now. Now my question is..in my 90 I have 3 moved Angels. A Zebra pinoy and Leopard pinoy and a Blue. The leopard pinoy is the only "single". The pair(.Zebra and Blue) are not super aggressive but they do gang up on the single leopard female and chase her around a bit. I don't like it. Would getting another female help spread out the aggression? Orrr should I rehome the single Angel? I'd only have a pair in each tank...bummer. I really love her so so pretty. I had no idea how NOT community fish the wrenches are. They are pretty amd at least not boring hehe. I also am not sure to whom I'd rehome her too. Anyhow any advice from some well seasoned Angel keepers?

 

I honestly would rehome her. I wouldn't wanna put another one in there with her (they could pair off and then you'd end up with three pairs and only two tanks) beautiful angels btw

 

I would rehome, they are all really nice angels though, i'm not surprised you got two pairs from a group - I got two pairs from a group of seven (I sold two of them before the rest paired up and now I own one female as i'm shipping my pair to a new home on monday). They will continue to attack the odd one out even corner her like the others. I just got in one that looks so much like them, i'm hoping it is a male (if not I have to find a male lol).

 

Ok..that's what I thought. I do want them to be happy so I'll see about getting the fish rehomed. Not sure how I'm gonna do that down here in San Antonio, TX but I'll get on it! Thanks for the advice and helping me make the best decision for the fish.

 

Ok..that's what I thought. I do want them to be happy so I'll see about getting the fish rehomed. Not sure how I'm gonna do that down here in San Antonio, TX but I'll get on it! Thanks for the advice and helping me make the best decision for the fish.

I'd love to have her, but I live in virginia so it's a bit of a drive lol. Good luck finding the odd one out a home.

 

I agree, I'd love to take her off your hands, but I am up in Minnesota.... My dad is on vacation in Texas right now....could he bring it on the plane? LOL so kidding.

But in all seriousness, I am so sorry you have to rehome one. The odd man out thing is a problem, which is why everyone cautions people to avoid the number 3 with angels.

You could try adding a 4th to that tank. It could help. But it could also be a total fail and then you have to rehome two. Angels and their dynamics are so confusing and unpredictable. Just adding another angel could change things for the better OR the worse.

Sadly, The smoothest and most practical thing to do is just keep the two pairs though. :-(

 

Sure, we'll shove it in his carry on ! Lol..but yeah, I'm sorry to rehome her. I've been looking around and for some reason this city isn't too big of a fish keeping city. When they do, it mostly salt water. I had thought about the 4th addition but too bad I wouldn't know till I have them if it would work or not! Additional tank has been considered it's just a bit too much maintenance I think. Already have two large tanks and my GR'S keep spawning! May try my hand at raising a little tank full some day. Shipping the fish seems nerve wracking. I'd need oxygen and foam and stuff lol. Yea never done that!

I'd love to have her, but I live in virginia so it's a bit of a drive lol. Good luck finding the odd one out a home.

Thanks! Hopefully find someone soon! Good thing is she's not beat up or anything. Fins intact, still comes out to feed and all. It's just when they're bored that's the goal the pair play, keep her in the Vals . Rather she be free to move about!

 

Sure, we'll shove it in his carry on ! Lol..but yeah, I'm sorry to rehome her. I've been looking around and for some reason this city isn't too big of a fish keeping city. When they do, it mostly salt water. I had thought about the 4th addition but too bad I wouldn't know till I have them if it would work or not! Additional tank has been considered it's just a bit too much maintenance I think. Already have two large tanks and my GR'S keep spawning! May try my hand at raising a little tank full some day. Shipping the fish seems nerve wracking. I'd need oxygen and foam and stuff lol. Yea never done that!

Have you tried to see if a local fish store will take them? Usually the NON chain stores will take fish. Sometimes even for store credit. If you can find one that will do that....you could try the 4th knowing that you have somewhere to bring them if it doesn't work out.

Do you have a python water changer? or something like it? I only ask because having one of those made having more and more tanks not really be much more work....lol

Have you tried adding a bunch of really tall plants to break up the sightlines at all?

I'm trying shipping fish for the first time very soon....I found these breather bags that you can use to ship them without any need for oxygen or anything like that....pretty handy!!

 

Have you tried to see if a local fish store will take them? Usually the NON chain stores will take fish. Sometimes even for store credit. If you can find one that will do that....you could try the 4th knowing that you have somewhere to bring them if it doesn't work out.

Do you have a python water changer? or something like it? I only ask because having one of those made having more and more tanks not really be much more work....lol

Have you tried adding a bunch of really tall plants to break up the sightlines at all?

I'm trying shipping fish for the first time very soon....I found these breather bags that you can use to ship them without any need for oxygen or anything like that....pretty handy!!

I have 2 groups of tall plants in the tank. That's actually where she takes refuge. I also have a pretty big piece of driftwood that she can go on the other side of and be completely out of site. That's probably why she's not too beat up or anything. She pretty much has to chill in those areas to be left alone though. I can try taking her to a local fish store...but in all seriousness she's probably better off in my tank! The fish stores here don't have great looking fish. I go there for supplies... not fish unfortunately. There is one I may try though. Perhaps they can keep her in one of their display tanks if they like her enough. Those fish look ok . Yes I do have one of those Pythons. I think what id need is a water pump. I use primarily RO so its more lugging those things around that's the work. Not really the actual changing of the water hehe.. those bags sound interesting as well.