one angelfish picking on the other!

HI every body I am new to the forum so bear with me! I have a 45 gallon bow front up an running for a month and ahalf I have about 23 fish init and one mexican crayfish. I added 2 angels last week got a long great and I added one this week. smaller than the others thought it would be no probem. The big one keeps chasing and hitting the small one. I don't know sexes hoping you could help me with that maybe that is the problem. Before I remove the larger one because I like the small one a lot maybe someone coould shed some light on the situation or what I did wrong. I have pics the llarger one with the high forhead is the picker and the small grey and black is the pickie.

 

did you add the bigger one first? if so sometimes he will believe the whole tank is his territory.

when I have a fish like that I will take a breeder net or divider and put him in there for a day or two. then release them, sometimes that will do the trick.

you can even move decorations around.

 

I did add the bigger one first. yesterday I change the tank and added a new plant. It has helped a little he doesn'tchase him as often but he still chases him. Can anyone tell if they are males or females? Just wondering cause the other one loves the new one.

 

I wouldnt be able to tell you but if you post some pics ill try to find someone who can.

I would get a little separator like this one. when you see him do it put him in here for a few day. then let him go and see how he dose. idk how big he is might need something bigger.

 

I will take some more pics. Thanks for your help. Today he has calmed down a lot he is tolerating near him except when he is eating. I'm thinking of adding one more small one to make 4. (give the little one a buddie) Is that too much for my tank? Not sure how many you should have in a 45 gal bow.

 

in no angel expert but 4 might be a lil to much in a 45g bow front. I will ask someone else what they think, it might take them a second to respond so hold on.

 

 

I have four in my 75 gallon. The two bigger ones are a breeding pair, and get especially mean when laying eggs. The smaller two are now a pair and get the same way towards the other two. So this could be the issue. The two you have already could be a pair and that could be why the one is being aggressive to the other (could be another male). It could also just be establishing a pecking order. But I am no expert. Unfortunately from what I know its really hard to sex angels until they are breeding. Maybe someone with more experience could shed some light on that.

 

What you are seeing is typical Angel behavior. Angels are a Cichlid and get territorial. I'd personally take the new Angel back and stick with the 2 you have.

When choosing them size dose matter. Adding a smaller one into a already established territory is going to be bullied, drove into a corner, not allowed to eat. Just naming things. Angels can get mean believe it or not. Just something to keep in mind.

I've got a pair in my 55 gallon long and there's no way I would add another pair. Just not enough room. They pretty much dominate the whole tank! The male is mean!

 

Thanks everyone for the good advice. I think I may take the little guy back even tho I like him a lot. The other koi Angel I have is tolerationg him now but he still doesn't like him. He will probably get worse if they start breeding. He has a very large forhead and I think he is a male. When I purchased the first 2 they were in a tank together at the store and they may have already been a pair as in my tank now they are always together and the little one tags along but then ends up alone. So maybe not fair to him to be alone all the time. My bigger ones are about the size of loonie (ha ha Canadian!) bit bigger than 50c piece. How big do the koi get? My father had an angel when I was young I belive and African Angel 40 years ago. It was huge! My inspiration for this tank is from my childhood

 

I hate taking fish back but sometimes its best. I would add to you corys and rasboars if you can.

 

Welcome to the forum!

Question, is your profile up to date? Your 46G tank is holding:

6 zebra danios, 3 balloon mollies, 3 platties, 6 tetras, 4 corycats, 3 rasboras, 3 angels, snails, 1 dwarf orange mexican crayfish

Honestly that is a bit much for your tank. What are your current water parameters?

3 angels never work out! You need 1, 2 or 4+ to control aggression. The general rule is 20G for the first angel and 10G for each additional one. So, you could house at most 2 angels as 4 adults would need a larger tank.

For future reference, when adding angels to a tank that already houses angels, move the decor around to destroy territory lines and then add multiples to divert the aggression. Adding 1 is always trouble with first removing the angels and only adding the newcomer for a day or two; then try adding the original angels to the tank. Even then, trouble could still be around the corner.

Danios are terrible fin nippers. They never work with angels in my experience. Personally, I would not keep them in the same tank.

What kind of Tetras do you have? Raspbora school needs to be bumped up as well.

Good luck with working things out.

 

18"out to the bow front, 37" wide, 20" high is the measurement of my tank. Ph and nitrate levels are good. I do a water change once a week. I got the danios just to cycle the tank and now there are 5 (one died) I didnt know they were fin nippers.Do they eat shrimp? I could throw them in my shrimp tank (cherry and golden shrimp) I knew the barbs etc were bad so I stayed away from them. My Rasboras are actually schooling with the 3 Rummy nose tetras which are quite large (same size as the rasb) the other tetras are white tipped (large round shape). Do you think I should add to the corycats they are awseome little fish? I have 4 should be 6? This is the best forum I am gaining a lot of knowledge. I always ask at the store befor I buy and they just don't give me proper info. Even that angel I asked befor I bought him couold I add him to the other two I had bought week before and it was oh ya no problem! Better to do your own research.

 

most all fish will eat shrimp so I think they might. they would deff eat any babies.

I would deff add to you schooling fish.

6 to 8 corys
8 rasboars
could even add some more rummy nose

 

tWell this was an eventful day. I did not get the zebra danios out( although they are not pickin at my angels at all) because I had to pull out my orang mexican dwarf crayfish.and throw him in other tank until I take him back tomorrow. He grabbed my large angel this morning!! He let go as I banged the glass she seems ok just a little freaked out at first. So tomorrow I will return the small angel as well and pick up a few mor cory cats. and rasboras. I was also wondering if a Honey gourami would suit the tank or not. People say that they are great alone and get along better than other gouramis. I'm not taking the advice of the store help cause they told me that crayfish was perfectly safe as it is a dwarf (it molted in the first 2 days I got it and became a heafty 4")

 

I'm a firm believer that its possible most anything can work. but soon as it doesn't we have to do something about it. so take the crayfish back and if the danios are ok so far then you can keep them. just remember fish personalty can change as they grow. catsma 97504 is very experienced and seemed very admit about the danios so you might be delaying the inevitable.

I think a honey would work. if anything the angels would pick on him. might want to see if someone else responds first.

 

Thanks everyone for your help. Today I took the orange crayfish and the two big angels back to the store got myself a beautiful smaller angel like my other one, another panda corycat and another albino corycat . Got rid of some of the danios(the ones I could catch!!) and bought a small honey gourami. Voila so far so good. I am now happy with what I have (except for a few more rasbora scissors) and everyone seems to be getting along. Cant wait to watch the angels grow hoping I have same sex this time as did not want a breeding pair. Go figure People buy six of them just to get a breeding pair and the first two I purchase Voila! and I don't want them. Anyway these two a very young and hopefully will grow very used to each other whatever sex they are.