Two Angelfish Behavior Questions

I am so very confused, but in a good way.

Just two days ago, my big black angelfish, Kai, went after my new baby koi angelfish, Cole. That was as expected, she saw the tank as hers, and a new angel was not welcome.

But, what I did yesterday, was take Kai out, put her in a bucket away from the tank, rearrange all the plants and swap some decorations, and release her back in.

Her behavior changed completely.

First question: At first, when Cole came over to Kai after I put her back in, she clamped her fins, opened and closed her mouth rapidly, and backed away from him. Is that submission? I've never seen an angel do that to another before.

Second: What is up with their behavior now? They follow each other around the tank 90% of the time. Sometimes they just hover really close to each other, side by side. Other times, they hover nose-to-tail. But most often, Cole will come up to Kai and they will go nose-to-nose, pretty much touching, just looking at the other. Can anyone make any sense of this?

 

It sounds as though they're establishing a pecking order.

I have had three angels for about 6 weeks and they displayed this behaviour at the start. I haven't confirmed it was this but I know what you mean by the nose-to-nose and "bobbing" at one another. They have settled down now with two hanging out together and one alone.

Good call on rearranging the tank though

 

I can't speak to angels but I can draw a reference to my goldfish.

I have 3 hobby grade ranchus. Two came free, one unexpectedly.

The two freebies, Hershey and Sayuri, have always been bonded. Hershey followed her constantly but not in a breeding way.

Sayuri is currently in a hospital tank being treated for recurrent septicemia. With that, Hershey has begun to attach himself to Chise. He not only follows her but insists on TOUCHING her at all times. Always beneath her, his head on her belly.

It's not aggressive, it's not breeding behavior and it's not something I have seen any of my goldies do before.

Sometimes fish just behave in ways that we cannot always predict.

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I don't think it's really as a show of dominance. I mean, Kai is still obviously the most dominant, due to size. And there's no biting or flaring or anything. It's hard to describe... except it's really relaxed with them. I don't know what pairing/breeding behavior is between angelfish, but I'd be highly surprised if this was. Cole is small. Although... I don't know their genders, of course. But who knows? Maybe I just have a couple of weird angelfish.

Excuse me for going a little off-topic, but it's really amazing to look at them when they go nose-to-nose. A jet-black adult and a young koi juvenile so close to each other. Kai has copper-colored eyes, and Cole has golden eyes, and the light catches them both.

 

How long did you keep Kai on a bucket. I have 2 bigger angels a koi and a marble. The koi sometimes gets aggressive with the marble head butting chasing and such. It will happen all of a sudden then calms down and they will swim together, then all of a sudden it repeats.

Not sue how I can stop this or if I should.

 

I kept her in a bucket for maybe a half an hour or so as I rearranged everything else in the tank.

I don't know if this would solve anything with your angels or fix it completely. Angelfish are very individual. If someone comes up with a generalization about their behavior and personality, there will always be at least several others that conflict that generalization.

Who knows? If you take your koi out and rearrange everything, it could solve the aggression. It could do little to nothing. Or your other angelfish might act as the dominant one after your koi is put back in.

I personally don't think that you need to do anything, unless the koi is harming your other angel and ripping fins, preventing the other from eating, or if the other looks stressed. Angelfish establish hierarchies, and I just believe the koi is the dominant one in your case. If he allows the other angel to swim by him, the aggression isn't serious. If I am correct, the chasing like that even happens, for example, in my tetra schools.