Agressive anglefish

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Gem1202

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Hi all, I have two anglefish in a 44g coumnity tank with good water parameters etc. But the smaller one has made it his mission to chase and nip the bigger one. The bigger one has not retaliated and just tries to slowly swim away.

What need to be done?
 
Separate them, or the larger will likely be dead before many days/weeks have passed.

Now for the reason. Angelfish are a shoaling species, meaning they need a group; five is the minimum, but more is always better. Within this group, an hierarchy will fairly quickly form. All males are territorial, but the group allows this to develop into an hierarchy. With two, three or even four angelfish in the small (to the fish) confines of any aquarium, there is insufficient numbers for the hierarchy to work itself out. Sometimes things may work out, if all are females for example; but males (assuming they are healthy and normal) will not do this.

The more there are in the shoal, the more spread out the natural territorial nature will be, which is why groups of 12-15 in a very large tank can live together for years. In the natural habitat, a picked on fish can swim away, but that prerogative is not offered in the aquarium unless it is indeed huge.

ven a male/female may not get along. This species must select their mates, and bond, if they are to live together for any period of time. Sometimes we may luck out and put a male/female together and they do bond, but this is rare. The same principle applies to many cichlids, such as the rams and some other dwarf species.
 
Separate them, or the larger will likely be dead before many days/weeks have passed.

Now for the reason. Angelfish are a shoaling species, meaning they need a group; five is the minimum, but more is always better. Within this group, an hierarchy will fairly quickly form. All males are territorial, but the group allows this to develop into an hierarchy. With two, three or even four angelfish in the small (to the fish) confines of any aquarium, there is insufficient numbers for the hierarchy to work itself out. Sometimes things may work out, if all are females for example; but males (assuming they are healthy and normal) will not do this.

The more there are in the shoal, the more spread out the natural territorial nature will be, which is why groups of 12-15 in a very large tank can live together for years. In the natural habitat, a picked on fish can swim away, but that prerogative is not offered in the aquarium unless it is indeed huge.

ven a male/female may not get along. This species must select their mates, and bond, if they are to live together for any period of time. Sometimes we may luck out and put a male/female together and they do bond, but this is rare. The same principle applies to many cichlids, such as the rams and some other dwarf species.
Thank you, i have had them about a year and they have only started displaying this behaviour. (Two males)
 
Thank you, i have had them about a year and they have only started displaying this behaviour. (Two males)

The younger/smaller male is beginning to flex his muscles as I explained.
 
The younger/smaller male is beginning to flex his muscles as I explained.
Thank you, i have isolated the angle in a large breeding net as i don't know what else to do, I don't have a tank I can put him in at the moment, what steps do I take from here?
 
You can get a few more angelfish that are similar sized and see if any of them pair off. If they do you either move the pr to another tank or remove the other angels.

Or you get rid of one of the angels. Most pet shops take fish and either give you a store credit or pay cash. You normally get more for a store credit. You use the credit to buy other things, (fish, plants, fish food, etc). Ring a few pet shops and see if they buy fish and how much they pay for them.
 
Some time ago I had a couple of Silver Angel brothers that would 'spar' about like two human brothers punching each other in the arm. (My daughter purchased these as a gift when an LFS owner was retiring and going out of business).
I suppose the Angels were 'discussing' who was gonna be the "big dog". But they didn't hurt each other so it seemed mostly for show. The one that was a tad smaller and more the aggressor met with an untimely end when my daughter walked up to the tank and he shot up to the surface, hit the glass, and sunk to the bottom dead. So for a time, I then just had the one. Not long ago at our club meeting auction I got 3 Koi Angels (about half the size of the one I had left). They all seem to be getting along just fine.
 
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