A Pair Of Angelfish

[fish_face]

Hi everyone, i've had several angelfish before and love em to bits, but find that whatever group combination I try, they never get on (2 always pair up and pick on the othes). I have one male that I really want to keep and would like to stick to just 2, but find it impossible to sex them in the shop. I know he would probably get on with any female, but if I accidently bought a male, would they definitely fight?

 

[Nix]

2 angels in a 75 gal, should be ok. What will help is if you have a lot of tall plants to break the line of vision if theres any problems.

 

[AncientMariner]

Hi everyone, i've had several angelfish before and love em to bits, but find that whatever group combination I try, they never get on (2 always pair up and pick on the othes). I have one male that I really want to keep and would like to stick to just 2, but find it impossible to sex them in the shop. I know he would probably get on with any female, but if I accidently bought a male, would they definitely fight?

I see you have 28 Cardinals - You got any pic's? Bet they look great shoaling up tight

 

[Tolak]

With a 75 I'd get 7 or 8 more angels, and wait for a compatable pairing situation. You could then trade back the unwanted angels for credit. Every non-corporate lfs I've ever encountered has been willing to do this, they don't get in larger angels too often, and know they are good sellers.

 

[fish_face]

I was really only after 2 as I have a large male and want only one other angel. What i'm asking is if i end up with 2 makes, are they likely to fight??? The cardinals do look good by the way, but no pics yet

 

[Tolak]

They may fight, they may get along.

 

[dolphin]

Two males tend to get on. As there is no female for them to fight over. 3 will be trouble, as the odds are that one will be a different sex.

If you know how the sex angels then getting a male is the best option, as a female will only cause problems for the rest of the ocupants of the tank.
If you are unsure of the sex of a Angle, then it is best to not buy it, no matter how good of fish it might be.

HTH

 

[Tolak]

Hey Dolphin, welcome back! Good to see another angel breeder around here.

The only reliable way of sexing an angel is to wait until the breeding tubes are down. This usually means buying a pair, which can get expensive. Generally speaking males will grow a little larger than females, have a little more hump to the head, and be a bit skinnier than females. You usually can't tell any of this until they are nearing a year old, at least half dollar body size. Even then it's only an educated guess, you are lucky to be 75% accurate. I don't know anyone who is better than 50% accurate with juvies, quarter body size or smaller.

I've never heard of anyone venting an angel, as is sometimes done to sex larger fish. I imagine the narrow body shape would make this nearly impossible.

Dolphin; from looking at previous posts it looks like you have around double the setup I have running. If you are any good at sexing by looking at pictures, let me know. I have some adult koi in a pairing situation at the moment, as well as other assorted angels that are looking to be potential breeders.