angel aggression

[fatboybaby]

hello!

i'm a new subscriber and this forum looks lovely!

my question is:


i have 3 angels in a community tank with a mixed bunch of other fish, mostly bought in ignorance in my early days so they are extremely mixed!

anyways, the tank is 100 litres and now that the angels are getting bigger i've noticed that one in particular has started to pick on the one which is the same size as him, chasing him around the tank and pinning him into a corner most of the time. they have also been liplocking

is this a territorial dispute now they are reaching adulthood, or the early stages of pairing?

what's my best bet - should i try and rehome the aggressive one or are there steps i can take to sort the situation with them all still living together?

thanks very much if anyone can help!

 

[fatboybaby]

hi again!

i've remembered a further question - if i should remove the aggressor while i try and figure out what to do, will he be ok in a rekord 60 with a shoal of tiger barbs? i know that's incredibly low for him and maybe the barbs would bite his fins?

 

[Fiori]

Hi there and welcome to the forum

It might be useful to know the current size of your angels. I had 4 baby angels about the size of a 50p in a 90 l tank temporarily and I was glad to get them out into their big tank - the 90 l was far too small for them and it encouraged aggression. Similarly, your 100 l tank will be too small for any angels as they get bigger. It would be better to remove either the aggressor or the one being picked on, as your poor angel sounds stressed if he's huddling in the corner and they can easily die when that happens. However putting any of them in a Rekord 60 with a shoal of tiger barbs is a very baaaad idea - his poor fins. Perhaps your lfs will take one back? Also how many other fish do you have in the tank and what are they? It might be useful to know in case you are overcrowded.

I don't know if its general aggression or mating behaviour - you don't say how old your fish are. Someone else might be able to help with that - another forum member, Tolak, is usually excellent for info on angels.

HTH and good luck.

 

[freddyk]

At this point it could be that a pair is forming and the one being picked on is a third fish out. Either way you should get the sub-dominant fish out ASAP, a fish being pinned into corners is an unhappy fish, and an unhappy fish is a stressed fish, and only bad things emerge from a stressed fish.

The barb tank is not a good place for him either, unfortunately - even besides the nipping, which tiger barbs are renowned for, Angels prefer a calmer environment.

 

[swampcat]

I put 4 angels in a 55, they were the size of a nickel. After about a year they paired off and started to fight, almost beating one to death. I now have these pairs in seperate tanks.

This is how we all end up with more than one tank!

I have had 6 adults toghether though many years ago, which is why, I thought, I could get away with it again? They all have different personalities, you never really know whats going to happen, until it does.

 

[Tolak]

Usually having a fish constantly pinned in the corner by another is aggression. If they swim together some of the time, & battle some of the time it is probably pairing. The cheapest & fastest way to prevent any casualties is to keep a divider handy.

In any case, a 100 liter is a little small for 3 angels, if a pair does form the odd one out will either get killed by the pair, or die from the stress of being costantly harassed. Another tank, or at very least a divider is needed.

Tolak

 

[fatboybaby]

thanks for the info - as you may see from my thread on another forum i'm currently having major overtocking issues anyway due to being a bit over eager when i first started the hobby so i may have to rehome lots of fish and start again.

i'd love to keep some of the angels if possible though, they're such beautiful and interesting fish.

the size now is about maybe 7cm/2.5 in vertically across the disc - i haven't been able to measure them properly.

what sort of size tank is best for 2 -3 angels then? is it more than 100l/29 gals? i 'may' be able to stretch to another tank if it will help me to keep them...
and would the other tank be solely for angels or could you keep say, corys in there too?

sorry for all the questions, this is the friendliest fish forum i've ever seen!

 

[freddyk]

what sort of size tank is best for 2 -3 angels then? is it more than 100l/29 gals? i 'may' be able to stretch to another tank if it will help me to keep them...
and would the other tank be solely for angels or could you keep say, corys in there too?

Yes, a 29 gallon will be fine for a single pair of Angels. The odd fish out, however, will get thrashed as you've already witnessed, so only a pair (you can start with more to gain the pair).

Once they grow these two Angels will fill out the area they use, but you can by all means add fish that don't use the same space in the water, like bottom dwelling Corys.

 

[fatboybaby]

thanks for this info.

i am going to aim to keep only 2 of my angels but am not sure which ones to keep?

the 2 that were fighting now seem to have calmed down a bit and are mostly swimming together with one of them occasionally chasing the other. they also seem to be hanging around in the area near where my filter pipe comes down a lot - not sure if they are scouting for a space to lay their eggs or not?

i have another 5 days or so in which to observe them before taking one to the lfs - what sort of signs should i be looking out for to see if they are pairing?

if there are no signs at all during this time would it be better for me to keep the smallest 2 (in a 100l with 3 corys and a hatchet fish) or the 2 that are fighting/pairing?

thanks for any info.

 

[Angel Lady]

When I first started with angels. I went and got me six babies all the same size. As they started to grow they starting pairing off. When they started to pair off they had the lip locking behavior at first. Then the two of them that were lip locking finally paired up and I have babies from thier first spawn. If it is only lip locking then they are checking out each other to see if it is worthy if you know my meaning. But if it is pinning it in the corner and things like that then I would remove the one that is being pinned. Because it is trying to rid the competition if you know my meaning...