Angel Fish Fighting Eachother Bad

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river_rat

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ihave 2 angel fish that i got about 6 months ago they nip here and there but now its getting way out of hand, i came home today with them both tore up real bad no fin on either one is fully intact. i put a divider in the tank for now and even with that up theyjust sit there and nip at the divider trying to get at the other one. theyalways followed eachother around and got along great but now they are after blood. what could cause them to get so mad at each other. alli have in my 30gal tank is the 2 angels, 1 balloon molly, and a sucker fish. could the water cause this stress ihavent done any test to see what im at buti know im already behind a few days for a water change. so what should i do.
 
ok so after testing my water i see everything is good but my ph. its off the charts. so ill work on that over the next few days but would that cause the angels to get that aggresive?
 
Hey mate :good:

When i read this im glad you got a divider inplace fast.

Hope they sort them selfs out.

From what i know i dont think the PH could send them that crazy, What is the exact PH? if its too bad that needs to be sorted FAST it could be a big player in it. Whats the tank size? and how big are they?

Thanks, Matt
 
Angels are cichlids, and have the aggressiveness associated with cichlids. What it sounds like you have is two fish of the same sex maturing, probably males, in a tank without enough territory for both.

What you could try is removing what appears to be the most aggressive fish, rearranging the tank decorations, and try adding him back after a few hours. Angels key territories off of objects in the tank, rearranging them removes these boundary markers.

Set the decorations up as a sort of natural divider, this may help as well. If this doesn't work best thing is rehoming one of the fish.
 
i have a nice pic i took with my phone that shows the size of my tank and fish but when i hook up my phone to my pc the pc crashes. but its a 29gal tall. i have to say the one wont stop growing and i might have to get rid of him. its just getting really big. i dont have any other place to put him though. i only have the one tank. but i guess for now im just going to work on my ph and medicate the fish as they are really beat up. im at least happy to see the smaller one could hold its own ground long enough for me to stop it. i got them both at about 2 inches wide, while the one stayed that size the other one grew almost an inch bigger. i have a friend with a much larger tank than mine i could ask her to take one off my hands, she has a larger angel than mine but not alot of territory its a pretty open area tank. before all this happened i was considering getting a small handful of schooling fish. would that help at all by maybe distracting them more and not focusing on one another to much?
 
Hey mate,

I have to say 29gallon is too small for 1 adult angel never mind two!!! :blink:

They need alot of room as of there height and are quite fearful fish, you have to think that if you were a fish like that, you need both alot of room at the top and the bottom because thats where predators would be. They can be very agressive and can be sorted in the right conditions. IE: BIG tanks and lots of space and different territories. sounds to me like you bought them small and they have grown fast as they do.

These NEED to be in a much bigger tank. otherwise this will not stop and they will both end up dead.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
 
well ive been looking to upgrade too. maybe sooner than later now. ill look into i guess
 
Im sorry but. Looking into it shouldnt be the "option" its a MUST. If i were in your shoes right now, i would be taking these guys to a LFS as soon as to get them looked after, they need some work now, as they are beaten, stressed, and seriously outgrown.

For these too you will need a large cycled tank. so it would take a while, you could speed this up with some mature filter media from someone or a LFS. But even then you still have too run your cycle properly as these guys are not as hardy as there made out too be.
 
A 29 gallon is standard angel breeder fare for pairs. You can keep smaller standard fin pairs in a 20 high, no substrate, but a 29 is generally better with a little more depth. If you make sure the divider is solid they should be fine for a while, change plenty of water often to help the fins heal.

The best way to go about getting two compatible angels is to aim for a pair. Start with 6 juveniles in a 29, this will give you better than a 90% chance of a pair. Once you do get a pair trade in the now larger remaining angels for store credit.

Standard stocking among angel breeders is 5 gallons for each potential breeder, and minimum of 20 gallons for a breeding pair. The 29 gives you more room for additional tankmates once you do get a pair, as well as more room for larger veil angels, who will appreciate a bit more water depth.
 
I would personally only keep 1 angel in a 29g. and never two. thats just my thought's on keeping them well but like you say if its common then fair enough i suppose :look:
 
Newly free swimming fry 40 fry per gallon
Two week old fry 20 fry per gallon
Month old fry 10 fry per gallon
Pea size bodies 3 fish per gallon
Dime size bodies 2 fish per gallon
Nickel size bodies 1 fish per gallon
Quarter size bodies 1 fish per 2 gallons
Silver Dollar size bodies 1 fish per 3 gallons
Potential breeders 1 fish per 5 gallons
Show Specimens 1 fish per 10 gallons
One breeding pair 20 gallon high tank

Been this way for years. You can always stock lighter without issue, stock heavier as long as you have a backup plan.
 
well just an update. ive had the 2 divided for a few days now their fins are almost completely fixed they are both a bit scratched up but doing well. i have a brand new 75gal tank sitting in the back of my truck that i plan to set up first thing in the morning. im going to move everything even the water over to this tank to help reduce the cycle time for the new tank. im sure the two angels my balloon mollie and sucker fish will enjoy all the space until i get more money to add to it and hopefully the angels will calm down with more space.
 
Hey mate,

Glad too hear there doing well. There new tank sounds awesome, If your moving everything IE: water. Media. Substrate and so on, Then they can go straight in :)

Keep us posted :) Looking forward to hearing that there best mates again :p
 
:( im sad to say that even getting a much larger tank the large angel kept kicking the crap out of the other one. the other one that was getting beat up i took to my LFS and they took it off my hands. hopefully it will get better and find a better home. i wanted to keep that one but i wasnt sure if she would make it and then i would lose both of them. so i kept the bigger one. but now i have a 75 gal tank with one angel one molly and a sucker fish and im ready to stock lol
 

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