Angel Problem

[dave_gray2077]

Iv got 3 angel fish in a 450l tank. They have been in there about 6 months now and all was good.

I bought them when they where only 1 inch tall. In the 6 months I have had them all 2 have grown to about 5 inches and the other has reached about 4.

They where all ok until last week I noticed some aggression. The 2 larger “square” off against each other at feeding time. Then they nudge each other on the chin. On a side note I have noticed the smaller angel fish is left alone. I did catch it joining in one face off but the other lager angles just ignored it.

Is this normal or will this behaviour become life threatening over time?

Also in the tank. 24 cardinals, 2 Bn plects, 7 cory 3 ottos.

 

[rocknurworld2006]

Iv got 3 angel fish in a 450l tank. They have been in there about 6 months now and all was good.

I bought them when they where only 1 inch tall. In the 6 months I have had them all 2 have grown to about 5 inches and the other has reached about 4.

They where all ok until last week I noticed some aggression. The 2 larger “square” off against each other at feeding time. Then they nudge each other on the chin. On a side note I have noticed the smaller angel fish is left alone. I did catch it joining in one face off but the other lager angles just ignored it.

Is this normal or will this behaviour become life threatening over time?

Also in the tank. 24 cardinals, 2 Bn plects, 7 cory 3 ottos.

yes this will likely be 1 deadangel soon.

the 2 angels fighting will have matured and are probably 2 males!
YOU WILL HAVE TO GET RID OF 1!
the other smaller one could be the female.

you should rehome one male immediately or he will be killed i would say.
at the moment if you have another tank or partion just to seperate them it would be good

this is normal behaviour

good luck!

 

[Tolak]

Could be pairing behavior, or it could be an aggressive dispute over territory. With 450 liters, in what I'm assuming is a decorated tank, you should have enough room for a pair and one individual.

Usually with pairing they are testing each other, to see if one or the other is a strong enough, compatable mate. They will spar a little, then get along a little in this case.

With aggression over territory they will chase each other out of a loosely defined area, all the time. You will often find the less aggressive angel chased to the far end of the tank, or flat on the surface or wedged behind some sort of decoration in a smaller tank.

I would get a divider, and keep it on hand in case things get out of control. In the wild the less aggressive fish would just leave the area, enclosed in a tank this is not possible. In a tank of that size the less aggressive fish could leave the area claimed as territory.

 

[dave_gray2077]

From my observations it does not seem to be that the fish are defending one area of the tank.

Some of the time the all just shoal together and get along.

I always feed them at on end of the tank using a feeding loop so i would assume if territorial fights where to happen it would be over that. The are mentally conditioned as they always dart to the loop when they see me close to the tank.

Is there anyway to tell if i have males and females? Or is the sex something that is very hard to tell?

I'm full of questions. How does Amano get away with tanks with large group of them? just females?

 

[rossyt99]

Hi, it sounds like the two could be about to pair-off....you can't tell if Male/Female until they start to breed and the tubes appear.(Females is blunter/broad)


Is the behaviour similar to this? Click on; [URL="http/youtube.com/watch?v=TdoDxCCM8WE"]http/youtube.com/watch?v=TdoDxCCM8WE[/URL]

A divider/spare tank may come in handy as said by others...

Good luck.

 

[dave_gray2077]

yes that is what it is like. they don't lock lips much. Just nudge each other mainly.

But last night after feeding they started charging each other across the tank and nudging each other about.

Ill see if the LFS will take one back. Ain't got any money to get a tank divider at the moment. Not for a 50x70 tank anyway.