Angels Pairing Off?

[mandy82]

One day I will get some angels, but I was wondering if Angels pair off when they are housed at a pet shop? Or are they too young to do so?

Thanks,
Mandy

 

[Tolak]

Usually too young. They begin pairing at around nine months of age, half dollar or larger body size.

 

[mandy82]

Thanks, Tolak! So what do you do when you have say 4 angels and none pair off or you only have one pair? Will they be ok living together?

 

[Tolak]

If none pair off you have only one sex, which is rather unlikely with 4 but still possible. If I'm not mistaken, 4 angels gives you around a 87% chance of getting a pair. More than likely the pair will get pretty aggressive towards any other angels.

You still have a 13% chance of having all 4 fish of one sex. While there may be some aggression due to territory, it won't be as bad as if 2 paired up.

If you plan on breeding & selling angels, there are cheap ways & not so cheap ways. If this is your plan, you need to make some preparations.

 

[mandy82]

My intentions aren't really to breed, but if it happens, it happens. I was just under the impression that in order to keep angel fish together, peacefully, they have to be paired off. Is this true?

 

[Tolak]

It's true to some extent. The personality of angels varies from fish to fish. Some pairs are fairly docile, some are murdurously aggressive. It sounds to me like you want to enjoy a decorated tank with more than a pair, while leaving your options open for breeding a few fish. There are a few things you can do.

Arrange decorations in the center of the tank to create a sort of natural divider. If a couple pair off, they will probably find an area at one side or the other of the divider. The divider breaks the line of sight. Have a divider ready just in case, and have an area set up that it will fit into. If the aggression gets too far out of hand, you can add the divider to give the non-aggressive fish a break.

Have taler plants towards the back corners. This gives them a better place to spawn, while taking them further away from the main area of the tank. They will feel as if they have more territory.

Pull out the eggs after they spawn. If there is no spawn to defend, they will be less aggressive.

Sometimes switching pairs or individual fish is the only option that really works. This involves multiple tanks, pairs, and time.

 

[mandy82]

Thanks for your advise. I will keep these things in mind when I do get angels in the future. Thanks again.

 

[blitztidus]

I have the same problem but my fish are just fine, One pair of ghost angels and two others left out and they just strike (not at all close to being deadly, just a few scales) at each other if they get too far over on to the mating pairs side but mainly stick to their own sides.