Are angelfish territorial?

[sammydee]

Hi all.

In my 20 gallon tank I've got loads of small fish and one angelfish that is about 5 or 6 times as big as all the others. This is what I have:

1 Angelfish
1 Black Neon
6 Neon Tetras
2 Ghost Catfish
2 Rosy Tetras
3 Rosy Barbs

I don't think this is too overstocked as these fish have been together and perfectly happy with no fatalities or casualties for about six or seven months. The Angelfish is about a year and a half old and, surprisingly, has not eaten ANY of the neons since I got it. They seem too big to fit in its mouth to be honest.

Anyway, I think the tank might be a bit small for the angelfish. It has always been a complete wimp anyway, but now it tries to run away from the other fish more and more to find a bit of territory for itself. Do angelfish need they're own little bit of territory to themselves?

I could take the fish back to the LFS and they would give me a tenner for it but its kinda got to be part of the fish tank and I would sorely miss it if it went. I'm going to buy a load more plants on my next visit - will this give the angelfish some room to hide in? Maybe if I heavily planted the tank the fish would be able to split up a bit more, instead of doing what they always seem to do and swarm around the poor angelfish. I think it just wants some peace and quiet to itself really.

Should I take it back to the LFS? Will planting my tank more heavily (its very sparse at the moment) even make a difference?

Thanks

 

[WILDER]

I would take it back to be honest, let if get the tank and room it derserves, so it can be happy.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Planting won't make much difference. Take it back, you might not get a refund though.

 

[sammydee]

Ok I will take it back on my next trip and get some more barbs instead. I'll plant the tank anyway because it looks a lot better. I don't think, looking at it, that a 20 gallon tank is big enough for a decent sized angelfish.

It's a shame because that angelfish is lovely. Oh well, I'll take it back to the fish shop and hopefully somebody will buy it who has a more suitable tank than me. I'd hate for it to go to some little five gallon uncycled plastic bowl and follow the same fate as it's predecessors.

They've given me refunds for fish before - I should get more back than I paid for it.

 

[DannyBoy17]

I honestly dont think thats overstocked, but some barbs would be a nice addition aswell.

 

[OohFeeshy]

It might not be overstocked but if the angel gets much bigger it could start to eat the tetras

 

[sammydee]

Well its pretty big already. I'd say maybe 4 1/2 inches from top fin tip to bottom fin tip. I don't think it's overstocked either, but the angelfish seems just not to have enough swimming room. I'd like some more rosy barbs in its place, along with maybe some more rosy tetras as well.