Help With Angelfish Behaviour......

[mattlee]

i bought 2 angels at the weekend 1 smokey and 1 golden very similar size (classed as large at lfs) and ever since they have been in my tank the smokey 1 has done nothing but harrass the other. its almost been a week and it hasnt stoped and its getting to the stage where smokey keeps ramming goldy just behind the gill near the fin and has caused some slight damage to the scales.
today i purchased another angel of very similar size to try and spread any aggression but smokey is still ramming goldy but seems really good towards the new 1.....

will this ever stop as goldy is my favourite 1 of the lot and i dont want to loose him or have him put excess stress?

could it be that smokey and goldy are males, thats why they do what they are doing and the new 1 is a female?

should i put smokey in my qt tank to try and teach him a lesson and see how it goes for a bit?

should i get another? i have just about enough room for 4....

is it just that smokey is a bully and once a bully always a bully?

these are my first angels so i have no former experience keeping them so someone please help....... they are all around 5/6/7 inches including fins (i think) and were all well behaved in the lfs and seemed at ease with each other.

 

[Joller]

sounds like smokey has claimed territory in your tank, and doesn't want goldy in there.
you could try removing the angels, moving around the tanks decorations (ie messing up the territories) and then putting them back in.

its possible that 2 pair up and then bully the third (this happened to me)

 

[mattlee]

sounds like smokey has claimed territory in your tank, and doesn't want goldy in there.
you could try removing the angels, moving around the tanks decorations (ie messing up the territories) and then putting them back in.

its possible that 2 pair up and then bully the third (this happened to me)

so do you think that removing smokey to another tank for a couple of weeks will do any good?
not sure how i could change the tank apart from taking some wood out but then it will be very bare..... all it contains are 2 large pieces of bogwood and lots of plants along the back!
my newest angel (marble) doesnt get involved in any of it but doesnt get touched by smokey either.....
after feeding today marble didnt seem to go for anything, it tried a few times on the tetra prima but from what i saw spat it out..... all my other fish love it including the other angels... is it because its still getting used to things in there?

 

[shelaghfishface]

can u take them back out??? do this and move the decs about a bit then put the less dominant one in first .. i have ( wrongly) have 5 in a tank at one point they did get ratty with eachother at first but calmed down after a period of time... if you need further help pm Tolak hes the angel fish guy

 

[mattlee]

can u take them back out??? do this and move the decs about a bit then put the less dominant one in first .. i have ( wrongly) have 5 in a tank at one point they did get ratty with eachother at first but calmed down after a period of time... if you need further help pm Tolak hes the angel fish guy

thanks, ill give it a go. if no joy ill contact tolak
my only prob is that all i have are 2 pieces of bogwood in the tank along with a few plants at the back so i dont see how i can change it much without a major re-scape.....

 

[mattlee]

just removed the bully angel and put it in my qt tank. all is peacefull again!!!!!!! my only problem now is that my qt tank is an aquaone ar620 90L, its tall enough but only 2 feet wide..... will the angel be ok in there?

 

[Tolak]

A single angel will be fine in there, many breeders use 20 highs for breeding pairs. These tanks have a footprint of 12"x24", with 16" of water depth.

This is the best option if rearranging the tank poses difficulty. The longer the more docile angels have to settle in the better, and while it may not be obvious they will form a pecking order as well as territories.