I Have A Question About Angelfish

[Durbkat]

I have a 55g and from what I understand angels get very aggressive during spawning and was wondering like after the female laid the eggs and male fertilzed them if when I remove the eggs would they still be aggressive or would they start being nice again if they have nothing to protect e.g. the eggs? So I'll be getting the angels this weekend and was wondering if waiting till a week later before adding more fish e.g. tetras and common pleco would they be aggressive to the new comers? If so I'll just add the tetras first that way they can't claim the whole tank as theirs.

 

[Katchan]

The angels aggressiveness should settle very soon after removing the eggs, in my experience anyways - I had a pair of angels decide to spawn right above a pair of spawning convicts, LOTS of agro , had to remove the eggs for the angels saftey, they were back to cruising the tank within an hour HTH

Andrew

 

[Durbkat]

What did they do during the egg laying process (any aggression and what not)?

 

[Durbkat]

So do you all think it will be a good idea to add the peaceful fish first e.g. congo tetras, black widow tetras, common pleco first so they can claim there territory and then add the angels last so they will be less aggressive to the other fish thinking they are new comers since they aren't and they are?

 

[jmuccillo]

From my experience a breeding pair will continue to spawn every few weeks when the eggs are removed. They are quite aggressive in the few days leading up to a spawn and while protecting their eggs. They do calm down fairly soon after the eggs are removed but the whole cycle starts again in a few weeks time. I've found the only way to break this cycle is to remove one of the pair or move both to a breeding tank.

joe.

 

[Durbkat]

So your saying if I put them in a spawning tank and let them do there thing they won't repeat the cycle every few weeks?

 

[jmuccillo]

What I meant was that to break the cycle of aggression in the main tank you could remove one of the pair from the main tank or move both to a separate breeding tank. They normally continue to breed in the new tank.

 

[Durbkat]

Oh now I got it. Thanks alot Well I wouldn't be able to remove the pair for them to breed because I don't have an extra tank to put them in and I don't want any angel fry or anything and I guess I'll just have to hope for the best and hope they only choose a small section to spawn and won't be to aggressive to the other fish and I'll just have to use a net to break them up if they get to aggressive.

 

[jmuccillo]

I've found it helps if you have several plants or rocks in your tank that other fish can hide in during times of aggression. You could also try creating some territory for the angels by placing a broad leaf plant such as anubius or a spawing slate in one corner of the tank and place plants or rocks around this area. Place some more plants or rocks in the opposite corner for other fish to retreat into leaving a gap in between. The angels will chase other fish from the spawning site and retreat once they have driven the other fish to the opposite corner. I did this in a 66g tank and it worked reasonably well.

 

[Durbkat]

Yeah I was planning on trying to find this giant ship wreck that I saw at a lps once and it is spilt in half where fish can go in there to hide.

 

[Tolak]

joe2 has the right idea, out of sight, out of mind. I use this method to keep 2 pairs with 3 other unpaired angels in a 65. A 55 could work better, seeing as it is longer, you could pretty much build a divider out of decorations.

Tolak