I Need Some Angelfish Help!

[kribensis12]

Okay, i have a 6 inch tall Half Black Angelfish in a 30g fishtank. Then i have a 3-4 inch Marbled Angelfish in a 10g. It is quickly outgrowing the 10g, and i want to put it in the 30g, but im afraid that they wont get along. Should i try it anyway? Or is there a prevntative step i should take for this? Please Help!

 

[Tolak]

Rearrange the 30 gallon after removing the larger angel. Put the smaller angel in, put the larger one in the 10 gallon overnight. Tomorrow try adding the larger angel back to the now rearranged tank. It helps to arrange decorations as a sort of natural divider, the more you can break up the line of sight the better.

 

[kribensis12]

Thanks. How long should i acclimate? I dont want to kill them. I couldnt imagine the tank being much different from the other, i mean, they get water changes once a week, from the same tap, and both have good filters ( 10g , sponge filter, 30g Bio-wheel). I just dont want to end up killing one through stress or being attacked. Good thing i have some extra slate, as the 30g dosent have much decorations.

 

[Tolak]

When I'm going from tank to tank I just net them, and put them in another tank. The maintenance on all my tanks is nearly identical, you could do a large water change on both tanks, wait a day, then switch them. Unless you are running peat, or have a lot of driftwood in one tank and not the other the differences should be so small as to not matter.

 

[kribensis12]

Not running anything but a filter, heater, and well, thats it, except for the light. Nice and simple, the way i like it! No drift wood either. Just slate in both tank. That about it. I will do this either tommorow and satuday or saturday adn sunday so i can whatch how this plays out and i can be there to resuce the little or big guy that gets beat up, if they do attack.
Thank you Tolak!

 

[kribensis12]

It was a MAJOR FAIL. I did what you said, and as soon as the big one got in there, it was like WWII . I have a video of them on camera, but it got proggressivley worse afterwards. Especially becasue the mollies and swordtails and paltys were picking on him aswell. GRRRRRR. Here is the video:


Sorry about Quality, i couldnt keep my hands still because of my anger, lol.

 

[Tolak]

As far as angel aggression goes that is just figuring out a little pecking order. I would move that floating breeding trap out f the corner, make it so it is mode centered in the tank. This will provide more of a natural divider. You also need some taller decorations in there, you need to break up that long line of sight.

If that larger half black is being really aggressive the smaller marble will be pinned in a corner, or trying to hide horizontal at the surface. While the marble is showing some submissive behavior, it is remaining vertical, meaning it is holding its own. While the half black is making some half hearted charges, it is not starting the charge at an angle, which is a typical aggressive stance with cichlids.

That marble looks big enough to hold its own against livebearers, the half black certainly is. I would worry more about the swords, who with the long tail look similar to an angel, getting torn up. Livebearers are no where near the aggression level of cichlids.

I watch angels behave this way all day long, until you start to see any tearing of fins there is really nothing to worry about. Being the weekend you have time to keep an eye out for this.

 

[kribensis12]

Thanks Tolak. I already have him back in the 10g. To avoid stress, i will not put him in there for atleast another week. What kind of decor would you suggest?

 

[Tolak]

Any tall plants will work, plastic, silk or live all work the same. You can get away with shorter plants if you make a sort of pile of rocks in the center, and put the plants on top of this. What you are trying to do is make a sort of natural divider, in a decorated tank that really doesn't look like a plastic divider.

Angels key territories off of objects in the tank, a territorial fish, or a pair will usually claim one side or the other.

 

[kribensis12]

Thanks. So should i move those rocks and stack them on eachother, adn then buy a few plants and anchor them on top? and then maybe add a few more around the tank? I really like angels and want to keep both, but right now, that dosent seem possible.

 

[Rutters19]

I know who to go to for information about Angel fish,great advice Tolak!!

Not so long ago i introduced another Angel fish into my 4ft tank, where i already had a slightly larger angel fish that i have had for years. The larger angel fish was VERY aggressive towards the newly introduced angelfish, even at some point damaging a few scales, and as frustrating as it was to see, i figured it was territorial behavior, in the hope that this behaviour would calm down!
Thankfully, it did. They both seem to get on fine now when they are close together in the tank, although they do have their own territories at opposite ends of the tank, and the newer angelfish seems to have healed up aswell, which is good.

 

[kribensis12]

SUCCESS!!!!!!! YES , IT WORKED! Thanks Toalk! You truly do know your stuff =]. I put all the rocks in a pile and centerde it in the middle of the tank, and then i put \ some PVC pipe randomly in there and a plastic plant so his territory was all distorted. I put the baby angel in, and he did get picked on an dhe was scared, i decided to give in to the temptation to take him oujt and went to go see the movie "What ahppens in Vegas". I came home and the baby still looked stressed, but appeard to be doing a little bit better. Today i turned on the light and the babie was swimming around fine, fins up and everyttihng, and eating like no tommorow. I will post pics later, my brother graduated Highschool, and we are having a graduation party soon, and im not allowed to use the camera.

 

[kribensis12]

Forget that, i just took the camera, put it in my pocket, and went to get some pics! Here is a full tank shot:

Baby Angel ( Dlamation)

Adult Angel ( Half Black)

Sorry about the quality, the Dlamation Baby moves really fast, and i tend to shake a little when i take pictures!

 

[Tolak]

Glad it worked out for you, I was going to suggest piling any tall aquarium safe objects in there, such as pvc, but I assumed you wanted to keep it looking like a show tank.

Nice pics, bet you were shaking because you scarfed the camera! now go sneak it back & enjoy the party, tell your brother congratulations!

 

[kribensis12]

Thanks Tolak! I think it still looks nice with the PVC, and i tihnk the tall stack adds depth to the tank! With blue gravel, it hard to make a show tank!