My Angelfish likes to swim upside down!...Healthy too.

[Stan510]

I've seen him do it several times...he will when near his mate actually just swim upside down. She gets aggressive when they lay eggs and THAT's when he becomes super deferential to her. I've seen him swim so vertical that his bottom jaw touched the water surface...and he kept that up for a couple of hours. He's also shown that "I want to do it different" by swimming under and upside down a water plant instead of upright and over it!..trippy!..Like he's a trained seal. He's healthy..swims normal 99% of the time..but I went from thinking the first time,he had a swim bladder (Here he is, doing that vertical outer space float around her.)

issue and was a goner as he swam vertical...to now with "Oh,he likes doing that". Not worried. I couldn't catch him upside down today but the female was giving him heck over the eggs ( you can see them on the powerhead) and there he was..dancing for her sloooowly.
They are the only two Angelfish in my 240 gallon and they just show so much more personality than if they were just two of many...They feel at home and do what they want..no other fish bother them. He though,just takes to another level..Flipper level.

 

[JuiceBox52]

That's hilarious. I love how fish have personalities

 

[Retired Viking]

I had a mate pair of angelfish and I saw them do dances but nothing like this except to go after food near the surface

 

[Barry Tetra]

My angelfish always does this, always made me worry they had swimbladder.

 

[Colin_T]

I would say it has to do with the fish trying to hug the rock wall (even tho it's a picture). He could be having trouble telling the different between the picture and what he thinks is there.

As long a she is eating well and not having nay other issues, it's fine. He's just different (in a special way)

Out of curiosity, are they normal angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare), or are that P. dumerili?

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My angelfish always does this, always made me worry they had swimbladder.

Swim bladder problems in fish are not that common. Typical symptoms include:
The fish sinks as soon as it stops swimming.

The fish floats to the surface as soon as it stops swimming. However, this can also be caused by too much air in the fish's digestive tract and when they fart it out, they swim normally again.