Nasty Angel

[FishNiX]

Hi All-
I have a 29 Gallon Planted tank, and things seem to be going pretty well, I feed twice a day, usually flakes in the morning and frozen brine shrimp with nutrients in the evening.

I have:
5 Rombo Barbs
1 something spinosa cichlid -- i'll remember eventually
2 red minor tetras
2 angel fish
1 red tailed shark
1 molly
1 dwarf gourami
1-3 algae eating shrimp -- i cant find them all!

recently i added 3 of the rombo barbs and 1 angel fish, the other angel had been in the tank for approximately one month. everyone seems to be getting along and there was only occassional chasing between the gourami and original angel (going both ways and never too aggressive).

unfortunately, it seems that the original angel is very unhappy about having a buddy, which i was actually worried about, but figured would be fine. the newer angel is actually larger in body, but slightly smaller in fins, so i was hoping they would find an equilibrium and share the tank.

the new fish were introduced last night and everyone was still alive this morning... am i going to end up with a dead angel? or will he get more comfortable in the tank and fight back?

thanks!

 

[smb]

the new fish were introduced last night and everyone was still alive this morning... am i going to end up with a dead angel? or will he get more comfortable in the tank and fight back?

Hard to say. I've seen both scenarios play out with cichlids and actually, if the new Angel fights back, it will probably get much much worse unless the new one can soundly beat the older one. You'll have to keep a good watch on them. It could be that the first Angel is establishing dominance since there's a rival in there and it might settle down after a week but it could just as easily not work out.

Impossible to say unless you watch it play out.

Try doing a water change and move all the decorations around. This will make the first Angel lose his territory and even tho they will have to regain territory, it will be more equal footing for the second Angel.

 

[FishNiX]

Hey All-

So it seems that so far, so "good" . The new angel is not trying to assert any dominance yet and the old angel appears to have relented slightly. I did change about 1/6 of the water (5 gallons, 29 gallon aquarium) and tried to rearrange a few things -- which is difficult in a planted tank!

I feel bad for the new angel though, it just kind of hangs out in the back or in the corner behind the plants although it doesnt seem too stressed or anything... It will come out and eat, so I think that is a good sign. I also have been trying to draw the original angel to the otherside when feeding, so the new one has a chance to eat.

Do you think at some point the new angel will come out of the back, or is it destined to live its life hiding amongst the plants?

Thanks for the advice!

 

[smb]

Do you think at some point the new angel will come out of the back, or is it destined to live its life hiding amongst the plants?

Most likely the new one is sitting back and staying low right now. It's confused and wants to "assess" the situation and will come back out after territories are learned. Don't move any decorations around for a while. Let the new one get acclimated first.

 

[jumpman]

I had the same when i inroduced another angel to my 75g, chased into corners for the first couple of weeks, and then eventually becomes more even and they even swim together most of the timw.

Are both of yours male or are you not sure yet?

I have one female and one male in the 75 at the mo, and after spawning this always starts over and the male chases her around again, but after a couple of weeks its all fine again!

 

[andyt_uk]

not much in the way of help, but i will just add that i added two young angels together, and they have always swam together and hung out, one shadows the other almost constantly with no problems at all.
havent been able to sex them
but it shows angels can get on, once yours sort out who's who they may be ok, if only to tollerate each other.
dont know how long your tank is, but they may benefit from space, perhaps divide the tank with some plants to give each their own 'zone'

 

[Cian McLiam]

Andy,
Young angels will shoal, mine stuck together like glue when I got them first, they were a batch of 5 but 3 died within two days with internal haemoraging which blushing angels are prone to. When they are about a year old they will start to mark out territories, this coincides with becoming fully sexually mature and in this respect they are like Discus which will follow the same pattern. If you are lucky enough to have a pair, they will be very happy together but will have mock fights and chases. If they are two females they will chase a bit but probably wont do any damage. If like me you have two males in a 190L then expect some ferocious fighting and maybe some damage. My males are on strike two, one more and one of them is out. I had a female lined up in the LFS, the guy had a breeding pair but they spawned while he was on holiday and his son took out one because they were fighting over the fry. Now they have no idea which is the male or the female arrrrgh!

Ken

 

[smb]

Kirsten has a female that is a fricken terror. She's a you know what.

 

[AquaNut]

Yep, tis true. I have a silver female and a big ol' bruiser of a marble veil tailed male. There used to be a beautiful golden female with my big guy, but he spawned her to death (in good conditions, a breeding pair of angels will spawn every few weeks... the mating rituals that precede it and the spawning itself take a lot out of the fish, over time). I searched for some time before I found an angel that I thought was big enough to put in with my male... and I stared at her for about an hour to determine if she was gravid (wanted to make sure I got a female). When I first floated her bag in his tank, he went NUTS. He was totally attacking her through the plastic. The first few days were really rough and I thought he was going to kill her. However, a couple of months in my tank and she was growing like crazy and started to develop one helluva nasty personality. She takes NO crap from anyone else in the tank (you should see her dealing with my 6" opaline gouramis ). All that said, this morning before work I had to move the male into a tank with my baby oscar; this round of mating dances was getting wayyyyy out of hand. I thought my beautiful little b**** was a goner this morning when I got up. The last straw was when they were in the midst of a lip battle and he swung her around in a half circle and smashed her against the glass. She's not to be denied, however. As soon as she saw him in the neighbouring tank, she started ramming against the glass, trying to get at him. :smb: (don't you dare laugh at me, Jeff lol)

 

[smb]

(don't you dare laugh at me, Jeff lol)

Who me? muah?



:kira:

 

[FishNiX]

i dont check this for a few hours and there are 7 replies! sweet!

i dont really know how to sex the angels...

jumpman, sounds about like whats going on! seems to be letting up a bit

thanks!

 

[FishNiX]

so its been a few days and things seem to be getting better... the new angel even comes out and eats with everyone and will swim around about mid level...the original angel usually likes mid/top level in the tank, and only chases the new one away, but doesnt seem to attack relentlessly the way he was at the beginning.... im crossing my fingers

thanks everyone!

 

[AquaNut]

Thanks for the update, fishnix! That sounds very promising, indeed!! It sounds like the original angel is satsified that he has established dominance and is now only concerned with maintaining the boundaries of his territory, which is totally normal behaviour among angels and part of what makes them interesting to observe. I'm glad everything is working out for you!!