Pairing Angels

[The Mighty Boosh]

Hi there

I have 2 aquariums, one of which I devoted to angelfish

Its not a huge tank, 90 Litres, but is quite tall

I wanted to get a bonded pair of Angels so I bought 6 juveniles, with the idea of removing 4 when we got a pair and just leaving them in there to live out their lives in harmony.

They were only small to start with, but I've had them for almost a year and they've grown quite a lot bigger.

They've always squabbled amongst themselves, but recently the two largest have become very confrontational towards each other and the last week or so have really been going at it

The not-quite-biggest one has noticable marks on him, I presume from fighting.

I imagine that they are now reaching a certain level of maturity, and this behaviour will only escalate from here on.

There is no sign of any pairs forming yet (from my observations!)

How long can I leave them all together like this before I need to take action? I'd hate for any to get hurt, but I'd also be quite upset if after all this effort I failed to get a pair out of the deal!

 

[england]

thats difficult......my pair do have scuffles when they breed<battle scars>
i got my pair by fluke,had my koi for about 1.5years then brought the now<male silver for cheap and they hit straight off,,,,,,there very difficult to sex the only sure way is when there breeding tubes appear <what kind of fighting is this?

lip locking/swimming head to tail round and round is part of the ritual then theres the slying away from the group<alone time>then comes the chasing away of other fish/cleaning quite a few places around the tank, as in the glass/wood/plants/slate/internal filters.....mine have liad on all of these,,,,,ive managed to free swimming fry then they get eaten

if its relentlass fighting as in fish being bullied every time it shows its face then id seperate them,,,,,as in the bully goes 1st,,,

wait for tolak to reply as this persons a well known angel breeder and FULL of s ........advice

good luck

 

[Tolak]

With any 6 angels you have a 96.9% chance of having a pair, which leaves you with a 3.1% chance of not having a pair. If they generally get along, with just some chasing, a little sparring & lip locking they are showing pairing behavior, and perhaps figuring out the pecking order. If you have a fish that is constantly harrassed it will generally hide either behind something, or more horizontal towards the surface.

You should have at least a divider, if not another tank to remove either the most aggressive fish, or the most bullied fish. As Nelly stated, removing the most aggressive fish is usually the better option, as temperment should be taken into account when breeding.

Sometimes removing the most aggressive fish for a few hours, rearranging the tank, and replacing the aggressive fish works well.