Problems with Dominance

[JassyR]

I dont know what to do. I have two angels in a 20 gal - I know tight. I had one and was gifted the other - yes I know they shouldn't have done that. But they put it in my tank so oh well. They have recently been getting really aggressive with eachother. One is very tiny the other is abnormally large. The little one had always nipped the largers fins everynow and again. But recently the smaller will chase the bigger around the tank and often. Today I saw them lock lips and push eachother back and forth aggressivley. The strange thing is that the larger one never fights back (except today) and he always follows around the smaller one when they aren't fighting. The other reason I don't want to give the angels back to the petstore is because 1. They are both almost full grown so theylle be less likely to be chosen and even with the both of them in this tank theylle have more room with me. 2. I just bought a 55 that I was going to stock with angels at the centerpeice. Should I just give the fish back? Any other advice?

 

[UnknownFishies]

The angelfish are invading each other’s territory causing aggression. You could just keep one in the 20 gallon and put one in the 55.

 

[JassyR]

The angelfish are invading each other’s territory causing aggression. You could just keep one in the 20 gallon and put one in the 55.

I know, but the 55 gal isn't going to be set up and properly cycled for another month, plus the betta is in there right now.

 

[JassyR]

I know, but the 55 gal isn't going to be set up and properly cycled for another month, plus the betta is in there right now.

I realise I didn't put that in the OG post, but I had a betta (also gifted) that I had to remove so I filled the 55 with 3-4 inches of water.

 

[kribensis12]

It's sorta up to you and what you are seeing.

If you believe that the fighting is dangerous/very stressful - then yes, it's probably best to take one to your LFS. They'll worry about selling it - and angels always sell quickly.

If you believe that the fighting is simply territorial in nature, but not enough to seriously harm another other (or otherwise continually bully), then I would hedge your bets for the next month and move them into the 55g with at least 4 other angels.

 

[azvictoria]

I just went through this and found this wonderful forum because of it. Two gorgeous Philippine Blue angles, a bonded and spawning pair. After many years, the male went bananas. I doubled the tank size from 30g to 60g. He would not leave the female alone - knocked of chunks of tail, scales, dorsal and almost amputated one of her pectorals. Lights off, he still stalked her. I've had angels for many years, haven't seen this ever but it happens. She couldn't have taken another day and I had to make a choice, a very hard one. I had to separate them and gave the male back to his breeder. The female is now healing beautifully and is engaged with me and the tank again like angels should be. I'll add others in a few months but for now there's finally peace. If it's that's bad, then rehome.

 

[seangee]

I'm afraid they do need to be separated. From bitter experience the most likely outcome is one dead angel.

 

[Byron]

As the last two posts have indicated, this is not likely to turn out well. And I can all but promise you that you are not going to be able to increase the angelfish to a shoal (group) later on with either of the two you already have. It might in a fluke work, but not very likely.

Except for a mated pair being maintained specifically for spawning, angels should be kept in a group of five or more. Males are territorial and a hierarchy will be quickly formed within a group; all fish in the group should be acquired at the same time to avoid territorial aggression (subordinate fish can be bullied to death) when new fish are added to an existing group.