Question About Angelfish Behavior...

[mtv8dmarine]

I've had my angelfish for about a year now. I had 4 and 1 died unexpectedly a few weeks ago with no reason and no signs or symptoms. Certainly no other fish were affected. Now my black and silver striped on seems to be acting peculiar. First, I guess I'm one of the lucky ones because none of them have ever become territorial or aggressive towards another. This week my angel in question has been sitting on the bottom largely staying a recluse but will come out and socialize just the same when it decides to.

There is no evidence of illness, no evidence of nipping, etc. There have been no introductions of new fish for about a year and nothing within the tank itself, i.e. plants, water condition, etc. that would suggest anything abnormal. Heck, the tank has been cycled for a year and has never been a problem. So my question is, what possible explanations might there be for this behavior? And by "sitting" he's not head standing or off-balance. He's perfectly vertical.

Thanks in advance.

 

[MizuFish]

I'm really sorry about your loss Sometimes fish can just leave us unexpectedly without any apparent reason why.

I have had experience with this kind of behavior, where one Angel is kind of acting the loner and one thing to think about is that just because the fish aren't acting mean toward each other when you can see, there can still be bullying in the tank that makes one more submissive and thus a little pushed to the side all though they at times play and swim together and the separated one comes up for food etc. Rank in the tank (hey that rhymes) can change for different reasons and cause different behavior. I find with my Angels most of the nipping and mean stuff goes on with the lights are out, in front of me they are like angels ironically enough.. I think that is because we distract them, looking like a huge yummy flake. To me it sounds like your fish is getting a "vibe" from the other fish.

What you could do is make a smaller rearrangement and see if the angel goes back to the behavior you are used to but otherwise if you don't feel like anything is physically wrong with the Angel then let it be. As long as it doesn't seem like it's suffering and isn't allowed to swim.

 

[Whitey_144]

how big is your tank?