Angelfish help

C

countrygirl4

AC Members
Oct 3, 2005
37
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0
Hi,

I have 2 angels....one is a silver, the other I think may be golden (she has orange from her nose up to her top fin). I had them in the same tank for several months, and they were inseperable and got along great. Then all of the sudden, one day the silver one began pecking the orange one, had it trapped down in the corner, and attacked it until some of its scales were becoming damaged. It would not defend itself-was just taking the abuse. So I ended up separating them. Well, I thought since the tank was a 20 gallon, and they were getting big (they are about the size of a silver dollar now or so-excluding fins), that maybe they were feeling crowded. I tried putting them together again in the big tank (55 gallon), and the same thing started to happen the second they were put together again. I am just wondering if this is something that will stop on its own if I keep them in the same tank, or if the silver one will just keep this up til the other one is dead. Can anyone help me? Thanks!
 
I've had my angels do the same thing. Sounds like it may be territorial aggression. If the silver one always sees the other as a threat you won't be able to house together. They will kill each other.

Mark
 
That's kind of what I thought. It's weird because they were fine before. This probably won't change if I were to get some more angels to put in with them will it? Thanks for your help!
 
It may or may not go away. Sometimes adding more fish will keep one from focusing too much attention on any one fish. Sometimes one will get scope-locked on another and will always attack regardless of other fish around. If the agressor won't behave he may need his own tank. He may be one of those fish that think any tank he's in is his.

Mark
 
Well, I would hate to add more and have the one attacking any of them. It is just so weird that all of the sudden he became that way. He will just have to stay in his own tank if he isn't going to behave! :)

Thanks again!
 
It sounds Like he reached maturity. Juvenile angels are easier to keep together. When the pair in my avatar paired up I had to remove the third because they turned on him.
 
This is typical cichlid behavior and as you've noticed, it won't change. They are fighting over territory and will fight until one or both dies. Adding new fish might work in the beginning, but the result will eventually be the same. However, since their is already an aggression issue, it may exacerbate the problem, putting the new fishes lives on the line immediately especially if they are babies (more likely the case as they are more often sold at a young age). You could try adding a lot of plant cover to the tank to aleviate the problem but this is also a temporary fix. The two need to be permanently separated. I think it's very fortunate you have 2 tanks so you can keep them separated, lucky you..... good luck.
 
Well, thank you guys for your advice. I sure do appreciate any help you guys are able to give me. I have some columbian sharks, which is the reason I had to get a bigger tank, and when the angels started fighting, I had to move the one over the the tank with the sharks. This tank is brackish, and contrary to what I have been told, I was able to convert the angel over to it with no problems. I just did it slowly over a few hours adding a little at a time til he was used to it and he has been just fine since. That has been a few months ago. Anyway, thanks again for your help. It's much appreciated!

JoDee
 
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