Angelfish Fighting?

[youlovespoons]

I have a 30 gallon hex with 4 zebras and 3 angels, one nickel sized, one quarter sized and one half dollar sized. The half dollar angel always chases the quarter sized angel, but never pick on the nickel sized. There doesn't seem to be any big damage, but the quarter sized angel always hides behind the heater. Does any one know how to prevent the big one from chasing him? Thanks.

[KingOfTheDeep]

angels, being cichlids, are very territorial ..the bigger ones will usually pick on the smaller ones, its most likely establishing dominance..try moving the decor around..if that doesnt work..you best bet..is to just let them be angels, it'll stop after a while.

how long have you had them for?, and what size is the tank?

[JulieC]

There are a couple of other factors that may be in play here. 1) The angels may be the same sex and that is why they are fighting. 2) The quarter sized angel may just be a wussy or the half-dollar sized angel may just be a bully.

Even young males will be aggressive. I had a young male that I moved to my adult angelfish tank at about quarter size because he was picking on his tank mates and he did just fine with full grown angels. He is now the dominant male of the tank at 3/4 of his expected full-size.

Putting a divider in the tank to split up the bigger angel may help to let the smaller fish grow out so they can take the beating of their bigger tankmate later on. They are persistent fish and will kill each other off over time, though, so you will have to do something.

[jm1212]

the hlaf dollar angel is most likely seeing the quarter sized as a threat to its territory, but the nickel sized angel is being left alone because it is not considered a threat and/ or it is a female. angels are pretty tough but they have their limits. i would separate them so the quarter sized can grow up more and get its strength back and then they can settle this on their own.

it could also be the shape of your tank. hex tanks have a generally smaller surface area than regular rectangular tanks, so there is less room for the fish to have, so they fight