Aggressive angel, should I separate and/or should I add more.

C

Cityfish

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Aug 13, 2006
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? How many angels can I put in a 36 gallon ¼ tank.
? Will adding more angels help… so one angel is not taking the brunt of the punishment.
? can I add more angels to a pair that has been together for a year & should the newcomers be of the same size.
?Or should I separate the two angels.

Yesterday I moved am two angels into a bigger home, a 36 gal 1/4 round.

There has always been moderate aggressive play, and they school together when I do water changes or when there is stress, so they seem to be buddies.

Now that I have moved them the aggression seems much more one sided and I am worried about the health of the less aggressive fish. I was about to remove one and them back into the planted tank, but thought I should wait and ask a for a few experienced opinions.

Current stock in 36gal ¼ round:
2- 3” angel
1- 2” albino bushynose plec
2- 1 ¼” marbled wood shrimp

? Stocking suggestions welcome… This, for now, will be an unplanted tank so I want to keep the stock fairly light.

Thanks again
 
you might have a single angel that is aggressive. this does happen..it is possible that it is looking to spawn too.

you can try to add another angle..it should be close to the same size but it is always neccessary. I have added 2-3" angels in with larger angels.(after a female died) I did this to keep the newly single male company..he wound up pairing up with one of the two I added. and they have spawned.

if you do this keep an eye on the angels..if the agrssion continues remove the aggressive fish..it may have to be in a single angel tank.


good luck

ed
 
Thanks Ed, do you believe there is a way to tell male from female. I have read of a few different ways….Forehead…size of protrusion when mating … some say the only way to tell is one lays eggs the other does not.

These two did court… locked mouths for a wile this year…. Though I believe they are the same sex. I sure hope I am lucky enough to pick one of the opposite sex
 
there is no real good way to determine the sex of angels until they spawn.

I've heard sloped forehead, angle of anal fin, bump on forehead etc.

with my angels..the males appear to be bigger than the females..but it's not a rule set in stone.

during spawning you will see the female has a larger ovipositos(tube) short and blunt.

the males tube is longer and visibly smaller,,the females ovipositor will begin to show shortly before the spawn. this is a great way to tell.
the males tube doesn't show until the spawn actually occurs.

lip locking is a way the female tests the males(hypothesis)
the males will lock up..they do a lot of posturing...it is pretty cool to watch.

I must warn you tho..that if a pair forms..they can get violent..I have had a pair kill other angels and beat the crap out of other fish.

I have wild angels and their aggression level is a few notches higher. and they are noticably faster.
 
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Thanks again.
I separated them today. The dominate one would not let the other eat today… And the less aggressive is defending himself less and less. So the meek inherit the planted tank…
Hope I do not end up with two abusive fish… you know… the whole abuse cycle thing… lol
Should I try to get any new Angels ASAP… The Lfs did not have any thing great and they’re over priced right now. I was also thinking that I might try putting the pair back together in the 150gallon tank I have cycled… and currently has no stock.
Do you think a larger environment would levitate the aggressing….probably not…
 
get at least 4 more to make a school, where there is a pecking order and the aggression is distributed to more fish.

if your 150 gallon has no fish in it now and is currently cycling, there is no doubt that you could have at least 6 angels in there, probably around 8 or 10 and still have room for a big school of 24 larger tetras and a group of 12 corydoras
 
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