How do you recognize an Angelfish pair?

waldo12 said:

Hello
Ive been wondering, how do you tell if you have a pair (apart from them actually breeding)? because 2 of my 4 black angels are almost always seen swimming together (Im pretty sure its always the two same ones). The thing is that they are quite small - just around 2 in. Is it possible for them to already have formed a pair, & if yes, is it wise to add more angels to the tank (120 gal)?

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You will notice the breeding tube extended in the female before they actually spawn. Another give-away is noticing the pair cleaning a plant leaf or other potential spawning surface.

I am not sure about the minimum breeding size.

I have read that some angels are capable to be parent at 2 inches. My guess is it depends on how the measurement was taken, if it is fin-to-fin, then it's quite small. If it measures the width of the body only (less fins), then it's definitely young adult size and is capable to spawning.

Don't crack your head, just let them paired up naturally and you'll know their gender. The one that laying the eggs is the female and the other is a male busy fertilising them!

BTW, how long you have keeping the 4 fish?

Apparently for telling gender there is no specific method or sign but by experience one can have some guess prediction to make as males are more robust and aggressive dominating in attitude but females a little smaller in sze in comparison with same age mate males...... yeah you can enjoy watching them moving together, well something may differ in their patterns to identify them as if they are always together( donot doubt their friendship they are angels lol) , angels are capable to breed in about 6 months of age or more and size may be reduced due to malnutrition in some early age feeding( poor nutrition feeding).
When angels start to pair up they become a little or more aggressive and territorial towards all other tank mates , usually they clean and defend a stable broad leaf , heater rod or any inclined slope area ((they do check the stability and safety of the site by the test runs( do not mix it with itch scratching) before laying eggs, at times they test more than one or two locations for the final selection)) this is worth seeing believe me.

Before laying eggs the female becomes gravid ( a noticeable bulge in abdomen because of eggs accumulation ( should not be mixed up with swelling by overfeeding and constipation) and develops a genital papilla (the only reliable difference in genders) female fish papilla is more rounded and blunt to deposit eggs while male fish papilla is more pointed and slenderer just to fertilize eggs (external fertilization).
I am sure i do not need to write the hole story here, already written here enough. angels are more and more temperamental at this stage and their reflexes are at peak, so donot disturb them much. I Hope it helps you . Good luck.