lean mean fighting... angel?

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hunnysnax

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Nov 26, 2005
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sydney australia
hey everyone... me again :p:

well i have yet another question... this time about angels. ok its a looooooooong story so lets get it all out.

a few months ago i got rid of all my guppies which i had for a year and i bought a pair of pearl gouramis (1m & 1f) and a pair of koi angels(3-4 cm long) at my lfs. everything was great until i had something bad happen (non fish related) and was too upset to do my regular water change the one weekend and was away for the next weekend (attending non fish related matters... that extended from the bad happening). thus 2 weekly water changes were missed in a row.

well my terrible neglect and excessive nitrate levels ended in the death of one of my little angels. so i had the gouramis and one koi angel for about a month and decided that those little neon rainbows (1.5-2.5cm) were cute so i got 4 and then 4 more the next week. in the first week one disappears but i assumed that it may have been sick and sometimes that happens with new fish... but then the rainbows were dropping like flies until there were 4 left. my water was fine and i didn't know what to do but i started cycling a 10 gallon. i then noticed when the lights go out... my little angel was really more of a devil and was harassing the poor little things badly. when the 10 gallon was cycled i moved the rainbows out (by then i had 2 left)

(bear with me i'm going somewhere)

i then got a replacement angel which is white and about 2 cm larger length wise so that i had a pair again. and again when the lights went out that meanie koi angel was bullying the white one...

well they sorted themselves out (the angels) thought the smaller koi angel is definately still more agressive and keeps the other incheck with an occasional nip but they are generally pretty peaceful with eachother and the gouramis. the koi angel also seems to have an insatible appetite and will eat till he looks like he is going to pop.

my problem is the 10 gallon is not big enough for the rainbows long term. and i also stupidly bought yoyo loaches without knowing their size and put them in the 10 gallon... again they will have to be moved into my big tank. but what is the best way to move the yoyos and rainbows into the larger tank without fish deaths?

has anyone had any experience in territorial angels and how to introduce more fish into the tank? if i waited until the rainbows and loaches were slightly larger would that be better? although if the rainbows and loaches are larger... so are the angels!!!!

ideas anyone?

hayley
 

Ghost_knife

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Nov 17, 2005
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moving fish, get a cooler (ice chest) and fill it midway with water cycle it and filter it for awhile, then when your ready to move them put them in a cooler (ice chest) and trasport them, or if it's an in house move put them in a clean tupperware container filles with water from the tank and put it in your new tank, Angels are somewhat aggressive, not all of them follow this though, maybe 1 in 15 will be really havoc causers, the best thing to do is just keep your eye on them and if it gets bad seporate them with a tank divider
 

SnakeIce

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May 4, 2002
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What tank size are we talking about? minimum tank size for a known bonded pair of angels is a 29 gallon, and that is if you know one of them ain't looking to divorce the other.

The other thing is any fish under about 1.5 inches and not deep bodied like serpae tetras are potential food items for angels. neons are particularly high on the menue just to give you an idea.
 

Ghost_knife

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Nov 17, 2005
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It seems neon tetra is food for everything, we had some and all went bye bye...
 

kveeti

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Jun 12, 2002
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I think she means Neon Rainbows (Melanotaenia praecox), especially if they are already (1.5-2.5cm) and she expects them to grow.

Some angel fish are snots. The only thing you can try is removing the angelfish for a while, moving the other fish in at the same time rearranging the tank, and then putting the angelfish back in to see what happens. If that doesn't work, hmmm, new tank?
 

hunnysnax

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Nov 26, 2005
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sydney australia
hehe yeh i meant neon rainbows.. they get about 3 inches long and about 1 inch deep i think...

thanks guys for the info. my large tank is a 30 gallon (i was told that 20 gallon was the min for a pair of angels!! i'm misinformed again!!!)

some very very good suggestions indeed... i suppose i should see about moving the fish around soon while the angel is small and i can temporarily remove him to the 10 gallon tank (if things don't work out). maybe i should plant up the tank a bit more... would that help? maybe set some mood lighting with duck weed lol

cheer guys

hayley
 

graphicdesign_r

Tact is for the weak.
Oct 31, 2005
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In your nightmares.
Bullies

If you are adding a new fish to a tank with a known bully, separate the bully out when first adding the fish so they (newbies) can get a grasp on the layout of the tank beforehand, and get acclimated.

I have found for smaller fish, a colander (strainer) suspended at the top of the tank lets the fish get used to each other (and the bully may be a little too weirded out after spending a half day in a cage to start harassment right away). For a larger fish you may need to get creative.

This method has worked for me. When I add fish I segregate my GTB in this manner, and then when she's let out of "jail" she's not as aggressive toward newcomers (and they know a few hiding spots ahead of time in case she's having a bad hair day).
 

hunnysnax

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Nov 26, 2005
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lol! thanks graphic designer. if thats what she does on a bad hair day i wouldn't want to be her hair dresser... a few years ago i heard on the news here that a woman STABBED her hairdresser with the scissors after a bad hair cut! its getting to be a dangerous profession!

i'm slowly building up my confidence... then i'll give it a go of moving them... do you think if i moved the angel out... planted up the tank a bit more and added the fish... then put the angel back in a day later that would work?

hayley

hehe exciting!!!
 

graphicdesign_r

Tact is for the weak.
Oct 31, 2005
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In your nightmares.
Sounds good. I use an in tank divider or segregation method to stress the fish less...
 

CharlieV

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Feb 16, 2005
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When my Angel (largest in 30g) was playing up I added 3 x E.Behleri and 6 x Valis for more cover. Still a bit of aggresion but i think they are just lovers tiffs!
There's at least one day a week where the largest picks on the smaller one btu it used to be all the time.
 
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