Angelfish

[Claire Vaughan]

So, I have another question. I have three angel fish. I had one for about 3 years, then put two more in my 125 about 6 months ago. I have heard that angle fish do better in groups of around 4 or 5. Two of them have grouped together and they bully the other one. I'm pretty sure the 2 have established as a breeding pair and the other one is the the man (or woman) out. The aggression gets pretty fierce at times, but no one has been injured, so far. This is the first time I have ever tried more than one angel fish at a time.
Any hope that they might settle into their corners and live together in peace, or do I need to re-home one?

 

[fishorama]

3 is not a good number of angels most times. It doesn't matter a whole lot which sex the "odd" 1 is. I was given 5 angels for my 4ft 75g. A pair formed & all the others were forced into a 1 ft area at 1 end. Yeah, that wasn't good for long.

I've never had a 6ft tank, you might think that would be OK...but maybe not. It can help to have lots of plants (real or fake) to break up the sight lines.

Really, with cichlids like angels (or any 5 inch(-ish), I'd say 1 pair per tank...maybe 2 M & F pairs...

But even though my pair bred & had free swimming fry, a community tank is not the way to breed successfully. You'll need a fry rearing tank & a whole lot of water changing & feeding. Be careful what you wish for. It is interesting to watch the behaviors but I'm happy if all the eggs or fry get eaten these days anymore.

It's good to wait a bit before rehoming the odd 1, but you may need to eventually. Good luck!

 

[Claire Vaughan]

3 is not a good number of angels most times. It doesn't matter a whole lot which sex the "odd" 1 is. I was given 5 angels for my 4ft 75g. A pair formed & all the others were forced into a 1 ft area at 1 end. Yeah, that wasn't good for long.

I've never had a 6ft tank, you might think that would be OK...but maybe not. It can help to have lots of plants (real or fake) to break up the sight lines.

Really, with cichlids like angels (or any 5 inch(-ish), I'd say 1 pair per tank...maybe 2 M & F pairs...

But even though my pair bred & had free swimming fry, a community tank is not the way to breed successfully. You'll need a fry rearing tank & a whole lot of water changing & feeding. Be careful what you wish for. It is interesting to watch the behaviors but I'm happy if all the eggs or fry get eaten these days anymore.

It's good to wait a bit before rehoming the odd 1, but you may need to eventually. Good luck!

Thank you your response. At this time I will watch and make sure the aggression doesn't get worse. I wasn't looking for breeding them. They are beautiful fish and wanted to have more than one in the tank. New experience for me.