# Mean Angelfish



## Kate (Jun 15, 2011)

I am getting so sick of watching at my angelfish fight each other... As I'm sitting here typing this they are nipping each other.:angryfire Ive rearranged my tank at least 3 times and it always just goes back to the same thing. Watching the black angelfish parade around all the other ones (and other fish besides angelfish). I don't have any other tanks for him.. and the only angelfish that stands up to him totally rips him to shreads.. so trying to bring him anywhere i feel like i would get the .. "did you accidentally sit on it in the car":eek5: look lol .. yeah i just dont know what to do anymore. Anyone else have experience with this problem?

The picture below the two facing each other are my problem.
i think they might be both males


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## nikonD70s (Apr 6, 2008)

how many do you have? my altums at times chase each other and flare up and such. but there cichlids after all so this is common. maybe you should add a few more to lessing the aggression?


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## jedimasterben (Aug 21, 2011)

What size tank do they live in, and how many angels are there total?


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## HypnoticAquatic (Feb 17, 2010)

more info is needed or your just going to get the there cichlids response, one thing if your trying to tone down aggression is have objects plants or hard scape block there line of sight an have a safe place for them to retreat to if needed it will help 100%, but they will always fight for dominance an establish a pecking order from alpha to sub, also 3 is the min rule the more there are the more it helps curb aggression so that could also be one thing working against u idk we dont have enough info. but those are the first things i would look into an move from there.


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

Without having to add another permanent tank you could pull the most aggressive fish putting it in a 5g bucket with an air stone and cover it for a day or two (dark time out). Then tank him/her again and see if that breaks ownership of the space. Generally it's actually the ranking female that is the bad fish. In my three experiences with this behavior it was always the girls. Not that males won't but they haven't here. Without tubes showing it's impossible to sex them accurately. "Punish' / isolate the fish as that will stress it and lower it's confidence level. I've put the ill mannered in with much larger fish having that option and had them 'taught' to play nice but something has to break the pattern of aggression to change it. 

Of my three worst case 'nasty' fish one straightened up staying in a group tank. One now has her own tank due to her perfect form I'm unwilling to let her go yet. She tolerates a male but they haven't spawned yet. The third sadly blinded another fish and damaged a second so I put it to sleep. Others with attitude before any actual damage is done I move to other tanks stopping it early.

hope something here helps you and those are nice looking fish in the linked photo.


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## nalu86 (Oct 19, 2010)

HypnoticAquatic said:


> more info is needed or your just going to get the there cichlids response, one thing if your trying to tone down aggression is have objects plants or hard scape block there line of sight an have a safe place for them to retreat to if needed it will help 100%, but they will always fight for dominance an establish a pecking order from alpha to sub, also 3 is the min rule the more there are the more it helps curb aggression so that could also be one thing working against u idk we dont have enough info. but those are the first things i would look into an move from there.


Its always good to keep 5+ angelfish, to create a pecking order. 

If you have 3 there will always be a dominant one and a black sheep.


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## HypnoticAquatic (Feb 17, 2010)

nalu86 said:


> Its always good to keep 5+ angelfish, to create a pecking order.
> 
> If you have 3 there will always be a dominant one and a black sheep.


 yes but thats why its the min not recomended but has an can be done as with most things doing the min will not get high results but results non the less. this is why we have asked for more info to better guage the issue.. rather than just speculate


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## Plant keeper (Jan 27, 2011)

Kate said:


> I am getting so sick of watching at my angelfish fight each other... As I'm sitting here typing this they are nipping each other.:angryfire Ive rearranged my tank at least 3 times and it always just goes back to the same thing. Watching the black angelfish parade around all the other ones (and other fish besides angelfish). I don't have any other tanks for him.. and the only angelfish that stands up to him totally rips him to shreads.. so trying to bring him anywhere i feel like i would get the .. "did you accidentally sit on it in the car":eek5: look lol .. yeah i just dont know what to do anymore. Anyone else have experience with this problem?
> 
> The picture below the two facing each other are my problem.
> i think they might be both males


The two in the pic are both males... The have bumps on there head that how u can tell..


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

nalu86 said:


> Its always good to keep 5+ angelfish, to create a pecking order.
> 
> If you have 3 there will always be a dominant one and a black sheep.


never say 'never' and never say 'always' especially with these fish. 



Plant keeper said:


> The two in the pic are both males... The have bumps on there head that how u can tell..


Care to see pictures of females with 'humps' laying egg?

Gold veils, smoky's, standards and crowned with a hump are in my threads, this can be nothing more than a healthy diet.

The golds pictured are a spawning pair and both have popped foreheads.


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## Plant keeper (Jan 27, 2011)

wkndracer said:


> never say 'never' and never say 'always' especially with these fish.
> 
> 
> Care to see pictures of females with 'humps' laying egg?
> ...


oh ok A breed i got my male angelfish from say that how u tell...


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## nikonD70s (Apr 6, 2008)

Plant keeper said:


> The two in the pic are both males... The have bumps on there head that how u can tell..



LOL wut?

its pretty much impossible to tell sex in angelfish. most people wont know till they pair up and lay eggs.


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## Kate (Jun 15, 2011)

Sorry I was kinda just frustrated and had to vent it out. I forgot to say how many gallons and what not. Its a 56 gallon tank and I have 6 angelfish in total but 3 are fairly new idk if they are big enough to care about the pecking order yet they don't cause any problems. I attached some pictures of my other angelfish and my tank. thanks everyone that replied I wasnt expecting to get this many replies :icon_bigg


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## HypnoticAquatic (Feb 17, 2010)

well i dont see any real damage to them so it sounds like just norm cichlid disputes, one thing i did notice its one main area of openness if u tried a diff layout say like split in the middle an have the sides open it might work out better but with every cichlid ive had once i helped break like of sight up they might chase but wouldnt stress them to death, with yours they look in good health though so next time u change your layout try that an let us know if it works out better.


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

56g : 6 angels
as adults that's more than I'd tank
15g/adult ballpark works best for me it seems.

again very nice looking fish


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## Bahugo (Apr 18, 2011)

wkndracer said:


> 56g : 6 angels
> as adults that's more than I'd tank
> 15g/adult ballpark works best for me it seems.
> 
> again very nice looking fish


We want to get a new tank down the road, but the main person who is doing all the aggression is the black angel. It's really frustrating.


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

hahaha I thought for a 1/2 second that blue smoky looked familiar like I'd seen the fish.
Actually stared at it for like 10 or 15 seconds banging on both brain cells.
(no poo)

I'll say a third time, nice looking fish

edit: try giving blackie a bucket day LOL


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## 2drtahoe4x4 (Oct 14, 2009)

If the aggression is mainly between the same two you may have a pair forming. Two I have beat up on each other pretty good with a lot of lip locking and fin nipping for a few days and would chase off any other fish that came near them as well. Few days later had eggs all up and down the filter outtake tube. So if this hasn't been going on for too long maybe you will get lucky and have a pair.


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