Angelfish Aggression! Why Are They Fighting? How To Make Them Stop!
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- Опубліковано 7 кві 2022
- A detailed look at aggression in angelfish. Reasons why they fight, and how to make them stop fighting. A look at solutions that don't work, as well as ones that do. The reasons why they attack each other and ways to reduce fighting. How to keep them from killing each other.
Another great video Dave. Covers good points of aggression. Didn't know you could break up the aggression into 3 types
Thanks for watching the video. Hopefully it will save some angels from murder and mayhem . . .
Thanks for filming and sharing!
My pleasure ! The fish did most of the work. :-D
Very Well produced and documented video on angelfish !
Thank you !
My pair recently laid some eggs and they disappeared overnight. When I noticed they were gone, I also noticed that my female was hiding cuz the male saw her eat the eggs. 3 days later I found out that the male must of moved the eggs and he managed to hatch them and raise them himself while keeping the female from eating them
I had this happen with my kribensis. Except it was the male who was eating the babies as soon as they hatched into wrigglers. The female ended up sealing up the cave entrance to keep the male out. I decided to take the male out, and later that night I saw her out in the open with her free swimming fry pecking at the plants and rock. It was so cute. Went thru so many spawns to finally figure out what kept happening to babies.
That is fascinating, and people still think that animals and fish don’t have emotions and reasoning capacity. From largest to smallest, once you really watch any living thing you begin to see their intelligence and personality. I’m glad your male saved his babies, congratulations.🖤🇨🇦
@@katalinacastanares4602 I’m glad your babies had a good Mum, and that she figured out a way to keep them safe.🖤🇨🇦
@@tamarrajames3590 thank you. Me too. I actually feel terrible that I couldn't figure it out for myself in time. I just couldn't catch it in time to see who was eating eggs/fry, or if they were both eating em due to being young and/or stress of some sort. Anyway, I definitely agree with your other comment about the intelligence of certain animals. Before I really got into fish keeping, I would have never thought of fish as anything close to intelligent, and never knew how much parental care some fish species possess. It is amazing to see up close, and witness the amazing mother/fathering behaviors.
I love watching fish, they're so intelligent. Thanks for watching the video.
Amazing breakdowns 👍🏽
thanks !
Good stuff as always....Hoorah!!
Thanks again!
I've been advised many times that Angels must be kept in groups. I bought six.. One died a few days after purchase. Four have grown and now are are quite large. One is little bigger than when purchased. My tank is 400L or 105 US Gal. Two had tried to spawn, however the neons/cardinals quickly overwhelms the Angel couple an d all the eggs are eaten.
Sorry to hear of your troubles. Angelfish do not need to be kept in groups. However, I can see why a sales person would be incentivized to tell you that. . . African Rift lake cichlids are often kept in groups to spread out the aggression, so that no one fish is singled out and injured, or worse. This method works for small cichlids with lots of places to hide, but it is is not effective with mature angelfish. What eventually happens is the dominant pair of angelfish will beat up on all the other angels, until they are the only angelfish left in the tank. If you'd like to breed the angels remove the eggs / slate as soon as the fish are done spawning.
I love your informative videos! I personally found the Guppy fry videos super useful. Thank you and keep up the good work !
Awesome! Thank you!
Thanks so much this was so informative
You are so welcome!
Another great angelfish video ! Thank you .
My pleasure it was a fun one to put together.
Nice video.Very helpful for me as I am facing same problem in my angle tank
Glad it helped. Best of luck.
I'm new here on your channel and i absolutely love your videos Very helpful thank you Sir 🙏🏾
You are very welcome. :-D
My pair got into it for the first time last week, and I was panicking, put a black sheet over the tank, turned the lights off, and stayed quiet - they were chill again the next day. First time in years they have had a spat!
It started with them going ballistic on a snail that wandered too near their eggs, battering him all the way down, and then turned on each other. (They are inveterate child eaters, this spawn didn't get fertilized, I am still trying to work it out). I had no idea they switched partners every season!
Thanks for watching the video and sharing your experiences. Best of luck with the breeding. :-)
Another awesome video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
as always great video and cinematography and of course beautiful fish and aquariums
Thank you very much!
I’m the first !!!!! Very interesting as usual ! Thanks for this amazing video 👍👍
Thanks for watching! I can always count on you.
Thanks for the helpful video
You're very welcome, thanks for watching.
Thank you for your explanation of angelfish behaviour. People buy them thinking "beautiful fish to look at, sailing through the aquarium" . After some time surprise - fight and aggression toward other fish. I wish such people think twice before keeping angelfish, however if there is condition and devotion to keep them they are awesome !
Locking lips behaviour looks similar like kissing gourami do this 🐟
I agree. They're such a beautiful fish, it's hard to resist the temptation to put a lot of small angels together, but the peace only last for a short time. 🐟🦈🐟
Great video dave nice to see you still have the same pair of angel's
They're such beautiful fish !
@@TheDave333 yes they are i just got 3altum orinoko and 3peruvian angels or dantum angel fish they are beautiful
Lucky you, best of luck. :-)
Thanks for this wonderful video Dave! I recently lost my group of Black Marbled Zebra Angels to one particularly aggressive male, so this video is timely in reminding me that some angels are simply not suitable to be kept in groups in a tank setting.
I was wondering if the same aggression principles apply to P. Altums as well? For some reason I always see them in large groups without any issues, whereas the common P. Scalare tended to always encounter some issue with aggression.
Hello and thanks for watching the video. I don't have any experience with the P. Altums, but perhaps they're a bit more reserved. I imagine that if they lay eggs they'd be aggressive as well.
I see! Maybe I’ll do more research into their behaviour if I ever intend to keep them. Thanks a bunch Dave!
My pleasure!
Very interesting video…Thank you! I have sure run into aggression issues with my special beautiful black angels who killed each other off til only one remains. Sad. Tried everything. They certainly were not angels.
I'm hoping the video will help to save a few angels from harm.
Excellent documentation of fish behaviour!! Beautiful tanks especially the Angel pair aquarium!! Noticed you have very healthy hornwort plants what's the trick? Thanks Dave
Thanks for checking out the video. I don't do anything special for the hornwort. I've found over the years some plants work for some people and not others, it must be in the water! For instance, I can't grow Wisteria / hygrophila, and for others it grows like a weed!
@@TheDave333 Good point Dave!! Seems like that ls true!! My Hornwort is still acclimating to conditions hopefully it'll do good!
The male started aggressively attacking the female to the point where she was gasping for air, it looked like she was ready to breed and the male went a little overboard with the mating flare
This is cool!
Thank you. . . . You're cool for watching all of my videos!!! 😁
I ❤ angels. I wish I could welcome them into my guppy tank but I don’t think that would end well.
Wise choice :-)
Your angelfish are total chads. And the realization that the angelfish i've raised never actually reached adulthood before dying is saddening.
There's still time to make it right. :-)
I love this video you can learn alot if you keep a pair of Angel's together ❤️
Thanks for watching the video. :-D
This behaviour is not exclusive to Angelfish, exactly the same can be said of a lot of cichlids. Just from my limited experience the same applies to Rams, Elliotis cichlids and Kribensis. I kept a pair of Kribensis in a community tank and everything was fine for months until they decided to breed. The tank was 3 feet long and they decided their territory was 3/4 of the tank, every other fish was pushed into the left quarter of the tank and would be attacked if they ventured out of that space.
Yes, it's very common in cichlids. It's one of the things that makes them such as interesting group of fish. Complex social behaviors :-)
Thank you Dave, as I have come to expect from you, this was both beautiful and informative. I noticed some green spheres anchored to the rock with the eggs on it, what are these? In the pair that were lip locking one had a prominent forehead bulge…is this indicative of the sex, or has it a different purpose? I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the time and effort you put into producing such quality content. I hope Spring is treating you and your charges well.🖤🇨🇦
Hello again. Those green spheres are dead / unfertilized eggs. The eggs were treated with an antifungal agent known as methylene blue. It stains everything the white/dead eggs blue, but the blue fades to a turquoise green color after a while. The prominent forehead bulge is an indication of an older male.
Everything is well on my end. Looking forward to warm weather, so that I can get back into the rivers and lakes to film. Lots of great stuff in the making. I'm very excited about the coming year. . . Hope springs eternal . . . 🐠 🐠 🐠
@@TheDave333 Thanks for the answers, I thought it might be that, but wanted to check and be sure. I think this year will hold much that is good, and it’s nice to know you are excited about upcoming projects. By this time next year I will be back caring for orphaned or injured wildlife again. Just have to rewrite and insulate our old brick double carriage house, get a heated floor and incubators, washer/drier and small fridge in so it works as well in Winter as the other seasons.🖤🇨🇦
@Tamarra James Well, it looks like you're in for a busy year as well ! Based on some of your previous comments, your work with animals in need comes as no surprise. I always sensed that you had a deeper connection to the natural world. I wish you the greatest success in all of your endeavors. 🌍
@@TheDave333 Thank you, I have always been connected to Nature in a spiritual way, since my childhood on a farm. When I was younger I did wildlife rescue, but it’s hard to do when you are running a business, now that I have retired I can give the time to wildlife care again. It will take me a year to get property set up and myself up to date with current practice. Thanks for the good wishes, I look forward to your next project.🖤🇨🇦
wow very nice video 😀😀
Thank you so much 😀
Hello! I just received a juvenile angelfish as a gift as well as an oranda goldfish. My 50 gal tank is a peaceful community of two adult mated angels and three juvenile comet goldfish. When i introduced the comet goldfish to the angels they got along perfectly and they even get along with the new oranda goldfish however both mated angels do not like the new juvenile angel and chase it anytime they see it. They’ve gotten along with other fish as well such as guppies and a pleco and this is the first time I’ve seen them be aggressive to any other fish. They’ve only been introduced today so will this behavior calm when they establish a pecking order or will I have to take the juvenile angel out?
If it's a mated pair of angels, the other juvenile angelfish is probably in real danger. It really depends on the personalities of the individual fish, and how densely the tank is planted. When the pair decide to lay eggs, there might be real trouble for everyone. It's a bit risky for the newcomer. . .
My angelfish pair have been in a loop for a few months where they lay eggs together every few weeks, then 3 days go by without hatching and my girl angelfish eats them all. Recently, the two of them were cleaning a spot to lay eggs, but then the next day they didn't lay any. Today I found the male chasing the female around and bullying her. I think they have broken up, and he is continuing to nip her. Should I go ahead and take one to a LFS to separate them? or is there any hope for their love to heal?
Sometimes after several failed spawns, a pair of angelfish will begin to fight, each blaming the other for the failure. In the wild, they would just switch partners, but in the aquarium, not so much. . . Have they ever had a successful spawn? Is it possible you have two females? (Females will lay eggs without a male present) If they spawn again you might want to consider removing the eggs to hatch them on your own. Then, you'll know if they're fertile or not. Sometimes, a pair will fight for a while, and then work things out. And sometimes they're just incompatible. It's hard to tell for certain how they'll behave. Sometimes just separating them for a while will help them work things out.
Watch them closely to be sure that she is still eating and not getting hurt. If you do decide to rehome one of them, be sure that the new fish is about the same size or one of them might get hurt. Fish love is unpredictable. . .
My angelfish is about 2 years old, maybe a bit older and it’s been living happily in its 30 gallon tank with no previous signs of aggression but now it’s attacking anything it sees, if I put my finger on the glass it will attack that, it’s very hostile to other fish and so on. There’s only one large fish in the tank now and it’s around half the size of the Angel, it was living peacefully with it for years up until now. Any suggestions?
Unfortunately, some angelfish can turn aggressive over time, especially if something has changed about its environment. Did something change recently? New tank mate / lose a tank mate / a change to their feeding routine / water change schedule / tank setup . . . What is the other larger fish? Lowering the water temperature a little can sometimes help reduce aggression. ( no lower than 72 degrees )
Nice video! I have a question. Why does my Male Angelfish lock lips/fight and lay eggs with its own grown adult children? Do the “babies” know that it’s their parents?
In the wild, they live in a very large river system, once parental care is over, their relationship is over, and they probably never see their children again. They probably don't know their own parents.
Top tier content
Thank you! :-D
A female angelfish is very agressive in my tank. she's always attacking other angels.Any ideas to stop this . Should I separate her.
Yes, it would be a good idea to move her, and as the others reach sexual maturity, they will become more aggressive as well. They are preparing to breed.
Sorry, but intraspecific means "with members of the same species“. You mean interspecific agression.
Don't be sorry. . . You're right. I said it wrong. Thanks for keeping me on my toes!!! :-)
We separated our pair. Will we ever be able to reunite them? Or will we have to sustain 2 tanks now?
The pair (male and female I assume) can be reunited after a while. It helps to rearrange the tank, so that the fish don't have any recognizable areas of the tank that it claims as its own. This will make the fish a little less territorial about its living space. If you have 2 males, the fighting will continue. Be sure to provide plenty of food so they don't fight over it, and keep a close eye on both fish. Males and females generally settle down after a while and try to spawn. Are you trying to breed them?
I put 6 baby angels in a 65 gallon and they're all fighting each other ,are they just establishing the pecking order and everything will be OK or is this going to keep going on for a long time. I rly can't tell if there male /female
Because they're so young, they are probably still establishing a pecking order. And once everyone knows their place, the fighting should slow down. As long as no one is getting hurt, everyone is still getting food and they're all still moving around the tank, it will be okay for a while. However, if a fish is always hiding in the corner, then it should be removed. If one of them is getting injured, it should be removed. Unfortunately, the fighting will most likely continue, and it will get worse and worse as they get closer to sexual maturity. With 6 sexually mature angels in a 65 G, someone will eventually get really hurt.
There is so much conflicting information on how many angelfish to keep/how to keep them together. Makes it difficult to plan accordingly
The problem is each tank set up is different, and each fish has its own personality. So, results can vary. People buy them several of them when they're small (before they reach sexual maturity) and everything is fine for a while. . .
But that all changes once a pair decides to breed, then there will be trouble . . . guaranteed. Fins will be torn, fish will be stressed, and if there's one that's really aggressive, someone will get hurt. It just depends on how much aggression you're willing to put up with. Some people are okay with fish bickering constantly and fins being torn. In my opinion that detracts from their beauty. In the short term, they're okay, but in the long term view, trouble is 100% certain.
@@TheDave333 For that same reason it seems like the best choice would be to either keep one, or get 6, raise them up, and keep the most docile pair. I see why a group of angels can be so majestic. but I totally agree, health comes first
My thoughts exactly.
I've got a mature female in my tank and displaying her papilla, she went off her food for 4 days and was hiding in 2 different spots in my tank and i was recommended to get a male, so i brought a male the same age and they get on fine together and swim nicely together but they're finding it hard on which place to spawn between the heater, the sump outlet or glass.
My main question is if you don't mind me asking, my female is in perfect health but since she's been ready for breeding her eating as lowered can this happen 🙂
Yes ,they can lose their appetite when they focus on other things like spawning. Turn the heater horizontally to keep them from putting eggs on it.
@@TheDave333 Thanks for your reply very much appreciated, that's less worry regarding the eating, as she eats smaller bits to what she did do but still holding good weight. Thanks for the tip on the heater 🙂
My pleasure 🙂
I have two mated pairs in a 55 gallon. 99% of the aggression is one female attacking the male of the other pair, on a daily basis lately .
I recently set my 180 ga back up and they will all make the move, just not sure if I should break up the pairs or what? At least they will have over 3x’s the space!
Any thoughts?
As long as she's not inflicting serious damage to the male, and they're both eating normally, they can usually work things out. You wouldn't want him to be cowering in the corner and not feeding. Have they spawned before? Failed spawns sometimes cause a pair to fight, but they usually resolve their differences after a while. If you have more than 2 angels in the same tank, they sometime can switch partners. It's best to keep them in pairs, other angelfish in the same tank can really complicate the breeding process. A single pair in each tank will make things much easier. More space will help[, but not always.
No damage to him, eats fine, nothing major just irritating. Gonna put them in the big tank, the rest is up to them to figure it out.
Thanks!
It is irritating to see them bickering, I agree. I'm not a fan of fish fighting. It always worries me and I feel bad for them. Best of luck.
I wonder if less water changes will help inter-species aggression as well.
There is some research that suggest just that, or you could go the opposite way and change a lot of water more frequently so that the pheromones don't build up as much. Caution is advised if you plan on doing less frequent water changes. Testing the water for ammonia, and nitrites is the best way to determine when and if to change the water. Using lots of live plants will also reduce the need to change the water as much.
Wow I can easily tell my blue zebra angelfish apart by male/female. I've got 1 of each, but the ponchal hump on the male in this clip is very pronounced. Mine are phillipino blue zebra angelfish, so could the ponchal hump on mine ne less pronounced?
The size of the nuchal hump varies from one type of angel to another. Sometimes, it's hardly visible at all.
@@TheDave333 nuchal...duh I said ponchal. These are my first angelfish, and it shows
No worries, I knew what you meant. Angelfish are awesome. They're so graceful. Where most people run into problems is with fighting and aggression.
Yeah I've got 1 tricolor who is the oldest, then the 2 blue zebras. The tricolor male has paired with a blue zebra, and they all get along for the most part. Never any fin or body damage anyway...just a lot of posturing occasionally and the tricolor stays completely out of it. It is so much fun to watch. Thanks again for your help
You're very welcome.
Hey Dave.. My breeding pair which have bred multiple times before dont get along anymore.. the male is injuring the fins of female again and again.. i have separated them for now..reunited them multiple times but still the same situation.. any ideas?
Hello, sorry to hear of your troubles. It is important to remember that in the wild angelfish pairs don't stay together throughout the year, they breed once and then go their separate ways until the next breeding season. They change partners each season. In the aquarium, we often expect them to reproduce repeatedly without much of a break. It's very unnatural and can wear them out.
It could be that the female has not had enough time to rest and recover. She may be tired and not willing to cooperate, which frustrates the male. In the wild, he would drive her away and seek a different, more willing partner. This is not really an option in the aquarium.
It may be helpful to keep them separated for a longer period of time, and be sure that the female is well-fed, healthy, and ripe with eggs before placing her back with the male. Remember, she's older than she used to be, and as they get older the spawning becomes less and less frequent, which is perfectly normal.
As I mentioned in the video, a failed spawn can also cause the pair to lose trust and fight. Give them more time apart, or try to find a new female.
Best of luck.
@@TheDave333 understood.. thanks dave ... will keep them seperated ...
Happy to help. Give her lots of protein rich food like frozen bloodworms to help her with egg production and help her build back her strength. Sometimes small love foods like baby brine shrimp and daphnia can help signal to the fish that its a good time to reproduce because there's lots of small foods in the water for their babies to eat.
@@TheDave333 She has been separated for a while now.. and I also see she is full of eggs.. I think she is just not ready mate with the same male.. may be i will try find a new mate for her after a while... I give her a diet of tubifex worms.. frozen blood worms 2-3 times a week.. tetra bits the other days..baby brine shrimp everyday.. because thats the main inducer of breeding in my opinion..
It sounds to me like you're doing everything right. . .
I've had my 6 angels (2 kinds) for 1,5 week. And allready a pair that has spawned. Noticed it, since they are aggressive towards all the other fishes.
Lucky you! Did you pull the eggs?
@The Dave unfortunately not, no extra tank. But maybe i should pull em anyways, due to the aggression.
When they decide to spawn all hell can break loose. . . Extra tanks are always helpful. And this is how I ended up with 22 tanks. . . 😁
No room for extra tank/s here😅
I understand. . . 😁
Saltwater/marine angelfish might me jealous.
I love saltwater angels!
I'm very sorry I keep bothering you... but I please have a question. Would you put angel fish in your tank with guppies? I watched a video saying that angel fish can be good in a community tank.... is it better for angel fish to be with several others or can one be happy just being ONE angel fish in the tank... also is there a way to tell if an angel fish are male or female... and if you say yes you can put one or two angels should they be either two males or two females if for some reason I can figure out how to tell if they're male or female?
Thanks again so much for your time.... have a good evening..
I don't mind the questions. I'm here to help you, and most importantly, the fish. Fish, like people, have different personalities, so what may work with one, may not work with another. Aquarium setups differ and that can have an effect on behavior as well. However, a full-size angelfish can and will eat guppies ( adult and babies). In a densely planted tank, only the slow, the silly and the sick will be eaten if the angel can catch them. In fact, some people use angel fish to keep their guppy numbers under control.
As angelfish mature, they become very aggressive, especially if they form a pair and start defending a spawning area.
Unless you're breeding angelfish, it is much less problematic to keep just a single fish as the centerpiece of the tank.
They don't need to be kept in a group. A group of angels always leads to trouble when they reach sexual maturity. Here's a video that explains how to sex them accurately. ua-cam.com/video/myZS_NgAsjY/v-deo.html
Can a single Angelfish live happily in a community tank?
Yes, in fact that's the most trouble-free way to keep them. It will eat smaller fish - like baby guppies and neon tetras.
pls make Discus fish
Only the mommy and daddy discus can do that. Maybe some day.
What is the name of this angelfish
They are Philippine Blue Angelfish.
Do you have any discus fish?
No discus in the fish room at the moment.
@@TheDave333 They're beautiful!
Yes they are!
Is it normal for the fish to not eat when breeding ?
Sometimes they get very focused on spawning and their appetite slows down, but mine still feed when they're breeding. Is one of the fish bullying the other fish, so it doesn't feed? That would be a definite red flag. A hungry fish will eat their eggs or their fry. Try changing foods, or try live food to help convince it to eat.
Are bluegills more aggressive?
I'd say they're about the same, especially when guarding their young.
Rosy bitterling/Tairiku baratanago
That's anew one, they remind me of barbs.
Have you heard of a thysites atun?
No, I haven't. That's a very strange name. . . .
@@TheDave333 It's called the snoek in New Zealand, but it's called the barracouta in South Africa.
Wow! I went and looked it up. What a scary looking fish!
@@TheDave333 I love large predatory fish with sharp teeth. Don't you?
Yes indeed I do.
Mine just stared fighting today
angels love to battle . . .
Half of this 75 gallon aquarium now belongs to us.
Yes, that's pretty much how they think!
Intraspecific? Or did you mean interspecific?
Yes, interspecific. . . oops. :-)
What about a single angelfish in a 30 gallon that has bumblebee gobies? Will they eat them?
I've never done that combination before, but the angel might eat the gobies, or the gobies might pick at the angelfish. The angelfish might also outcompete the gobies for food.
@@TheDave333 thanks. looks like its going to be hard to find any center peace fish that can go with the gobies in my 30 gallon. It seems like the whole upper portion of the tank is empty.
I've never kept them before, so I'd hate to offer advice not based on real world experience.
Have you heard of a northern pikeminnow/squawfish?
I have, and there's a silly bounty / reward system for catching and killing them in some places out west because they eat baby salmon. They're a native species that belong in the river, trying to wipe them out is silly.
@@TheDave333 I saw that on a picture yesterday. And yes it is very silly.
I'm so glad you agree. Nature does not need managing. It's people that need managing. . . If we leave it alone, it will do what it has always done for millions of years, without our help.
@@TheDave333 You are absolute right!
@@TheDave333i have a pair of angel fish and they are fighting
I have cichlids in my " Encyclopedia of Animals".
That's where they should be, The encyclopedia of life. . .
@@TheDave333 I got it for Christmas in 2009.
That's awesome. I love books.
Do you miss Amanda the bass?
Yes, sort of. Still haven't been in the lake all year. I need to get in there and get some freshwater sponges!
Wish i saw this before i bought 3 angels
Are they fighting?
Same here, my male keeps nipping the one female.
To aggressive fish
Most cichlids are fairly aggressive. They're very serious about their young and their territory.
I bought 4 angel fish now I can't identify male/female
Hello! I can help. I have a video all about how to sex angelfish. ua-cam.com/video/myZS_NgAsjY/v-deo.html
they just need couples therapy...
Yes, but they don't have any health insurance . . .
😂
Freshwater spadefish
I can see that now. I had to look them up! :-)
They are super fish, but they mean buisness.
Cichlids are great parents, so yes they mean business.
They are both Male
So?🤨
They are certainly not
They're a breeding pair, those little babies you saw are theirs. . .
Simular to marrige😂
In many ways, yes. . .
Cute but useless aqurium fish..always agressive
Sometimes aggressive . . caring parents protect their young.
You can have one,they're beautiful fish
damn just like real couples, minus the eating of the babies part (i hope)
Yes, there shall be no eating of the babies. :-)