angel fish is JAWS

[Roghib]

ok have a 10 gallon tank that houses a rescued angel fish. I intend to use this tank as an intermediary tank for a 90g that I have yet to cycle. In fact water dont go in it until tomorrow. I decided that if I plan on using this as a tank to house new fish til I ensure no diseases I had better introduce fish to the angel, the angel has been in this tank alone for two weeks. To ensure safety of new inhabitants I decided on trying a school of fish (safety in numbers). I bought 5 black tetras ( about an inch....angel is almost 3). As soon as lights go out Angel starts stalking....and nipping...not sure I will have a fish alive if I leave lights out for any length of time. Was this a bad combo with no hope....I really want to cycle 90g before dumping fish in and to be truthfull the angel is not in plans for it....want mass school fish and certainly dont want a killer angel on the prowl...not sure if I made a huge mistake or they just need time to adjust.

[kimmers318]

I am thinking that although there may be "technically" enough room for the fish you have in that tank, the angel most certainly doesn't see it as enough for him/her to have his/her own territory, which could lead to some of the aggression you see. I also can say that I have tried 2 white tetras in a 5 gal (long before I found the internet as such a useful tool) and they stressed horribly, developed ICK right away and got pale, so it wouldn't be a stretch to figure 5 black tetras may not be happy in a 10 gal. Once I treated them and got them into a larger tank they have been fine. Do some research on angel fish and their requirements and compatibility and then decide if they will all be okay in the 90 gallon.

[Slinky_Bass]

ok have a 10 gallon tank that houses a rescued angel fish. I intend to use this tank as an intermediary tank for a 90g that I have yet to cycle. In fact water dont go in it until tomorrow. I decided that if I plan on using this as a tank to house new fish til I ensure no diseases I had better introduce fish to the angel, the angel has been in this tank alone for two weeks. To ensure safety of new inhabitants I decided on trying a school of fish (safety in numbers). I bought 5 black tetras ( about an inch....angel is almost 3). As soon as lights go out Angel starts stalking....and nipping...not sure I will have a fish alive if I leave lights out for any length of time. Was this a bad combo with no hope....I really want to cycle 90g before dumping fish in and to be truthfull the angel is not in plans for it....want mass school fish and certainly dont want a killer angel on the prowl...not sure if I made a huge mistake or they just need time to adjust.
And here I was thinking that I just had an unusually ill tempered lot of angels.
It would seem that the common name of Angel Fish was very badly chosen, theyre more like hells angels. The wacky thing is all the books say that angels are peacefull community fish. Anyway, good luck with your rescued fish, if you were going for the whole mass school thing then stick with it, theres nothing worse than coming to hate one fish because he's terrorizing everyone else and ruining all your hard work.

[Lady Hobbs]

Kimmers is right on target as usual.

I have an angel in a 30 gallon and another in a 55 gallon because they do nothing but fight. The one in the 30 gallon has the company of platies and rasbora's and seems fine with them but he hates tetra's! I tried my black skirts with him and he may have seen them as angels as they are identical in color to him....silver with black strips. Who knows what they think but this is one fish he will not leave alone.

Some fish just don't get along with anything much and my angel is one example.........even in another fish's territory. My other angel, another male, is perfectly sweet and gets along with everything. Go figure.

[86vwgti8v]

I was told that if the angels are fighting but not hurting each other just let them be. they actually don't lock lips anymore and just kinda talk junk to each other. It's very funny to watch.
My angels fight everyday more than once but have 0 damage. they are like brothers and sisters.
Oh yea when I go on vacation or what not I put a bunch of neon's and small tetra's in with them.
they are usually gone before I get out the county.

[Abbeys_Mom]

Peaceful is a relative term. If you have angels in with larger fish, then they are peaceful, because they are cowed. If the angels rule the tank, watch out. I had angels for a while, but they were persitanly attacking my pleco. Since the pleco came first, the angel fish went.

[Lady Hobbs]

He would have been better off alone for now until the tank had cycled. They can be very territorial. My angel is in a tank with rasbora's and doesn't bother them but it's because they are too fast for him. He doesn't like tetras at all.