Angels in community tank are trying to spawn

[wishbone]

I have two medium sized angels in a community tank that just put down a large selection of eggs on a wire hanging in the back of the tank. I'm not realy looking to breed anything, but I'm worried about how aggressive they've become to protect it.

They are in the tank with:
gouramis, clown loaches, tetras, two other angels, plecos, and some different loaches.

Should I remove them or the eggs? Noone has become hurt yet, but they're extremely territorial right now. Strangely only to certain fish though. They seem to almost completely ignore the loaches.

TIA

 

[Jchillin]

Is this the first time this has happened? If yes, you have a couple of issues.

If the med sized ones are indeed a mated pair, they will be aggressive towards their tankmates to protect their spawning site and they will be far more aggressive (even deadly) to the other two angels at all times.

The other issue is, again...if this is their first attempt, it will probably not result in a hatching and they may even eat the eggs. Removing the eggs isn't recommended either, since not all or any of the eggs may have been fertilized. It is best to leave them alone until they get it right. What you can do, if possible and if your interested in breeding is to removed the pair to a separate tank with a piece of slate at a 45d angel for them to spawn on.

In either case, the other two angels are at risk and need to be separated.

 

[wishbone]

Ok.. that's pretty much what I figured. What about the Gouramis? They seem somewhat agressive towards them as well?

thanks for the response. Yes this is the first time this has happened.

 

[Jchillin]

I haven't had gourami's with mine, so I don't know the level of aggression they will show to them. If it looks to be on the violent nature, you may have to speed up your decisions.

 

[wishbone]

Some have mentioned adding more angels becaue then they will not be able to gang up on the others as much. Do you think this might be a possibility or is removing them really the only option?

 

[Jchillin]

From what I've experienced, adding additional angels is not a good thing. The mated pair consider the entire tank their domain and no other angels are welcome.

 

[wishbone]

Fair enough, thanks again for all the good information.

 

[Jchillin]

No problem...glad to help.

 

[wishbone]

Just thought of another question. I've noticed from reading the archives that this seems pretty typical. These are the first angels I've owned. Is it pretty common for them to pair off and become agressive? If this is the case, how is it possible to keep lots of angels together for any length of time?

 

[wishbone]

I have a 20g normal tank and my girlfriend has a 20g tall tank. Do you think one of these would be big enough for the two angels? They wouldn't be sharing with anything more than a small clown pleco most likely.

I hate to give them up and that's the largest tank I have available at the moment.

let me know what you guys think.

 

[Jchillin]

You can keep a lot of angels but they would have to be gender specific only and even then, preferably those that have grown up together. I have yet to come across anyone who has been able to keep several mated pairs in the same tank.

Those tanks are fine. Not a problem at all.

 

[wishbone]

Except sexing angels is not the easiest thing to do right? I mean if I had all the same sex it wouldn't be a problem, but even one mated pair seems to terrorize the rest of the tank. I've noticed that cleaning the tank can be a problem also as the fish run from me if they get close to the angels it's mayhem.

I guess now I have to consider what I want my new stocking to be. The tank looks so empty now without the two colorful angels I had in there.

 

[Jchillin]

Yeah, you can't sex angels until they are actually into "displaying" it during their spawning.

Indeed, gotta be careful...they run from you into Angel territory and then get chased by the angels...poor things.

 

[jrp1588]

yeah, everytime my angels spawn the other fish are basically pushed as far away from their chosen plant as possible. kinda sad looking. hehe

 

[Tolak]

I have a pair of blacks, along with a pair of zebras in a 65 with 3 other unpaired angels. Took a year of creative switchery to get it to work. The most aggressive pair that had to be taken out were a couple of marbles. They went into a 55 with around a dozen potential breeders. There were more fish than they knew what to do with, I gave that pair to a friend of mine a few weeks later.

You can have multiple pairs in a larger tank, you just have to have someplace to sell the pairs that aren't compatable. I luck out being in a larger city, with plenty of shops, as well as auctions.