Angel fish is being picked on...

[justagal30]

Hi there...

I noticed tonight that some of my angel's fins are looking a bit chewed on. I havent witnessed any of my fish bothering her, but am guessing that someone is. I have noticed that she has been a bit shy lately and has been hiding in the rocks. What should I do?? How do you get fish to be nice to each other??

 

[Puriti]

What other fish do you have in your tank?

 

[Toirtis]

What should I do??

Gather your patience, sit still and quiet, and watch for the culprit, then pull him.

How do you get fish to be nice to each other??

In many cases, you do not...some fish simply do not play well with others. Occasionally, there are things that can be done to reduce aggression/targeting by certain fish...but it really depends on the species involved and the situation/surroundings.

 

[MaryPa]

What other fish are in the tank? Do you have more than one angelfish?

 

[justagal30]

I have...

6 Rasbora's
2 angels
5 platy's
1 bosmoni
3 turquois rainbows
1 bosmoni rainbow
1 red tail shark
1 bala shark

 

[Zagz]

In addition to what other fish do you have, what size of tank do you have? Sometimes overstocking can cause aggression in community tanks.

 

[justagal30]

i have a 100gal tank

 

[Zagz]

My bala shark can get aggressive at times, especially when I feed bloodworms. Is either of your sharks larger than or almost as large as your angels?

 

[Toirtis]

I have...

1 red tail shark
1 bala shark

Those are your top suspects.

 

[rich311k]

Balas can get nasty if not kept in groups they like to be in a crowd.

 

[justagal30]

the bala shark is my newest addition....i got the angels and red tail at the same time and all was ok....the bala is still fairly small, but maybe i should be watching him. I havent fed any blood worms since i added him to the tank. Does this mean that I should get rid of the bala??? Will he calm down maybe??

 

[justagal30]

groups of bala's? My LFS said that I only needed one...should i get another???

 

[rich311k]

He will calm down if you get 3 or 4 more. They get a foot long or so. A school of them would fill your tank. I would return him and get more angels.

 

[justagal30]

ughh

 

[Zagz]

He will calm down if you get 3 or 4 more. They get a foot long or so. A school of them would fill your tank. I would return him and get more angels.

I would agree with that, I got my bala with bad advice from the lfs but have a 125 gal now and hope that I can keep 3 of them with some cichlids.
*edit* I just found out that won't work. Well he is still small and I have a friend that can take him in his tank which has primarily bala's in it when he is a bit bigger.

 

[justagal30]

so if i was to get 2 more, for a total of 3, they wouldnt be mean to my others, but eventually will get too big for my tank? How long bf they are a foot long?

 

[Toirtis]

He will calm down if you get 3 or 4 more. They get a foot long or so. A school of them would fill your tank. I would return him and get more angels.

Agreed...last thing you probably want is 5 14" balas tearing about your tank eating anything smaller than they are.

 

[greenmaji]

so if i was to get 2 more, for a total of 3, they wouldnt be mean to my others, but eventually will get too big for my tank? How long bf they are a foot long?

I would worry about how long will it be before they can eat my other fish.. in your case thats far too soon.. Ive seen fish grow extremely fast.. doubling in size in less then a couple of months isnt unheard of.. sorry about the poor advice you received at the LFS..

 

[tetrin]

i'd suspect the other angel. three of my angels are maturing, and i'm witnessing a lot of tension between them, which results in frequent fin damages. none has paired off yet.

 

[justagal30]

ok...with the bala...will he eat the fish that are already in there with him when he gets bigger, or just any new one's that get put in? I would hate to think that he would eat his friends of a few months....