Angelfish

[wilson]

Hi
i have had 2 angelfish for probably almost a year now. they are pretty big about 3-4 inches or a bit more(couldnt measure good outside glass cuz it kept moving lol). last night i looked in the tank and i noticed that they were like poking at eachother sides and then it would look like they would kiss. is this normal or does n e one know wats going on.

Thanks

[wilson]

sry i forgott o say that they are about 3-4 inches plus their fins and tails

[William]

Sounds like Territorial behavior to me.

What size tank do you have them in?

[wilson]

they are in a 20h but they have been in there since i got them together and the other fish have been with them since then too. they just started this like last night. thanks for any advice.

[BrianNY]

Hiya Wilson. That's the signs of cichlids in love :P . Cichlids often go through premating ritual which invloves a lot butting and kissing. Keep your eyes on them and watch for any very aggressive behavoir.

[wilson]

so what they are going to mate in a bit. what would very aggressive behavoiur b. dou tihnk it would b territorial atall.

[Allivymar]

Its definitely territorial behavior. Could be a precursor to mating, or just that they are mature enough to want more space. If it is mating behavior, its quite likely they'll bully all the other fish into a little corner; angelfish like their space when its time to lay eggs. What else do you have in there?

[wilson]

i dont really have n e other big fihs in there. i have:

2 neon tetras i think
3-4 other small tetra
2 painted glass fish(not big less than an inch or so)
1 catfish and
1 small algae eater(really small)
2 small red fish with black tails(cant remember there names, one has gotten skinny and is always hiding, the othere one is bigger than that one)

[TankGirl]

Well you have a fully stocked tank, for sure (think the red and black ones are serpae tetras, perhaps?). If the two angels are the same gender and are not going to mate, then they might get nasty with each other, so watch them carefully. It could be mating ritual type behavior, too.

[Allivymar]

Heh, better hope they aren't a breeding pair; thats a lot of fish to be hiding in the corner of a 20g. TankGirl brings up an important point; if they are both the same sex and just being territorial, they'll likely leave the rest of the fish alone but beat the heck out of each other. As she said, keep a close eye on em.

[wilson]

is there any way to tell wat gender they are. also should i amybe post this in the fish discussion forum too

[Allivymar]

Nope. Only way to be sure is when they're breeding. They really aren't sexually dimorphic, so you need to see the breeding tubes to be sure. Females have sorta fat stumpy tubes, males have skinnier slightly longer tubes. I attached a pic of my female laying eggs; you can see her breeding tube pretty clearly.

[wilson]

is there any way to tell the gender. also should i mayb post this in the fish discussion too

[Allivymar]

This is the fish discussion; you posted in the FW/Brackish water General Discussion forum. Not sure where else you mean, but we don't encourage double posts. Those who have the answers you seek will see your post here. And as I said, no. There is no way to tell gender other then actually seeing the breeding tubes.

[patryuji]

Originally Posted by Allivymar

Nope. Only way to be sure is when they're breeding. They really aren't sexually dimorphic, so you need to see the breeding tubes to be sure. Females have sorta fat stumpy tubes, males have skinnier slightly longer tubes. I attached a pic of my female laying eggs; you can see her breeding tube pretty clearly.

Hmm...I can see the breeding tube on my angelfish. It is difficult to discern from the image you have but I don't believe it to be as thick in diameter. I was under the impression that it was the breeding tube but I wasn't sure. Thanks for the image.

[wilson]

sry about the double post, i forgot to look at the second page and never noticed it lol. thanks for the advice. they mostly stay to themselves and dont bother n e of the other fish.

[Menagerie]

I watched my two largest male African cichlids duke it out last night--going jaw to jaw. Boys will be boys....

[wilson]

my one angel has a sort of longer and smaller tube and my other one has one really close to uits body, and is a little bit wider than the other. the one weith the smaller one was the one that would kiss and bump into the other angel does that mean it is mating

[Allivymar]

Naw, when angelfish mate, they are laying eggs. No eggs, no mating (angelfish don't bear live fry). They'll pick someplace to lay (usually a flat vertical surface) and the female will lay a row of eggs, then the male will follow and fertilize em. It'll look sorta like this: