Aggressive Flame Angel

[nessaathena0822]

I recently took my flame angel out of quarantine and put him in my new tank, but he has attacked both of my clowns and tank en a good chunk out of both of their dorsal(?) fins. Is there anything I can do to make him stop being so aggressive?

He was the last added to the tank as well.

[nessaathena0822]

both of my clowns look like the female with her top fin torn ):

[bribo12]

Clowns are pretty tough fish. That fin should heal. Is he going after them while you are watching the tank? How big is the flame?

[nessaathena0822]

Originally Posted by bribo12

Clowns are pretty tough fish. That fin should heal. Is he going after them while you are watching the tank? How big is the flame?

He is not much bigger than my female clownfish. She’s about 3 inches and he’s about 3.5-4.
He does, it’s during the day when the light is on. I think he’s trying to take over the area that the clowns inhabit in my tank, because he’s not picking on the smaller fish

[bribo12]

You could try rearranging the rock in that area and leaving the lights off for a bit and see if that confuses him into finding a new area. Did you just introduce him yesterday? Odd the new guy is the harrasser. In my tank new fish get a rough welcoming but that usually only lasts a few days and then everyone goes back to being chill. Could just be a couple day phase.

[nessaathena0822]

Originally Posted by bribo12

Clowns are pretty tough fish. That fin should heal. Is he going after them while you are watching the tank? How big is the flame?

He is not much bigger than my female clownfish. She’s about 3 inches and he’s about 3.5-4.
He does, it’s during the day when the light is on. I think he’s trying to take over the area that the clowns inhabit in my tank, because he’s not picking on the smaller fish

[nessaathena0822]

Originally Posted by bribo12

You could try rearranging the rock in that area and leaving the lights off for a bit and see if that confuses him into finding a new area. Did you just introduce him yesterday? Odd the new guy is the harrasser. In my tank new fish get a rough welcoming but that usually only lasts a few days and then everyone goes back to being chill. Could just be a couple day phase.

Okay I’ll try that tonight.
I introduced him a few nights ago and he was doing fine taking up his own area but then all of a sudden he started hanging around the clowns

[54seaweed]

your flame is pretty much full grown at 4inch , that's probably the reason for aggression
I always added angels young so there was no aggression , now back to your problem like bribo said you can try rearranging the rocks but that's not always 100% fool proof ,

going by the size of your flame he is a mature fish , maybe he was re-homed because he was being a trouble maker this is always possible ,

flames are also more feisty and full of life never slowing down , I don't remember your tank size but maybe its to small , This could be what is bringing out the aggression by acting out that's his way of telling you I need more room ,

in all the years Ive had angel;s I never seen any aggression , This may be because I added them young giving them time to learn how to co-exist . you just never really know , fish are like us no 2 are alike each has it's own personality ,

I wish I could keep a flame as they are pretty fish my problem is the opposite of yours none of my fish like orange fish , they always beat up on every orange fish I attempted , now yellow , blue , red , purple ect no problems . strange but true ,

I got lucky with my clowns as they are a dark maroon with yellow stripes so no orange.
I have a orange sponge they are always tossing it around like a beach ball

hope your able to get him to chill otherwise it sounds like he'll have to be re-homed

[nessaathena0822]

Originally Posted by 54seaweed

your flame is pretty much full grown at 4inch , that's probably the reason for aggression
I always added angels young so there was no aggression , now back to your problem like bribo said you can try rearranging the rocks but that's not always 100% fool proof ,

going by the size of your flame he is a mature fish , maybe he was re-homed because he was being a trouble maker , with bigger fish that is always possible ,

flames are also more feisty and full of life never slowing down , I don't remember your tank size but maybe its to small , This could be what is bringing out the aggression by acting out that's his way of telling you I need more room ,

in all the years Ive had angel;s I never seen any aggression , This may be because I added them young giving them time to learn how to co-exist . you just never really know , fish are like us no 2 are alike each has it's own personality ,

I wish I could keep a flame as they are pretty fish my problem is the opposite of yours none of my fish like orange they always beat up on every orange fish I attempted , yellow , blue , red , purple ect no problems . strange but true ,

I got lucky with my clowns as they are a dark maroon with yellow stripes so no orange.
I have a orange sponge they are always tossing it around like a beach ball

I have a 75 gallon tank

[nessaathena0822]

Sorry I clicked reply before I finished typing! I am going to try to rearrange the rocks soon. He has only tried to attack my clown once since I posted this originally, so let’s hope he stops soon after I move stuff around. He was doing fine for two days minding his own business, but since I posted about my clowns my cleaner shrimp and my dart fish have disappeared, so I think he may have attacked them too ):

[54seaweed]

funny I do that way to often myself


depending your top lid dart fish could have jumped from being chased,
or maybe your shrimp and dart fish took cover in the rocks

[nessaathena0822]

Originally Posted by 54seaweed

depending your top lid dart fish could have jumped from being chased,
or maybe your shrimp and dart fish took cover in the rocks

My tank is fully covered. The lid is only lifted when I feed but I’m always there and I never leave the tank open and unattended. I hope they’re just hiding, maybe when I move the rocks I will find them.

[54seaweed]

I at times don't see my cleaners for several weeks than they pop out all of a sudden
dart could also be hiding behind the rocks see if they come out with lights out

[nessaathena0822]

Originally Posted by 54seaweed

I at times don't see my cleaners for several weeks than they pop out all of a sudden
dart could also be hiding behind the rocks see if they come out with lights out

Okay, I will see and hopefully I find them. Thank you so much!

[54seaweed]

my banded shrimp are good for that , than the skunks and fire shrimp follow right behind
its a circus , sometimes I wonder if they are all on the same molting schedule

[eatsomepopcorn]

There is no magic remedy. The angel is establishing dominance.


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[Elude82]

Pecking orders are never fun to watch. Brings anxiety. Rearrange the rocks, but be careful. And the fins should heal back very quickly. The Damsel Family can take a beating and heal fast.