Lone Angelfish

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Stacey W.

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Dec 22, 2014
Messages
621
How does everyone feel about only owning 1 Angelfish vs 2+ Angelfish?

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
I've always kept single angelfish with no problems. Good luck!
 
I have a single in my community tank. I had two and lost one from most likely old age a while ago and never added another. Doesn't seem to act any different as a single , gets along just fine with all the others
 
How do you tell the difference between male and female when they are young? Also if I add more than 1 I'm afraid they won't get along.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
Also keep a single angelfish in a community tank and it's been working out for me.

Relatively new so I'm probably wrong but my lfs guy told me you don't really know which sex they are until you see whether or not they lay eggs. Correct me if I'm wrong
 
It's hard when they're young, but here's a helpful guideline (not my image, got it on google)
ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1453738459.297985.jpg
 
I didn't consider Angelfish for years because I kept goldfish. When I got my second tank and decided I wanted to try a planted, I almost went with goldfish again until I saw some AGA Aquascaping photos with schools of Angelfish. After that I knew I couldn't do just one Angel! I have 4 adults.
 
I have 4 in a 55 right now and one mated pair. I like to watch them school together. I'd like to get more, but I think I'll settle for letting nature happen and see if I get some viable babies. Need to get my swords up and growing to break up the tank though.

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
Well I caved a purchased these 2 yesterday. I've been watching them at my lfs and they were crammed in with about 20 dalmatian molly's. The lfs employee said they were aggressive. I simply told her if you were in a small room crammed with people you would be slightly agitated too. They are completely fine and love their new home so far. Better pics to come. This was taken at the lfs.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 

Attachments

  • 1453806431862.jpg
    1453806431862.jpg
    155.2 KB · Views: 90
How does everyone feel about only owning 1 Angelfish vs 2+ Angelfish?

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Well I caved a purchased these 2 yesterday. I've been watching them at my lfs and they were crammed in with about 20 dalmatian molly's. The lfs employee said they were aggressive. I simply told her if you were in a small room crammed with people you would be slightly agitated too. They are completely fine and love their new home so far. Better pics to come. This was taken at the lfs.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

It's not really important how people feel about you keeping a single Angelfish but how the FISH feels about being alone.:huh: There are probably as many stories of unsuccessfully keeping a single Angel as there are successful ones. By nature, these are a schooling fish and small Angels generally do better not being kept alone. There are always exceptions and since we are not talking about a true wild Angelfish, you can get different results.

As for the comment from the LFS, she was not wrong. Their "Angel" name is misleading because Angelfish are a semi aggressive to aggressive fish and how many other fish they were in the tank with would not "make" these fish all of a sudden aggressive. Since they are a more territorial fish, more so as an adult than as a juvenile, their behavior was set when they were being raised from egg. And to add to this, Angels live in a hierarchal society so there will always be a more dominant fish in the group when you have more than 1. So to be clear, their behavior in your tank in the beginning is not an indication that they won't become aggressive in your tank as they get more comfortable in their new surroundings. It's all going to depend on what else is in the tank with them. You will see some displays of aggression between the 2 Angels but these are generally short lived and non injurious. It's just to set the rankings in the hierarchy. If it hasn't happened yet, it will in the future. ;) It's just the nature of the fish. :blink:

Sexing Angels today has become a real challenge as today's domesticated fish can show signs of both genders so the only guaranteed way is to watch the fish either laying eggs or fertilizing them. Some people can tell by their "vent" but that really takes a more trained eye. ;) Also, the fish need to be at least 8-10 months old to become sexually mature and just to give you some ideas of a timeline, a dime sized Angel is only about 6-10 weeks old. So any aggression you see between the 2 fish now is just for ranking and space. Unless you see injury, there isn't anything you really need to do if you see this. Maybe just add some more decor to break up the line of sight in the tank. More places to hide actually makes the fish more comfortable about being out in the open. (y) If the fish spends more time hiding, that's a clear indication that the fish is not happy in it's new surroundings. :nono:

Hope this helps. (y)
 
Thanks Andy! It's been approximately 3 days now and they are loving the tall tank! They are housed in a 55g column style, planted tank with 3 bolivian rams, 4 angelicus botia, 5 otos, and 5 nerite snails. All doing well and rarely hide. The loaches were nosey with I believe marbled angel only briefly, no aggression and everyone else could care less. But as you said it's still early in the game and I don't wanna jinx myself.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
Gotta question though. My marble angel has an orange and the other brownish - orange in color . Is this normal? I researched popeye and definitely is not it. Second pic isn't the best, but you get the idea.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 

Attachments

  • 1454114910566.jpg
    1454114910566.jpg
    117.1 KB · Views: 66
  • 1454114935674.jpg
    1454114935674.jpg
    160.5 KB · Views: 71
Gotta question though. My marble angel has an orange and the other brownish - orange in color . Is this normal? I researched popeye and definitely is not it. Second pic isn't the best, but you get the idea.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Please be more specific. Not sure what you see that would make you think Pop-eye?
 
Don't know in my research most sites claim that angelfish are susceptible to popeye. Just paranoid? Maybe just an illusion due to the fact that one eye is darker than the other.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
Gotta question though. My marble angel has an orange and the other brownish - orange in color . Is this normal? I researched popeye and definitely is not it. Second pic isn't the best, but you get the idea.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Read your post again. You are not clear as to what you are talking about. ;)
 
Basically 1 eye is orange and the other is a different color is this a common trait?

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
Basically 1 eye is orange and the other is a different color is this a common trait?

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Common? No. Possible? Yes. Anytime you have a multi colored fish you have the possibility of having different colored eyes. ;)(y)
 
I have a single angel fish in my 30 gallon community tank and mine seems fine.

Gets on fine with the other fish but can be greedy at feeding time. It is also the boss of the tank and all the other fish know it. Second in command is my kribensis
 
Back
Top Bottom