How does everyone feel about only owning 1 Angelfish vs 2+ Angelfish?
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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.
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.
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.
If the fish spends more time hiding, that's a clear indication that the fish is not happy in it's new surroundings.
Hope this helps.
