angel behaviour

[Mattzilla]

i recently bought 3 angel fish for a friend of mine and after a couple of weeks in the tank one (Paul) is always chased away by one of the others (Mary). Which leave Mary and the other angel (Peter) hanging out in the main clearing of the tank. Paul is forced to live in the shadows so to speak. now i know thay have gender based names (my friend insists on naming all her fish) but i have no idea what sex they are.

they are about 1.5 - 2" in body size...not including fins... is this size indicate that they are mature enough to pair up and breed? would it be likely that Mary and Paul are both males with Mary being the dominant male ...hence chasing away the sub dom male.... and Petere actually being female? i know i know that was as clear as mud!!!!

i am very new to angels so any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

they are housed in a heavilt planted standard 3 ft tank with 10 juvi altifrons

thanks very much

matt

[mcloughlin2]

Typical angel's i'd say ...

You buy 3, end up with a pair and have one bullied ...

[Mattzilla]

should i get rid of the bullied one? or will it be ok just living in the background....

it gets harrassed straight away when it comes out in the open. still gets plenty of food at feeding time and does not appear too stressed

[DR.V]

I would say add 1 more angel fish to the tank Matt, to accompany the nigel.

At 2 inch body size, I would say its still small for breeding. My breeding pair are about 8cm from mouth to the back, just before tail.

Heavy plants would be great, provding a lot of hiding places to make them feel secure.

I notice two problems here:
1. I dont think angelfish and altifrons will mix together.
2. Soon 3ft tank would be too small for 13fish in the tank.

Anyway, male angel got a hump on the head where female dont, just like cichilds.

Good luck Matt.

[Mattzilla]

thanks for your help mate

most of the altiforns will be gone soon...well at least half of them anyway...so there will be more room then

why do you say they do not go together? do they require different water peramiters or just have different behaviours???


will get some pictures of them tomorrow and will post them asap

cheers

matt

[DR.V]

Im was thinking that altifrons:
1. Too agressive when they're grow bigger
2. They grow really big, up to 25cm ?? Then they can bully your angel
3. They prefer higher pH dont they ??

See what others say, but thats my opinion.

[DR.V]

Oh heres a link:

http://cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=430

[Proteus]

Geophagus come from the same region of the Amazon as Discus & Angels.

They prefer acidic to neatral water

[Mattzilla]

that is what i thought.

thanks mate

[Mattzilla]

ok here are some pictures of the fish in question. i would love it if anyone could identify their sex from the pictures.

first is Mary....who i suspect is actually a male

[Mattzilla]

Mary again

[Mattzilla]

now Peter...who Mary actually likes and I suspect is a female

[Mattzilla]

and finally Paul...the poor bugger that is made to hide in the shaddows by Mary. I suspect that he is a male

[Mattzilla]

paul again

[Mattzilla]

and finally a couple of shots of my juvi altifrons in with the angels

your comments and ideas about sex and the strange love trinagle are greatly appreciated!!!!

thanks

[DR.V]

I think you got all the sexes right.

[tennhound]

Matt I am by no means an expert on Angels but I have been told by an Angel breeder that the only sure fire way to tell an angels sex is when they lay eggs...

But I would say it is a very good chance that Peter and Mary are going to end up as a pair... which one being the female or male i would not want to even venture a guess...

I had gotten 3 Koi angels at about 1inch size and at about 3inch size 2 of them started to pick on the other one... as it turned out I ended up with a pair out of them and the male was the more agressive of the pair... especially when it came to breeding time...

BTW... love the Angels... What kind are they? They look similar to my Koi Angels...

MARIE

[Merrilyn]

I think you need to change some names there Matt.

Mary is a male, I suspect, and so is Paul.

Peter (or should that be Peta) is a girl.

They are certainly old enough to be pairing off and spawning :P

[Mattzilla]

thanks for you help guys!!!!!

i have suspected what you said ladyured about the sexes.

tenhound...they are koi angels. i thik they are beautiful fish too

thanks again guys

matt

[bushie]

I suspect you have guessed right.
another way to give an idea on sex is to look front on at the fish.
between the lower fins, males tend to look more like a V and females more like a U.

as far as their behavior goes:

no matter how hard we try, I don`t think peter, paul and mary will ever reform for one more gig :lol: :roll: