Angelfish paired and killed?

[Oli]

Hi guys, 2 of my angelfish seem to have “paired” off. I have never had this happen with cichlids before, they’re are a lot of eggs and only 2 of the fish are allowed anywhere near it. I assume this is mum and dad. I will attach a link to a video to see if anyone can sex them for me. One has some sort of pink bump which I assume will help to sex. On top of that I have woken up to a dead angelfish I can only assume that they killed it, and am in the process of removing the others asap…

 

[Colin_T]

I can't watch the video because of my computer but if 2 fish pair off in a small tank, then they might attack and possibly kill other angelfish in the tank.

The small pink bump sticking out near their bottom is the ovipositor (egg layng tube). It is longer and thinner in the males and shorter and wider in females. This is what the fish use to lay down eggs and sperm.

 

[gilpi]

Beautiful black angels! Cichlids are protective of theirs eggs and fry.

 

[Byron]

The video shows the pair guarding the eggs very well. Colin is correct, any other angelfish in this tank will be viewed as intruders and predators. It depends upon the degree of normality in defending their clutch of eggs that will determine how strongly the pair defends, and the other angelfish will likely be attacked and killed. This can become worse if the eggs hatch and the female is shepherding the shoal of fry around the tank, as the "territory" is then the entire tank without question. Removing them is a wise decision.

Assuming this spawning is the first for the pair, they may decide to eat the eggs themselves. This is common with tanbk-raised (as opposed to wild) angelfish, it can take a few spawnings for everything to proceed successfully. Nothing you can do about that, it is nature.

 

[Naughts]

When I had angels that paired off they killed every other fish in the tank then they lived happily ever after
I think. I gave the murdering little so and so's to a friend's dad.