It's War In Angelfish Land

[Akasha72]

My angel pair of been 'fighting' for days now. Both of them have got torn fins and they look a tatty mess. I say 'fighting' because it's not really fighting to us cichlid keepers ... it's just cichlids being cichlids but sometimes it wears thin and I'd like to put them both in seperate naughty corners and tell them to pack it in.
 
I've got it on video ... they are odd. They go from biting and barging each other to being all loved up again! 
 
http/vid1127.photobucket.com/albums/l634/akasha3472/006_zpsm5airvk8.mp4
 
As you can see from the video - it's always my female that instigates it and always the male that backs down and tries to make her chill out. I've had several spawns now from these two and they're only about a year old. I can see things are only going to get worse as they get older and get into the real swing of spawning. Each spawn so far has been a failure as the male keeps eating the eggs. I'm resigned to not getting any fry from them - which is fine. I'm happy to just enjoy them ... but it would be easier to enjoy them if they'd just stop 'fighting'
 
I'm sharing this for those newbie's who are considering cichlids. I wanted to share what life can be like with cichlids in your community tank - it's not for everyone 

 
 
 
 

 

[DRay]

It's the biggest reason why I'm not the biggest fan of cichlids. It's why I've stuck to just Angels and some dwarf varieties of cichlids. They're always going after each other. They're like penitentiary fishes that can't be rehabilitated.

 

[Akasha72]

I have another video currently uploading of them really going at each other. But calm and peace has suddenly returned. The male is sat in the corner with his back to her and she's gently pecking him trying to get his attention. It's like watching a pair of teenagers making up ... the male is sulking and she's trying to suck up big time!
 
I also have a pair of dwarves DRay, I have a pair of laetacara curviceps. They gave me a few spawns too but were never as nasty as these angelfish. The last spawn from curviceps was August 2013 and then the pair fell out and now the female spends all her time trying to avoid the male. It's really sad as they were a good pair to begin with

 

[Akasha72]

2nd video threw up an error and I'm not waiting half an hour to upload again - sorry to those interested. You get the idea though 

 

[star4]

When they get like this leave the lights off, I am going through the same with my Urau at the moment, keeping the lights off keeps them much calmer.

 

[Akasha72]

yeah, I do turn the lights off when they get too much cos the other fish retreat to the other side of the tank to keep out of their way and it's not really fair on them. My only worry is if I have to keep turning the lights off to calm the angels my plants are going to suffer 

 

[Gvilleguy]

I am experiencing the same thing with my 'young lover' angels - I think mine are just over a year old as well. They have spawned twice so far. They REALLY go at it angrily - I thought they hated each other - but then they spawn.
 
Spawn 1: Mated for an hour - whenever the male would wander away she would be angrily all over him until he went back in the corner and got back to work. They ate the eggs an hour later.
 
Spawn 2: Mated for over an hour - then they took turns guarding the eggs for two entire days. I was very confused how they did it. Whichever one was guarding the eggs would become a total terror and not let the other angel get anywhere near the eggs. But then a switch would flip and they would switch jobs - and the new guard would aggressively chase away the other angel. At the start of day three they ate the eggs. I think the male started it.
 
Anyway, it's very interesting behavior to observe - even if I never end up with fry it's still fun. Thanks for sharing the video. 

 

[Akasha72]

they sound just like my pair. It's like watching a love/hate relationship! I keep wondering if they're just not a good match but then I had three girls and the one boy and he chose himself - it wasn't a forced match at all. Currently they are sat peacefully side by side in their favourite corner but give it a hour and they'll be biting each other and charging at each other. It's the fact that they tear each others fins that upsets me. I not bothered whether they 'fight' just don't tear each other apart in the process

 

[betta fish]

So I have all this to look forward to with my Angel pair 

 
My kribs have been funny with one another recently, only when they are in the process of breeding does all hell break loose! they were really good with one another initially and I allowed them to raise one spawn together the female was the guard and she allowed the male near, just recently they spawned again and the male was the guard, he viciously attacked the female anytime she came near the eggs then they were both fighting going round in circles tearing up one another! I immediately syphoned the eggs up and now they are in harmony once again, until the next time that is! 

 

[Akasha72]

yeah, cichlids will do this and that's why I wanted to share the video. The video I shared was them being pretty tame. The video that refuses to upload (and so I'm not able to share it) is them really going at each other - round and round, splashing about at the surface ... it's like watching a dog fight but in fish form! It's horrible
 
 
I just wanted to say .. if anyone else has angelfish (or any other cichlid) on video just doing what they do ('fighting'!) then please feel free to share here. Too many times now I've seen angelfish returned to an lfs because they grew up into monsters and the new fish keeper wasn't prepared for what was coming. I'd like to educate a little if I can on what kind of behaviour you can expect, not just from angelfish, but from all types of cichlid. If that stops them being returned to stores then it helps - in my mind anyway

 

[RobRocksFishTank]

I really wish people would stop saying that all cichlids are aggressive. That is false. Territoriality and aggression do not mean the same thing. There are plenty of peaceful species. That statement also scares people away from keeping some of the most beautiful and behaviorally interesting aquarium fish. Given a proper set-up and a well chosen community, even aggressive species can live together without death or injury. Knowledge is key. A little knowledge is dangerous. Please stop.

 

[Gvilleguy]

My angels are awesome community members. They are only aggressive toward each other when spawning so far. I also had Bolivian Rams for several years....also perfectly fine in a community setting. I agree cichlids are very interesting.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

This thread will remain open for discussion on the topic of the behavior of these angelfish.  Please note that not all cichlids are alike.  They represent a vastly divergent group of fish both in geographic location worldwide, water parameter needs, overall growth, activity level, temperament, etc.  Proper research should always be undertaken when deciding whether one wants to keep a specific specie of any fish, as there are so many to choose from that a single rule of thumb is often far less appropriate than it is intended to be.

 

[simplyfish]

My last pair of Angels were exactly the same, my pride and joy centre piece fish, but whenever mating the bickering got pretty intense! This eventually wore one of them down to the point he/she died.
 
I've still got the survivor who is otherwise pretty placid but I'm not going to try and pair it up again until I make some other significant changes and I've also got an escape tank.