Weird angelfish aggression

[stanleo]

my mated pair has been together for over a year. They regularly spawn. There is another angel in their tank that is one of their babies that is now full grown. They live in 110 gallon long. They spawned a couple days and now the male is chasing the female away and they are really going at it. They keep locking lips. He’s chasing the other angel away so I know that’s not the other parent. The mated pair has never fought with each other so I don’t know why they are now. Should I destroy the eggs? Will they stop fighting?

 

[Anizzo19]

Ive been having the same problem in my tank. I think the pair in my tank went and killed the other 2 angels in my tank this week.

 

[Byron]

my mated pair has been together for over a year. They regularly spawn. There is another angel in their tank that is one of their babies that is now full grown. They live in 110 gallon long. They spawned a couple days and now the male is chasing the female away and they are really going at it. They keep locking lips. He’s chasing the other angel away so I know that’s not the other parent. The mated pair has never fought with each other so I don’t know why they are now. Should I destroy the eggs? Will they stop fighting?

This is not uncommon, among many cichlids; I've seen it with rams too. The pair that have successfully spawned several times may not have been bonded but just tolerating each other until now. Or they may have bonded but for some reason now that bond has broken (think of it as a marriage then divorce, much the same thing). The presence of the third angelfish may or may not be the catalyst. If that third angel is male, he is likely not going to last much longer if the "dominant" male has now turned against him.

Unless you have a very large tank with say 6+ angelfish that have been together permanently from juveniles, a spawning pair should be on their own. Even with the larger shoal, it does not always work out, but that is a more natural situation for this species.

Ive been having the same problem in my tank. I think the pair in my tank went and killed the other 2 angels in my tank this week.

This is due to what I mentioned above, and is completely normal behaviour. A group of angelfish in any tank regardless of how large the tank might be should never be fewer than five, and more is better. The fish will form an hierarchy within the group, which usually prevents any individual fish from being harassed to the point of death, thopugh a pair forming, bonding and spawning can change this. Two, three or four angelfish is never advisable. Two will work if they are a pair that have bonded, though as the initial issue in post #1 shows this is not always guaranteed.