Nippy Angelfish?

[MeiTnerium109]

Today I woke to a nice surprise... my glass knife was tattered and missing much of his finnage. Then I saw that one of my angelfish was picking on him, constantly going up to him and nipping. I ended up moving the nippy angelfish to my brother's new tank with an oscar and a jack dempsey (both juveniles).

Has anybody ever had an angelfish that nipped other fishes? I do have two in the tank which have been constantly with each other; do you think they may be starting to breed, and have sought out the glass knife because of his typical hiding place--my amazon sword? I sexed the nippy angelfish as a female because of it's plump belly, but I could be terribly wrong.

Also, could separating my angelfish break them up? I'll only have them away from each other until the knife heals, since my brother's tank is new (set up four days ago) and incapable of handling too much bioload.

 

[gomezladdams]

Angelfish are cichlids.Most cichlids are territorial.The name does not describe thier disposition.Yes separating a pair is liable to interrupt the bonding process.

 

[MeiTnerium109]

Angelfish are cichlids.Most cichlids are territorial.The name does not describe thier disposition.Yes separating a pair is liable to interrupt the bonding process.

In that case do you suggest I move the other angelfish in with its companion?

EDIT: I moved the angelfish back into mine and removed the glass knife to the family 10 gallon. Is this a good strategy?

 

[MeiTnerium109]

Hey, does anybody who's actually bred angelfish have any advice? It appears to be the female who's acting aggressively (she has a bigger belly than the other) and the male is acting peacefully, as usual. They don't seem to be guarding any territory, and the female is 2-2.5 inches long with the male being 3-3.5 inches long. I've had both of them since September, when they were half as long. This pair seem to school together, unlike my last pair of angelfish which were often on opposite sides of the tank. The glass knife ended up dying anyway, so he's not a concern anymore.

When I had separated the angelfish in my brother's tank, she took a small chunk out of the Oscar's fin! She also attacked a minnow that I dropped in for my needle nose gar.

 

[Andrewtfw]

Yesterday at TFW, I had to move two poly. Delhizi from a tank full of nickel-size gold angels because the angels were biting at the fins and tail of the Delhizis. Yes, Angels can be a bit nippy; plan accordingly.

 

[JenTN]

I have a pair of Angelfish that spawn regularly (they eat their eggs after a few days). Their tankmates are peaceful- Bolivian Rams, Cardinal Tetras, Flame Tetras, Corys, and a Bushynose Pleco.

The Angels are HIGHLY aggressive when they spawn. When the rams spawn, they nip at the other fish to protect the eggs, but the eggs get eaten overnight by the corys. When the Angels spawn, it is as if there is an invisible barrier in the tank (55 gallon). Before and during, no fish will cross to the 1/4 of the tank where they spawn. Seriously, no fish attempts to go over there. My guess is if I put in more aggressive fish that would push it, the Angels would kill them.

I have lost two flame tetras, and I think they were both nipped by Angels. The flames are the only fish that sporadically zip up to the angels and tick them off, though not at spawning time. I've seen the flames get bitten a couple of times when they couldn't dart away fast enough.