Angelfish Question

Question
   Hi, ok let me first give you a description of my tank. I have a 45 gallon freshwater tank. I have 14 black neon tetras, 1 large marble angelfish and 1 small silver angelfish. I also have various live plants. The fish seem to be doing fine but yesterday I got 4 new silver angels which are just a touch smaller than my marble angel. When I placed them into the tank they all seemed to get along but within an hour my marble angelfish appeared to be trying to establish dominance over all four of them. He would chase them around a little and sort of nip them every once and a while, he dosen't appear to be doing any damage to them though.  I especially notice this behavior when any of the new angelfish swim higher in the tank than the marble. The thing is that the marble angelfish leaves the smallest silver angel alone. Is this normal behavior? I would really like these beautiful silvers to have a good home in my tank. Thanks for any advice.

Answer
Hi Brent,
 Yes this is normal angelfish behavior.  Be sure that you have enough structure in the tank (i.e., wood, plants) to divide up the space somewhat so the smaller angels can get out of the visual range of the dominant one.  

 Angels look delicate but they fight just like any other cichlid and they can be very territorial.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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