anglefish gangup

Question
Odette,

I have 2 silver angel fish and a black lace angel fish together in a 25 gallon tank.  One of the silvers is small, as is the black lace, and the other silver is much bigger.  It's only day three in the tank for them, but the balck lace has been chasing the little silver around the tank.  Sometimes he bumps into him on purpose.  He'll occasionally nip at the big silver, but the big silver just nips him back, he also nips the little silver on occasion, but he's really the boss of the tank.  Should i be worried about the black lace chasing the little silver?

Thanks,
Hardy

Answer
Hi again Hardy!

Sounds like your big silver is doing better? I hope he is! :]

Angelfish are still cichlids, and they will always show some aggression. Many times it can be minimized, but cichlids are always going to be cichlids. How big are your angelfish? If the size difference between your big silver and little angels are too big, the little guys may be in trouble, but it seems like your little black is doing alright keeping his defense up. Angels have rather small mouths for cichlids, and they won't be able to do too much of damage. What you may need to worry about will be their territory. If little silver looses all his territory, he may just have to hang out by himself in the corner, and his life will not be very bright. Usually if they are the same size, there isn't too much to worry about.

Although, your 25 gallon tank worries me a bit, I'm afraid. Angelfish grow big: 6-8 inches and up to a foot tall. You will eventually need to bigger tank-hopefully 55 or 75 US gallons being minimum. Or if they are living in species tank with only a few, small dottom dwellers, you may be able to squeeze them in a 40 gallons. They will not be very happy in anything smaller. The best way to setup an angelfish tank is to calculate the size of the final tank, get the number of angels you are going to for in the final tank at the same time, at the same size. For example, if you are going to setup a 80 gallon tank with 5 angelfish, you will get 5 of 2" (or whatever size you wish) and put them in either your 80 or your grow-out tank. Otherwise, if other angels (especially smaller ones) are added, the original/bigger angelfish may seriously harass the new ones, leaving them in the corner.

As the tank gets tighter, the harassment will grow. That will be the time to upgrade. I will watch their actions for now. Since it has only been your third day, things may change. If you start seeing little silver's fins getting torn or being cramped in a corner, you know he will suffer. And there are two types of chasing: playing chasing, and aggressive chasing. If they are just chasing each other around without nipping in a playful way, there is nothing to worry about. You can tell their aggression by how smappy and persistant they are. If you see lots of quick, snapping action, and keeping it sharp and chasing around the tank, you know he is being aggressive. If he only chases off when the other enters some territory like a cave or bunches of plants, you know he is trying to protect the territory.

Try to understand why they are chasing, and you may be able to find a solution. If they are fighting over territory, put more plants and caves, etc. Main key is to try to feel. If he is just being an aggressive cichlids, there may not be anything you can do. But always, Plenty of room in tank, enough food, and more plants/hiding places work to decrease the aggression. Try putting more plants in the back and around, and you can even try to pack/squeeze in as many plants as possible in one or two spots. You can try making little "rooms" with them, and try to have fun with them. Closing their sights from another helps with aggression with many indipendent aggressive species such as puffers; and angels should be similar.

Hope everything will be alright! Let me know if you have any further questions!

Good luck,
Odette