angel

Question
Hi there I previously had 2 angels that have been paired up for 2 years , her mate has died and she is lost without him, my pet store informed me not to buy another male her size to pair up because she may become aggressive towards him and convinced me to buy 2 severums (sp) I purchased one yellow and one green and have put them in with her to keep her company........ ever since i put them in the tank she has been showing MAJOR aggression towards them ,   what i am wondering is , is she just testing them , or does she hate them and will kill them? If she will kill them what am i going to do , we live in a small town and i am not sure if i should or could sell her ( I HOPE NOT ) please let me know what you think ( my angels body less fins is aprox 3.5 in. and the severums i bought are maybe 2 inches  long.)  

Answer
Dear Tammy,
I'm sorry to say the petstore told you some bad advice. I believe they could be right about the female angel may become aggressive towards a new male but they shouldn't have advised you to buy Severums instead!!

Severums are one of my most favorite of the cichlids and I have devoted tanks just for them. I have kept both the gold and green together and seperate and have had many experiences with combining them with other fish. For one thing, Severums grow bigger around than your hand and some can reach 10 inches! Green Severums are much more aggressive than the golds too. What I'm mostly worried about is the green severum, as they grow has the great potential to do your Angel some real harm. When young, severums are quite peaceful--even timid when around other fish. But once they reach about 4-5 inches and beyond, they want to start establishing territories and may chase the Angelfish who are too small to stand up to their own. I currently own an 8 inch or so Severum who doesn't want to live with no one! ;-)

Right now your two severums are at their "vunerable" stage where they tend to be docile and easily bullied by other fish. But the tables can and will likely turn once the severums put on some good size. I can say that Gold Severums (whom I'm very fond of) have a very good personality as far as getting along with other fish. I have kept a large gold severum for a good long time with average community fish like larger tetras, rainbows, gouramis, corydoras, parrot fish and of course Angelfish.
So I have a good feeling your Gold Severum may do fine even when he/she gets larger. Of course, there are always exceptions like with all species in the cichlid world. You can almost always get an individual who does not match up in personality to what they say in books or on the internet. And unfortunately I cannot guarantee you will have sucess keeping the gold Severum and Angelfish together. But I just know from my experience (I've owned two to maturity before) that they have a very docile disposition and can get along with community fish like Angels.

Just keep in mind the Green Severum may be a potential problem later one. If they could be given a aquarium of their own or with other non-cichlid fish that can hold their own against the Severum, that would be best.

It is odd that your female Angelfish is being aggressive towards them. It could be that she thinks this is her territory or feels she is defending a 'once upon a time' spawning site. She may not let up either.

If it were possible for you to get a true male Angelfish from a petstore that would be wonderful. But it's very hard to tell males from females when Angels are young of course. It is possible to artificially pair up Angels. But it's really best to have a group of young ones and allow them to pair up naturally. They is likely very impratical for you. Many times though, if one individual out of an Angelfish pair dies, the other Angel may never accept a new mate. But sometimes it's worth a try if you can get a male Angel and try pairing him up with the old female. There may be some aggression. But eventually they may settle down and actually spawn! It seems in my experience that many Angelfish pairs tend to nip and display some aggression towards the other Angel.

For the most part they don't do any real damage and they spawn and hatch fry quite well.

I really hope this helps!
Best wishes and Happy Fishkeeping!
Karen~