Please Help, New Angel fish getting Bullied!!!

[sutton81]

Hi, I have recently upgraded to a new tank ( and i love it! corner aquarium, i actually have no need for a tv anymore!!! ) Anyway today i bought a new angel fish! I already had one in the aquarium. Now the new fish is gettin bullied badly, evertime it tries to come out into the open the old angel fish chases him. The new fish looks stressed! Any tips? What can i do??? The fish are of similar size! Help!!!

 

[Avalon]

You'll likely want to permanently remove the fish in order to remove it from the 'pecking order' initiation. If it can't fight back in order to establish any type of dominance, it's fatally doomed.

You can either wait it out for a bit & see what happens, modify the aquarium in such a way as to reset the established social boundaries, or remove the fish. A wimpy fish is nothing more than bait unless it can establish itself somewhere amongst the pecking order.

 

[TheRainbowFish]

You could add other fish (community fish) that would calm things down abit as the big boy would be thrown off, but it couldn't be just one. I'm guessing a schooling fish like tiger barbs that have a bit of bite (I dont know what species) instead of completly remvoing the fish and not having anywere to put it other than the dunny. ; p

 

[MissFishy]

You don't say how large this tank is, but it sounds like the new fish you bought isn't compatible for your tank situation. I would return it to the fish store instead of sentencing it to being bullied to death. Try another type of fish, IF your tank is indeed big enough for more.

 

[misterking]

It sounds to me like the original has become accustomed to the tank and therefore claims the whole thing as his territory. What other fish do you have in the tank?

Personally before making the decision to return the new angel, I'd rearrange your tank a bit which would hopefully lead to your original angel losing its sense of territory. If that doesn't work then unfortunately you'd either have to return the new one, or trade in the old one if you want more angelfish. If it's had a bad reaction to a single new-comer now it's probably going to react the same to future angelfish.

MissFishy raised an interesting point there, how big is your tank? And touching on what TheRainbowFish said, I wouldn't add anything with "bite" if it includes fin-nippers like tiger barbs, especially not with the flowing fins of angels.

 

[sutton81]

Hi Everyone, thanks for your replies.
My tank is 280 litres, i also have 2 catfish, 4 Platy, 1 balloon ram, 6 baby platy. I have changed the tank around, however because its a corner aquarium its difficult to break the line of sight. I went to my local supplier and they told me to get another angelfish - now they are both getting bullied but it is more spread out! I also had a major tank dilema last night, i medicated the water a few days ago with anti finrot for one of my platy! Came home last night and the entire aquarium is cloudy!!!!!!! Had to put all fish in smaller aquarium and doing another water change tonight. I am quite annoyed about it as i have used that medication before and the same thing happened!!!! All the fish died that time! Due to that i only used half the recommended dose to avoid this and still happened!!! Anone else had this problem??

 

[Kitty4rmalbq]

I haven't had the finrot med issue nor has my mom, as far as bullying I purchased my angelfish to be closer in size to avoid too much bullying-My mother used to breed angels and has found that the pecking order is small beans and doesn't require as much bullying if the angels are closer in size assuming, of course, that your angels don't just like to fight. She reccomends the same for adding new to the tank or forgoing your line of sight for a few days in order to truly disorient the larger fish into feeling everyone is on a more even keel.

 

[Matt Nace]

The medication used for Fin rot like Maracyn 2 or anti bacteria meds can kill your good bacterial off also. Which is probebly why your tank got cloudy and maybe why your fish died the first time around. It probebly had an ammonia spike.

Finrot is usually from water quality leading to stress or a result of an injury such as a fish nipping at the fins. Does the Angel harrass the platy also? If he is after everyone...some fish or he should be removed.

 

[sutton81]

Thanks everyone for replying! Here is the latest update. The cloudy water became so bad i had to transfer all fish to smaller old tank, do several water changes. Whilst in the smaller tank the angels got on really well! couldn't believe it! Guess that really did re-establish their boundaries! Anyway they are back in the new tank now! (280 Litre) And they get on fine! Very happy!! Thanks for everyones help and advice!

 

[1077]

In the future, If you are only treating one fish for symptoms,, It would be best to move the one fish to smaller tank and treat the smaller tank with medications. Much cheaper to treat smaller volume of water. Medications should be used as directions indicate and for the duration indicated .
Fin rot and fungus as others have noted ,are often a sign that water conditions have, or are, deteriorating. If the water quality is not kept up to par= 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites,and nitrates of twenty or below,, Few medications will produce desired results and I would expect the condition to return or get worse. Many medications will cloud the water. It would be in best interest of fish for you to test the water before moving all fish to smaller tank which in itself,would stress the fish unnecessarily.

 

[FroggyFox]

Cloudy water is not a good reason to move fish to another tank...especially if its a bacterial bloom...the cloudyness is not hurting the fish!

 

[MissFishy]

Did you figure out what this cloudiness was? It was likely just a bacteria bloom which isn't really a problem and a normal part of fishkeeping.