Angel Mating behavior or aggression?

[jhunholz]

We have 2 zebra angels that were about 2 inches tip to tip when we purchased them in February. They are now palm sized. We recently moved them from a 55 gallon to a 75 gallon tank. Today we noticed light amber colored eggs on our Amazon sword (first time they’ve laid). They have been territorial of that Amazon sword for the last week. However we also noticed damage to our Angels sides and have witnessed some very aggressive attacking between the two. They both are still staying together near the eggs, but every once in while they start posturing, fanning out fins and moving toward the other one. Then at one point they went after each other seeming to almost lock mouths. Is this normal mating behavior or do we have a different problem? I didn’t think they were old enough to lay eggs yet as they haven’t been developed enough to easily sex them, so we’re a little in prepared to deal with this. 
 

75 gallon planted aquarium: 2 zebra angels, 8 praecox rainbows, 5 green moss barbs, 8 Venezuelan corycats, 5 nertie snails, 1 magenta mystery snail, and more rams horn snails than I care to admit. 
 

thank you for your thoughts and advise. 

[Fish Folk]

If the eggs stay amber, and don't all turn white (infertile) then you've got a pair. Sometimes pairing is a shared, caring process . . . perhaps other times the parents become defensive. One thing many Angel breeders do is to leave a light on for them 24/7 so that they do not reset at lights on, fight, eat their eggs, etc.

If you want to try to hatch the eggs, you can review something detailed like this thread: