Adding new Angelfish

[Stella]

Hi Everyone! 👋  Last July I purchased a pair of juvenile angelfish and put them in my 29 gallon tank.  They were fine together for several months but one of them began chasing the other and making its life miserable.  I moved the more timid of the 2 out of that tank, and left the aggressor. I have decided to upgrade to a 55 gallon tank, and would like to add more angelfish.  The plan would be to move the more timid angelfish back in to the 29 and moving the larger one to the 55, and then add a couple more juveniles.  If I add the juveniles should I put them in first and let them establish their territories first, and then move the larger fish in, or should I put everyone in at the same time?  

** Please excuse my dirty glass **

Edited March 2, 2022 by Stella

[HH Morant]

Nice looking angel!

Angelfish are always going to spar with one another to establish and maintain the pecking order. When only one fish is absorbing all the abuse from an aggressor, it can be too much stress on the victim of the aggression. Adding the two juveniles will take some of the pressure off the timid angel because he won't be taking all the punishment all the time.

I would put the two juveniles and the timid angel in the 55 and put the aggressor in the 29. That would give the 3 fish in the 55 time to grow a little and have the 55 as their home territory. Then you could add the aggressor a few weeks or months later.

Even spacing the entry of the fish this way is probably not going to change the pecking order. It is likely that when all the angels are in the 55 together the aggressor fish is still going to be the boss. But maybe having 3 other angels to absorb the aggression will make it bearable for all 3 subordinates.

[PineSong]

Great looking angel--is that the bossy guy? Kinda looks bossy!

 

[Stella]

@PineSong Yes, he’s the bossy one. He grew much quicker than the other and became a bully. Lol

@HH Morant Thank you!  I was thinking of a similar process. I think instead of putting the timid angel in with the others I’m going to move her back to the 29 after the bully is gone. I feel bad for her so I thought she could live in peace with the cardinals.