Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping => General Fishkeeping Chat => Topic started by: CardinalTetraphilia on April 12, 2020, 05:20:31 PM
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I have 6 angelfish of all different colour variations in a 125 litre tank. I've had them for about 4 months and I plan to move them to a 450 litre tank soon. They've all been growing well apart from one. He/she seems to be the odd one out and even swims a bit weirdly. But I still love him/her the same and have named him/her Pirate due to his black eye patch. The problem is he/she tends to get out competed for food and is about half the others' size. I have another tank (65 litres) which is bare bottom at the moment but I suppose I could buy some plants and gravel for it. I was wondering whether it would be best to move him/her into it. However I do plan on breeding them eventually and I want them to form pairs. If I do this should I move him/her into it along with another fish ? When I move them into the 450 litre tank I don't want him/her to be bullied. Or should I just leave him/her to avoid stress of moving? Any answers would truly be appreciated!
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65 litres isn’t really big enough for an angelfish, it sound like a hierarchy has formed between the fish which is natural, it may also be that by moving them to the 450l that this hierarchy is reset (though it’s doubtful a fish would go from bottom to top). I would probably be looking into different strategies for ensuring your fish gets food whilst in with the others. Can you spot feed it first by targeting where you drop the food? Can you add some food near the filter outlet so it get blown into the water column as well as being on the surface? Can you drop food at one side to distract the others them put some at the opposite end for this fish too?
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Thanks for your reply @Matt ! Yh my friend said that too. I usually try to confuse them and reset the hierarchy by changing up their territories every time I do a water change and he/she never seems to rise to the top :( But yh spot feeding sounds like an easier option. He/she usually waits below the others to catch what food they miss. So I'll try and distract them while feeding him/her. Thanks so much that was helpful !