# Rainbowfish bullying my angelfish?



## Austin (Feb 1, 2010)

I heard that rainbowfish were very peaceful fish. However, I have 3 boesemani rainbowfish in a 44g tank with 2 angelfish at the moment. Thats ALL There is, except for a smallish female platy, and now 2 bristlenose plecos. I am having issues though! My rainbowfish have completely frayed fins. I don't know what is causing it. Could the rainbowfish be picking at them? I sometimes forget meals. The fish tank is out in semi-detached office room and I don't really go into that room other than to feed my fish, and sometimes I forget to feed them, never for extended periods. Anyways, I got 10 philipian blue/pinoy angelfish in my 50g tank right now and I want to move some into my 44g to make space in my 55g for them to grow up properly. I don't want those to get destroyed though. I also eventually would love to have 5 angelfish, 3 boesemani (could it also be the limited group size causing their aggression if thats the reason)?, and 1 bristlenose pleco in my 50g, however, idk if the boesemani will be a problem. The boesemani are also crazy feeders - could they stress my angels?  I really like both fish but I want them in the same tank (the outside tank is not one I see often enough to consider it for a separate species). 

The angelfish have looked like this for practically weeks and idk what to do:


















Thanks for any help! :/


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## Myrox (Oct 29, 2013)

This is interesting to me usually angels will be the bullys. I have two angels in my tank with 4 female thredfin rainbows and one male the angles beat them up pretty bad. Also the angles could be fighting eachother. Maybe try to get on a regular feeding sch. Hungry fish are aggressive fish.
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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Yes, keeping just 3 of the boesmanis will likely contribute to the aggressive behavior. I'm sure you don't want to hear this, but they aren't well suited for your tank size which will also elevate their level of aggression. I really wouldn't consider the larger melanotaenia species to be peaceful, really. They are large active fish that play rough from time to time.

In my opinion the best thing to do would be to return the boesmani and get a group of 8 dwarf neon rainbows.


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## jeaninel (Aug 24, 2007)

Boesmani Rainbows are very active fish and not really a good tank mate for more sedate fish such as your Angels. They're probably stressed. When I had my Boesemani I found that they aren't really as much bullies as they are just very hyperactive and yes, little piggies when it came to feeding time. I kept mine in a 4ft long tank and they utilized every inch of that length.
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## Austin (Feb 1, 2010)

The 44 gallon doesn't have much room to swim... however, the 50g is 4 feet long. They were doing fine with my angels before I just moved them outside so I could keep the majority of angelfish alone so they could grow to a size I thought would be more able to hold their own when it comes to feeding. But I may have to get rid of them. :/ May give them one more shot inside though and see how the longer tank works with more decorations. The outside tank is fairly barren. I was going to get 2-3 more until I realized how hyperactive they get when feeding... I always feel bad getting rid of fish but I may if I need to... they are just so beautiful.

Thanks for the advice


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## FishyFishy89 (Jul 3, 2011)

This type of Rainbow fish requires a larger group. Atleast 6 of each other. Without a larger group, they may continue to be aggressive. I remember wanting a group of these in my 75 gallon, but after further research, I decided against it and wanted nothing but the best for my angels.


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