# angel fish behaviour



## Joe1985 (Mar 28, 2012)

ive had my angel fish now for 2 weeks and their behaviour at first was normal but within a few days they have been acting quite odd, they seem disorientated, dazed and confused, whilst swimming they seem to tilt on an angle (one more then the other) and just sit there on the bottom (and again its one more then the other) my fish tank light seems daunting to them as when i put it on they get quite finnicky, i hope someone can help me as i am uncertain of what to do and dont want to lose my fish
thanks


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Not normal, but we will need more data to assess what this may be.

What is the pH of the water?
What is the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings, if you've tested?
What size tank, and what fish are in it?
What is the decor (wood, rock, plants, etc)?
Any live plants? Floating plants?
How long has the tank been set up?
When you added the angelfish, did you acclimate them slowly, and how?
What is the temperature in the tank water?

Byron.


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## Joe1985 (Mar 28, 2012)

ok well the tank is about 50Liters, its been set up for nearly 2 months 
there is 1 red eye tetra, 1 leopard danio, and 2 baby angelfish (only having them in there till i can get a bigger tank, they been in there for just over a month)
no live plants as of yet, 1 plastic plant and a centre piece a divers helmet
the temperature is around 24.5 degrees celsius to 25.5 degrees celsius, never goes under or higher,
when i added the angels in i put them in to tank but still in their plastic bag and i left it floating on the surface for about 20 minutes,
i have gotten in touch with my local council and ive been notified of the ph and hardness and so forth, the ph is from 7.5-8, GH is 60Mg a liter and the KH is 45mg a liter (sorry i dunno what that is converted to gallons or what not) 
hope this info makes sense haha 


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Joe1985 said:


> ok well the tank is about 50Liters, its been set up for nearly 2 months
> 
> there is 1 red eye tetra, 1 leopard danio, and 2 baby angelfish (only having them in there till i can get a bigger tank, they been in there for just over a month)
> no live plants as of yet, 1 plastic plant and a centre piece a divers helmet
> ...


​ 
Taking the water parameters first, temp is fine for these fish. The GH at 60 mg/l is roughly equivalent to 60ppm which is 3.3 dGH, so very soft. The KH is 45ppm which is 2.5 dKH. The KH does not impact on fish but it does work to buffer the pH, so a low KH as here means there is little buffering of the pH. This is not a problem with soft water fish (like those mentioned previously) and it means the pH should tend to lower into the acidic range (below 7) as the tank matures a bit. Just let that occur naturally.

A 50 liter tank is roughly equal to 13 gallons. You seem to realize that the angels will need much more space, so I needn't dwell on that. Your tetra and danio are shoaling fish which means they should be kept in a group. However, space is not sufficient for all this, and they are not the best tankmates to angelfish, so for the moment I would wait until you have a larger tank for the angels and then consideration can be given to the tetra and danio.

To the angelfish problem. It has been three weeks since your initial post, so I must ask how they are behaving now? No point in speculating until we know this.

Byron.


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## fish monger (Dec 29, 2011)

About the light, it's best to have the room light on for a while before you turn on the aquarium light and leave the room light on for a while when you turn the aquarium light off. Fish don't have eyelids or hands and can't protect themselves from the shock Otherwise, try a 50% water change with conditioner and see if there is a relatively fast improvement. If so, it's a water quality issue. Get a test kit and monitor the water for ammonia especially. Angels do have some funny behaviors. That's why they are so fun to have. Keep in touch with Byron.


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## Joe1985 (Mar 28, 2012)

with the update on the angel fish, one of them seems absolutely perfect, hes displaying natural aggression come feeding time hes fins are erect and color a nice black he/she seems to be going well, but with the other one seems very shy and not the least bit interested in the other angelfish n not territorial or aggressive at all its white with black stripes, this one acts weird on a daily basis im not sure if its anything in particular or its just being an angelfish haha it basically stays in the same spot of the tank all day and does not go up to eat like the other one but decides to wait for food to sink n go to it n then eat, and sometimes swims on a tilt (as i said not sure if its natural angelfish beahviour or not) but the major thing that worries me about this fish is that (i think i said it earlier) when i put the aquarium light on it freaks out, goes straight to the bottom of the tank n the fins droop over and shows signs of shock, even if i put light on for a few seconds he doesnt like it one bit! but the other fish dont seem to mind, ive recently had a theory, cos the light is one of those "blue" tynged lights maybe hes not liking that type of light as i noticed in the pet shop its white light, u think this may be the problem? it just means i have to have bedroom light on.
thanks for your help people


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Joe1985 said:


> with the update on the angel fish, one of them seems absolutely perfect, hes displaying natural aggression come feeding time hes fins are erect and color a nice black he/she seems to be going well, but with the other one seems very shy and not the least bit interested in the other angelfish n not territorial or aggressive at all its white with black stripes, this one acts weird on a daily basis im not sure if its anything in particular or its just being an angelfish haha it basically stays in the same spot of the tank all day and does not go up to eat like the other one but decides to wait for food to sink n go to it n then eat, and sometimes swims on a tilt (as i said not sure if its natural angelfish beahviour or not) but the major thing that worries me about this fish is that (i think i said it earlier) when i put the aquarium light on it freaks out, goes straight to the bottom of the tank n the fins droop over and shows signs of shock, even if i put light on for a few seconds he doesnt like it one bit! but the other fish dont seem to mind, ive recently had a theory, cos the light is one of those "blue" tynged lights maybe hes not liking that type of light as i noticed in the pet shop its white light, u think this may be the problem? it just means i have to have bedroom light on.
> thanks for your help people


You must never turn the tank light on or off without good light in the room. Daylight from windows or room lights that light the space around the tank. And this room light must be on for at least half an hour before and after the tank light is on/off. Sudden tank light can severely shock fish. Fishmonger mentioned this. And you can read more on the effect of light on fish here:
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-articles/lighting-how-affects-freshwater-fish-81982/

You should have floating plants in a tank with angelfish, and most other fish come to that. These fish live in dimly-lit waters, as that article will explain.

Do you see sings of aggression from the dominant angel toward this weaker fish? And this means after you have been sitting very still in front of the tank for half an hour or more, so the fish "forget" you are there and act naturally? This is not as silly as it may sound. When you move around the tank, the fish will have their main focus on you; they expect food, or they may view you as a danger. But sitting still for a space of time allows the fish to return to "normal" behaviours, and it is then that you can see things.

Byron.


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## Joe1985 (Mar 28, 2012)

i must look into floating plants ive been told about this as they dim the light n so on, the room has some light during the day but yeah not real much that most likely explains why he gets a little shaky, but its only the one angel fish thast seems to be effectred, i have monitored them on countless times to see how they behave, the dominant one has chased the other a couple of times but not all the time, thanks guys will check out the article


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Joe1985 said:


> i must look into floating plants ive been told about this as they dim the light n so on, the room has some light during the day but yeah not real much that most likely explains why he gets a little shaky, but its only the one angel fish thast seems to be effectred, i have monitored them on countless times to see how they behave, the dominant one has chased the other a couple of times but not all the time, thanks guys will check out the article


Another issue with the angelfish is that they should always be in a group, 5 or more, unless they are a mated pair. This fish lives in groups naturally, and establishes a hierarchy within the group with a dominant fish. Having a group means the dominant behaviour will be more likely to be spread out and not confined to the lone fish. When you have the larger tank, which should be at least 4-feet in length (such as a standard 55g or larger) acquiring a group of angelfish will be better. When there are 2 or even 3,k one of them will be dominant and the other(s) will almost certainly be picked on. You can read this in our profile.


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