Angels courting or killing?

[luvfishies]

After doing the daily waterchange on the 20g with these 3 angels, the silvers, and the black, I went and did the rest of the tanks. I came back to the silvers displaying a definate blue iridescence, one chasing the black, which I expected, but then here's where it gets weird:

The silvers locked lips and butted each other around. There was no damage at all, and I watched CLOSELY. The black took off like a scalded cat when the silvers were doing this. 5 mins later they were "dancing" for me again while I filled the changewater buckets....

Is this courtship?  Is this just settling down after adding a 3rd Angel? I really don't want to lose any of these guys, and CAN move them around a little, if I REALLY have to. I"d rather not just yet though.

Oh, they have gone from about 1.25" without finnage to just over 2"(without fins) in a month. Would they even be mature enough?

***worried Angel Mom***

Just looked again....the larger silver definately has scales missing........grrrrr

 

[Jay S.]

Sounds like you have 2 males fighting.

Angels arn't breeding size until 3 inches. Sounds to me that the one that ran away is a female and the two are males fighting to prove who is the boss

 

[luvfishies]

Well it seems that blackie is now the dominant fishie.....I WAS warned that s/he was....

The larger silver is the one in hiding now.

Looks like another (larger) tank is in order, and a couple more angels the same size, if I can find them.

 

[VooDooFishy]

I agree with Jay not breeding behavior there. Chances are your black could be female and the silvers are male, however 2 females will fight to.

 

[rummynose]

I might disagree, sounds a lot like my angel threesome when they breed.  Breeding is stimulated with water changes with Angels, I think it puts'em in the mood.  One sure way to tell is to look for their genital papillae on the underside of the fish.  This is also the only way I know to sex them.  When they are courting, the genitals clearly pertrude with the female having a larger short nipple like and the male a more slender and long structure.  If their not there, they're probably not courting.

oooh, sorry for such a graphic post.

 

[tabby360]

How do you tell the difference in sex between angels. Im thinking about getting some.

 

[VooDooFishy]

Sometimes but not always, males have the typical cichlid hump on the head. But really the ONLY way to tell for sure is by the breeding tubes. The females is shorter and more rounded while the males is longer and pointier(makes sense if you think about it : LOL) But on unmature fish there really is no true 100% conclusive way to tell...luck of the draw. You should however most definatly end up with atleast 1 pair buying 5or6 fish though.