[kelikani]

Okay. Lets get the basic information out of the way.
-55 gal with 1 severum, 3 angelfish, 1 balloon molly and 4 cories
-water parameters are perfect (tested just now)

I think that's it. Anyway, on to the emergency here. As mentioned above, I have three angelfish. Two of them came as a pair- Sekhmet and Hathor. They have always quarreled a bit, with Hathor being the dominant one, but never have they gone so far before. I've had them since August last year so when I saw them nipping each other on the mouth this morning I thought nothing of it as that's their typical behavior. However, I came home from school today to find Sekhmet completely beat up. Her scales were nipped off, her eyes bit at (they're a bit cloudy), and her fins completely ragged up. I immediately put Hathor in a plastic pitcher to separate her from Sekhmet. Now she's swimming around the tank really slowly, only moving when my severum gets too close. I know that if I let Hathor out of the pitcher she'll go straight for Sekhmet and probably finish her off as she's already really close to dying. I do NOT want to lose any fish obviously so any advice? I have a 2.5 gal cube that I could put Sekhmet in and float in the tank. She would be able to fit and swim around no problem, but is that a good idea? If I really have to, I'll go out and buy another tank, though.

But that's not all. I'll probably have to keep them separate for several days, maybe even weeks, but I'm leaving town tomorrow and won't be back til next Monday. I won't be here to monitor the activity of my fish. I really do not want to come back to a tank full of dead angelfish. Not sure what you guys could do to help me with this one but I could use advice on how to separate the fish and what to treat Sekhmet with. Thanks.

 

[kelikani]

I decided to go ahead and put Sekhmet in the 2.5 cube for the time being since my severum was starting to pick on her and he usually never does that.




You can even see Hathor in the background of the photo above. The second I let her out of the pitcher she went straight for Sekhmet and tried to nip her through the cube. -sighs-

 

[Tolak]

Short term get a divider, keep the beat up angel separate from the rest. Do a large water change before leaving. You'll probably want to pick up a 10 gallon for the battered fish, 50% daily water changes for a week, every other day for the second week, wait 10 minuted before adding dechlor.

 

[jeaninel]

Do you know the sex of them for certain? You may have 2 males.
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[kelikani]

Tolak- I'll definitely be doing a water chance before I leave. I have a 5.5 tank that's currently in use by a single male betta. I thought of moving him to the 2.5 and let it float in the 55, and switching his place with Sekhmet so she goes in the 5.5 gal just until I get back. I know my mom will want nothing to do with water changes but the 5.5 has a filter set up already.

Jeaninel- no idea. I just took to calling them both females and the third angel a male. It might very well be the other way around! Does it really matter what sex they are, though? They're been inseparable all this time. I don't understand why Hathor suddenly turned viciously aggressive.

 

[Tolak]

Go with the 5.5 for the angel. Sometimes pairs have a falling out, if you do indeed have a pair. Unless you've seen them spawn it's only a guess. As angels mature they will get territorial, and can get pretty aggressive. Sometimes pairs are aggressive to each other unless spawning.

I've had laid back pairs that share a tank with other angels without much mayhem. I've had pairs take over a 55, then had to put cardboard between the 29 they got relocated to and the tank next to them. I sell pairs that are too aggressive to each other, with a warning.

 

[kelikani]

Go with the 5.5 for the angel. Sometimes pairs have a falling out, if you do indeed have a pair. Unless you've seen them spawn it's only a guess. As angels mature they will get territorial, and can get pretty aggressive. Sometimes pairs are aggressive to each other unless spawning.

I've had laid back pairs that share a tank with other angels without much mayhem. I've had pairs take over a 55, then had to put cardboard between the 29 they got relocated to and the tank next to them. I sell pairs that are too aggressive to each other, with a warning.

I haven't seen them spawn but their behavior made me assume they're a pair. At this moment I'm going to keep them separated and see what happens when I get back. If Hathor keeps on being super aggressive I suppose I'll have to rehome her. Thank you very much for the advice.

 

[kelikani]

Update if anyone was reading this.

Sekhmet died. She was just too far gone. I'll be looking for a new home for Hathor when I return from my trip. I know it sounds stupid to some because they're "just fish", but they're more than that to me. And I can't really look at Hathor without thinking that she caused Sekh's death.
If anyone wants her for free and has a suitable home for her where she'll be the only angelfish in the tank, feel free to PM me.
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[RSVBiffer]

I am very sorry to hear of your loss, it is never easy to lose a fish. I think what you have probably witnessed is an Angel maturing. Angels are cichlids which, on the whole, tend to be fairly aggressive in their adult form. I am no expert on Angels at all but I am pretty sure that I have read that they should be kept in groups of six or in a largish group of an odd number to spread any aggression 'around'. If I am wrong on this then I hope that somebody will correct me who has more experience with this type of fish. It is always awful to lose a fish but it is a part of fishkeeping unfortunately. Not that it really helps but try to remember that the fish is only following its instincts which have been developed through numerous generations of its ancestors.