Angelfish help

[botgirl2000]

On May 7th I added a male and female spotbreast angelfish to my tank. it is a 220 gal tank. The only other fish are 2 tangs and 7 green chromis along with the clean up crew. There was a bit of chasing the first two days and then everyone settled down. I was so happy with my tank, it was lively and peaceful. Now for the last two days my anglefish have been hiding in the live rock and will only come out to feed, then they go right back to the rocks. I miss not seeing them swimming around (especially the female, she is so pretty), any ideas why they are hiding all day? any suggestions how I can get them to quit hiding, I'd hate to re-arrange the rock because they always slept there and I wouldnt want to stress them out, but I would like to see them once in a while. My water conditions are fine, and they are the only two fish acting strange. Thanks!

 

[lion_crazz]

I would definitely not re-arrange the rocks and risk stressing them. Have you noticed any fish in the tank harassing them or acting more aggressively? Do they only hide during the day or is it all the time?

 

[botgirl2000]

They are hiding all the time, and will only come out when I feed. My Kole tang threw a temper tantrum when they first showed up but that only lasted for a day or two. The only aggrssion I have seen is the male angel would chase the female once in a while. I was very careful to make sure that all of my fish were the same same size at the time of purchase so the smaller ones didnt get picked on (with the exception of the chromis). Everyone is behaving as they should. The tangs graze all day, the chromis swim around in school formation, and the cleaner shrimp perch themselves on the rocks begging to clean anyone that is willing. The male started hiding about three days ago, the female followed him in hiding the next day.

 

[richl]

Have you observed them for a solid hour or two? The Tangs don't have to be harrassing them constantly for them to go into hiding. I had a similar problem where a Yellow Tang was periodicaly tail slapping a new French Angel. It seemed to happen whenever the Tang felt like it. Sometimes he just swam by, other times he slapped. Anyway, it was enough to send the angel into hiding. Mine wouldn't join in feeding and looked stressed, so I ended up moving the Tang.to a QT and the angel came out of hiding. Do your angels come out to feed? My tank is much smaller than yours, so I hope you don't have to do anything as radical. I am wondering if rearranging your rocks might help. I had to remove most of mine in order to catch the Tang. I put everything back but not exactly the same. The otther fish spent a lot of time exploring the new rock structure, but seemed to adjust to the changes without undue stress. Maybe this would keep your tangs busy for a day or two?

 

[tangs rule]

Quote:
Originally Posted by RichL http:///forum/thread/385789/angelfish-help#post_3386889
Have you observed them for a solid hour or two? The Tangs don't have to be harrassing them constantly for them to go into hiding. I had a similar problem where a Yellow Tang was periodicaly tail slapping a new French Angel. It seemed to happen whenever the Tang felt like it. Sometimes he just swam by, other times he slapped. Anyway, it was enough to send the angel into hiding. Mine wouldn't join in feeding and looked stressed, so I ended up moving the Tang.to a QT and the angel came out of hiding. Do your angels come out to feed? My tank is much smaller than yours, so I hope you don't have to do anything as radical. I am wondering if rearranging your rocks might help. I had to remove most of mine in order to catch the Tang. I put everything back but not exactly the same. The otther fish spent a lot of time exploring the new rock structure, but seemed to adjust to the changes without undue stress. Maybe this would keep your tangs busy for a day or two?
+1
Tangs are very good a "training" other fish in the tank, if the tang wants to be alpha fish. Most other fishes learn very quick to stay out of the way, and avoid confrontation. I'd bet your angles are fearful of the tang and thus staying out of sight. Re-arranging rocks or even catching the tang and putting him in another tank for a few days should help.

 

[fish freak2012]

Yeah we had a very similar problem with our Kole tang and Regal Angel. we intervened a little too late, and lost our angel and ended up taking the tang back to the store. we had to take most of the rock out of our 265 to catch the fish tho. so if i was you i would just remove the kole tang. i have heard that they are one of the most peaceful tangs, but now i don't believe that.lol