# Angelfish vs Java Moss



## Pens_Fan (Nov 7, 2006)

I have two marble angelfish about 1 1/2" each. My boyfriend recently gave me java moss to attach to one of my decorative pillars, and the java moss is taking hold really well. The angelfish seem to find it quite a tasty treat, and tear it apart as if they were dogs. Is this normal? Are they going to do this to every plant I get to put inside my aquarium? I also have an Anubias Gracilis (African Spearhead) that they don't seem to have much interest in. :sad: 

Why are they so obsessed with my java moss? Is it because it's so stringy and easy to wrap their little mouths around?  

Anyone else experience this? Or are my angelfish just that aggressive? :boxing:


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## sarcare (Sep 10, 2006)

Your angelfish have little mouths? That'll change--mine are pigs, who open their big mouths as wide as possible.

Any way, they don't "eat" live plants that often--they will eat decaying leaves, or algae. But they like to "clean" leaves before they start spawning. Mine will clean the leaves of the melon sword when they are in the mood.


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## Pens_Fan (Nov 7, 2006)

sarcare said:


> Your angelfish have little mouths? That'll change--mine are pigs, who open their big mouths as wide as possible.
> 
> Any way, they don't "eat" live plants that often--they will eat decaying leaves, or algae. But they like to "clean" leaves before they start spawning. Mine will clean the leaves of the melon sword when they are in the mood.


Yes, right now they have little mouths, they're only an inch and half big. They don't seem to "eat" the java moss, they just seem to grab ahold of it with their mouths and shake their head (like a dog) and rip a little piece off and then chew on it for a second or two then spit it out. They do this repeatedly! Wouldn't you think if they tasted it the first time and didn't like it they wouldn't do it again and again? :crazy:

I also believe they're 2 males. They chase each other around the tank 24/7. :fencing:


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I guess mine sometimes mouthe the Taiwan moss too, but they don't hurt it a bit. Who knows what they're thinking....


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## sarcare (Sep 10, 2006)

That is very typical angel behavior--they like to pick at things. I had some stem plants floating in their tank once while I was waiting to plant them. The bottom of the bunch had some decaying leaves, and the angels nipped them all off, and would spit them out after they had their algae treat.

Angels can be agressive, they are Cichlids afterall. I just had to move an angel out of my 55g to a temp holding in a 20g. He'd been mangeled in a series of brawls, and one of his pec fins was torn. Poor baby. 

I have a 38g with a pair of angels, and once they established that pair they really stopped their agression to one another, but they can not have other angels in with them. They do like plants, though, not just to "clean" but to provide a place to hide and explore. Plus if there are agression issues it is good to have somewhere they can hide--and plants are good for that. They can uproot plants if they are not rooted or stuck down well--or maybe they just come up themselves.

As to their mouths--mine will come to the top of the tank and stick their open mouths out of the water to get food. The smaller ones I have, that are about the size of yours do this--plus they swipe the food from the corys and the pleco. Bad piggy angels


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