# Is it wrong to keep angelfish alone?



## Shrimplett

As the title says, Is it wrong to keep angelfish alone? Do they like having friends, or are they just fine by themselves? Thanks


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## asukawashere

They do like to shoal, but ultimately it's up to you. The more angels you have, the more likely they are to pair off, and if two pair off they'll terrorize everything else in the tank (including their former buddies and your hand if you try to clean the glass). In that case, be prepared to move the pair out, whether to another tank or a new home altogether. If your tank is just angels, it might be good to have two—either they're of the same sex (no pairing) or, if they are of the opposite sex and decide to spawn, there's nothing else in the tank for them to hurt.

They're found in loose groups milling around tree roots/fallen branches in the wild, but they don't have conniptions if they're on their own—ultimately, they're predatory fish, and they don't have the same insecurities as tiny prey fish like tetras.


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## Shrimplett

Thanks asuka! 
I don't really mind if they pair but... I do mind if they become terrors. I don't really want them to bully everything in the tank, and I get attached to my fish so it would be hard for me to give them up if they did pair. So maybe just having my 1 angel is the best way to go. I just don't want him to be lonely. Anybody else?


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## Zapins

In large groups they don't bother other fish. I don't like keeping them alone, they do enjoy company and can get kind of bored/depressed alone.


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## niko

No, it is not wrong to keep a single fish which in Nature schools with other fish. You paid the $2.99 for it and now it is yours for your amusement! I myself often keep only half a fish. With some fish I keep just a quarter of an entire fish.

But when you do amusing unnatural things like that you miss on the very reason you liked this hobby - the look of Nature. Fish or plants in an environment as close to their own often have appearance and behavior that you will never see otherwise.


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## j03yyung

I think its wrong keeping 1 angelfish alone. You should at least get another one for a friend.


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## Yo-han

I'm with niko on this one. It's a schooling fish, keep a school or pick another fish! 

We humans are group animals as well. We do best in small groups around 20-50 people. How would you like to be kept alone for the rest of your life?

What do you think about keeping one tetra (or give him a buddy and keep two)?

We use the animals for our amusement, it is your duty to at least provide them the best circumstances you can or to be honest with yourself and admit you can't provide them with that (an aquarium too small or co-inhabitants that do not match) and watch the angels at someone elses home. But off course this is just my opinion, some might discard it as moral crap...


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## asukawashere

I think you're all putting too much value on the behavior of the wild equivalent of the domestic angel. If these were wild-caught fish, I would say they absolutely should be kept in a group, but the fact of the matter is that domestic-bred angelfish are so far removed from how they would exist—and therefore act and think—in the wild that they really don't have much in common. Personally, I think it starts with the lack of parent-raising. Commercially bred angels' eggs are removed as soon as they're laid and hatched separately from their parents—partly because many domestic angels can't raise their kids anymore and partly because it encourages the parents to lay more eggs quickly. That means they fry never experience parental care, never have any example to base their interactions with their siblings on, and maladaptive behaviors are never culled by natural selection. I'm not trying to suggest that angelfish fry are secretly geniuses that analyze every aspect of parental interaction, but there is strong evidence that cichlids are socially intelligent creatures, and at least some indications that they learn behaviors by interacting with other fish.

The point is, in a community aquarium setting, domestic angelfish will accept as companions just about any fish of a similar shape and/or size without suffering from any social deprivation. I've got a couple of blue pearlscale angels in my 120g, and while 2 hang out in the vicinity of each other (probably pairing off), the third hangs out with my kribs in the lower half of the tank and the fourth seems to be really fond of the blue gouramis (maybe he likes the way their colors match?). They could care less about each other; the only time I ever see them near each other is when they're all begging for flakes at the top of the tank. I've also kept single angelfish with discus (and vice-versa, which is a different matter), had angelfish that tore to pieces any other angelfish that they shared a tank with, and angelfish that didn't care what you put in the tank with them, so long as it wasn't small enough to eat.


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