New Aquarium -- Advice Needed :-)

[72Super]

Hello Everyone,
Well I kinda "fell" into a 48 Gallon aquarium...some friends of mine were cleaning out their basement and asked if I wanted it..."sure, why not..."
Anyway, I've had water in it for about 2 weeks now, with about 1.5 inches of gravel, some imitation plants, a pirate ship and some column ruins. I'm running an AquaClear 70 with foam, Zeo-Carb, and BioMax and the temperature is set to 84F/30C. Last week I added three black marble angelfish, and they have been doing very well. It took them about three days to get totally comfortable with their new home. Today I decided to add a common pleco, and suddenly I'm noticing some "hostility/bullying" between the angels. Is this because of the new tank mate? The pleco has been keeping to himself since I added him, so I thought it odd that the angels would get nippy...my other theory was that they were just hungry, as I noticed the hostilities start just before feeding time, but it continued after they ate...
Hopefully it's nothing to worry about, but any advice here would be much appreciated.

[Wingin It]

Angelfish are vicious in many cases. If you add some dither fish they might leave him alone...but Plecos are tough fish...they're pretty hardy. How big are your angels?

[72Super]

They're leaving the pleco alone but picking on eachother.
the largest angel is about 1.5" tall

[Wingin It]

Oh, I mis-read that part. I thought they were picking on the pleco...Doesn't sound like the angels are too big, but maybe they are pairing off or just picking on the smallest because they can. they probably won't stop until it's dead. I have a 6ft - 120 gallon freshwater tank with 8 med. triple black angels and 6 other tiny angels. They seem to get along fine as long as the smaller/faster fish are around for them to chase and exert some aggression on. It's also a heavily planted tank with lots of hiding spaces...the more you can offer, the better. I suggest that if you don't want to see the one being picked on die, trade it, sell it...whatever. Once the angels do pair off and start spawning they will kill, kill, kill!

[gobytron]

84f/30c...wow

is that not really hot?

[Milad]

84f/30c...wow

is that not really hot?

WOAH! i thought freshwater was suppose to be alot colder, thats hotter than my reef.

[Wingin It]

It is hot. :) I keep mine at 79F

[gobytron]

wow...
where in the world is freshwater naturally that warm?

I keep my planted FW CRS tank around 76 degrees....

I'm shocked that you would keep a fw tank warmer than a reef.

[Wingin It]

African Cichlids can tolerate temperatures between 74 and 82F. I've successfully bred and raised Cichlids on 79C so I just stick with it. Never attempted any higher unless treating them for ich but even then only keeping the heat up for a short time.

[72Super]

What can I say...I'm a newb...:neutral:
not sure what made me set the heater that high, but I have adjusted it and the temperature is right around 78F now.
Thanks for all the input, I have re-arranged my tank somewhat to give everyone more places to hide from eachother, and that seems to have helped.
Thanks again :biggrin:

[bill_e]

add five more angels ,should stop some of the hostility.:mrgreen:

[xblade]

Don't let their name fool ya...They are cichlids and can be rather nippy.

[Wingin It]

Don't let their name fool ya...They are cichlids and can be rather nippy.

Nippy and territorial like any other cichlid. :) Mine are hunting my Shell Dwellers right now :(

[Bugsy]

In my many years in this hobby I have found the higher the temp the more active the fish become. A temp between 78-79 is perfect for your fish. I have Discus and most die hard Discus breeders keep their tanks in the higher 80's. Not me, I keep mine at 78.

You should notice a difference with a lower temp plus like mentioned 3's a crowd and one will definatley get picked on. If you can buy 2 more the same size it will spread out the agression better.