# Angels Hunting



## Ray (31 Jan 2009)

Finally found some false/green/blue neon tetra's (Paracheirodon simulans) and added a dozen this evening.  They are quite small - 2cm, but I figured they can grow before my two angels get big enough to eat them (the angels are about 4.5 cm).  However, within two minutes of me adding them the angels started making runs at them.  There is no way that they can fit in their mouths but that's not stopping them trying.

Question is, have I made a classic blunder here, or will this settle down over time?  Usually I leave the tank in darkness after a new addition but I've actually put the lights on now so the neons can learn the lay of the land and see what the angels are up to.


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## Mark Evans (31 Jan 2009)

when had my platinums, embers started going missing   i think when size starts to play a bigger part in the equation you may find 1 or 2 may go missing, but then i'm no guru on angels ray.


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## Ed Seeley (31 Jan 2009)

I think you know the answer to this really...   

If the angels are hunting them then they obviosuly think they can eat them!  I don't fancy their chances I'm afraid.  Can you remove the angels for a while and let the Neons grow and become used to the tank before reintroducing them?  It might not work but I think it's the best option you have I'm afraid.


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## samc (31 Jan 2009)

i had some parrots which had small mouths, large neons went missing


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## jay (31 Jan 2009)

Definite mistake, think you was warned about that Ray  
The problem is, the angels are going to grow quicker than the neons..... so either emove the angels for a couple of months and allow the neons to grow. Then add the angels again. (personally I still dont think this will work)
Your angels seem eager to turn them into snacks. They'll keep doing it until they can actually fit in their mouth.


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## Ray (31 Jan 2009)

jay said:
			
		

> Definite mistake, think you was warned about that Ray





			
				Ed Seeley said:
			
		

> I think you know the answer to this really...
> 
> If the angels are hunting them then they obviosuly think they can eat them! I don't fancy their chances I'm afraid. Can you remove the angels for a while and let the Neons grow and become used to the tank before reintroducing them? It might not work but I think it's the best option you have I'm afraid.


  Yes, yes, I was warned about this - I am a subborn headed fool    It is more likely yours truly who is guilty of wishful thinking than the angels...

But when I saw RedStevo was keeping ember tetras with full grown angels I went into a sort of denial...  His angels must lack the voracious wolf pack killer instinct mine have.

The neons should have been the first to go in, or maybe I should have stuck to the lemon tetra's idea...

They do look stunning teamed up with the Rummies en masse.  Bother!


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## Thomas McMillan (1 Feb 2009)

I would take the neons out and just set up like a 30l tank to grow them out a bit. The angels still might eat them when you put them back in the main tank afterwards, but its worth a try.


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## gratts (1 Feb 2009)

I don't see how removing and then reintroducing them later on will solve anything?
As has been pointed out, the angels will grow quicker, so the only way that could work is if you put the angels in a very small tank to stunt their growth, which is of course ridiculous!
Just take the neons back and get more suitable fish.


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## Ray (1 Feb 2009)

Well, today thank goodness, the angels have stopped overtly chasing the neons all over the tank and are going about their normal business.  I am suspicious they might be either covertly or opportunistically hunting them, but they are studiously ignoring the neons as far as I can tell.  The neons spent all day schooling up and down with the rummies and I still have 17 which is 2 more than I requested in the shop  :? 

I will monitor the situation and get ready to act - removing one or the other group if necessary.   :?  Does "wait and see" make me a bad person?  If anyone wants to flame me I'll understand that.  Other people keep cardinals with angels, my LFS does, so did Dusko http://www.180liter.blogspot.com/ for example.

Ho hum....


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## Ed Seeley (1 Feb 2009)

Keep them well fed and see how you go mate.  They'd probably have been eaten already if they were still in the wild!  If they start disappearing remove the rest ASAP.


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## jay (1 Feb 2009)

Yeah don't beat yourself up about it Ray.
Just have to see what happens I guess. But I'm sure you'll be having to swap them (maybe about 15  ) for something a bit bigger. 

Is a shame you didn't wait and put the neons in first, but from the look of your angels... I wouldn't have waited either.


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## Thomas McMillan (2 Feb 2009)

if all goes badly, you could always swap for cardinals i suppose, not the same i know but a similar fish all the same and quite a bit bigger.


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## beeky (9 Feb 2009)

I had some half grown angels and introduced a shoal of glowlights which I thought were too big and exactly the same thing happened. The angels chased them about and I was on the verge of removing them, but a couple of days later everything settled down and now they've all grown up to adulthood together with no losses. In the "old days" I believe neons and the like were eaten by angels but due to inbreeding, the angels you see now are smaller than they used to be, so you can get away with it.

It also makes a difference, IMO, if angels are added before or after the smaller fish. When angels live in the tank they get used to food being introduced and they'll think the small fish are food when added later.

Just my thoughts.


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## Ray (9 Feb 2009)

beeky said:
			
		

> I had some half grown angels and introduced a shoal of glowlights which I thought were too big and exactly the same thing happened. The angels chased them about and I was on the verge of removing them, but a couple of days later everything settled down and now they've all grown up to adulthood together with no losses.


Thanks beeky, this is how it seems to be with me too.  The angels are now oblivious to the neons, and the neons are not schooling so tight anymore (although I did see the whole school perform a sudden about face when confronted with an angel in a narrow space yesterday, which was funny) which also shows they are not being harassed.  Funnily enough on the angel forums it says to add angels to a community tank before other fish and they will do better - ha!

I have no idea how the neons survive in the wild, they are completely hopeless at evasive action.  The angels on the other hand, can be quite sinister and much more adapted to night operations than the tetras.


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## beeky (9 Feb 2009)

Cichlids (like angels) do tend to me more intelligent than tetras and the like, that's why they have that bit of "character".


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