Angel Fish Behavior

[Z06-Hec]

I tagged this question along with another post previously and got no answers...

My Blue Face angel is mostly anti social and hides most of the time...
Every once in a while he comes out and does this little dance or whatever you want to call it...
Only with my Majestic Angel, it will turn around and they start rubbing tails or slapping tails... Not sure what to call it but they both end up backside facing each other doing a shaking action...

I mean I know of the tangs doing this... but angel fish?
They will even do it side ways sometimes... it doesn't seem friendly but it really isn't aggressive either though.
Anyone?

 

[Humblefish]

I believe it's a dominance thing. I had a Blue Angel that would use his tail to smack an eel away from a rock he wanted.

 

[eatbreakfast]

It is a showdown of sorts between them. Angel fish within the same Genus or closely related Genus dont really like each other that much so they will "fight" to see which one gets the better territory, first dibs at food, etc. In a large enough tank it isnt a big deal, but if there is not enough territory for the both of them one will be attacked any time it shows itself and slowly waste away.

 

[Angelmom2]

We've had freshwater Angels that have done the tail slapping & shaking. They also would egg each other on with small forward charges. With our fish , I think it was about dominance.
Your angels could be doing it for dominance, or maybe just playing if there is not really any aggression. Fish do strange things.

 

[Z06-Hec]

they are both adults and i had the majestic the longest, the blue face is the new guy about 2 months or so. The blue face is always hiding but every once in a while it comes out and does this tail dancing... no biting or nipping.
My Majestic used to have an Emperor angel as a tank mate but it died. When they were both there, they were the best of friends. The Emp wouldn't leave her side always followed her everywhere and she was the boss of the tank.

 

[Angelmom2]

Maybe they would do better if you added a third Angel back into the tank. The LFS always told us if there were 3 or more, they wouldn't behave with the tail slapping etc.
We ended up rehoming them after they killed another fish.
Good Luck. Do you have pictures of your Angels?

 

[Z06-Hec]

I would love another one but dont think i have the room for it. I never had 3 at same time always 1 or 2 angels.
6 foot 150 gal but i have a large purple tang, med powder blue tang, baby hippo tang and the 2 angles.
Here is a bad shot of the majestic in the corner, the blue face i have to work on getting a pic.
I wanted to get another Emperor or maybe a Regal, but dont think i have the room for it.

 

[Z06-Hec]

LOL actually you can see him peeking out there on the left side of the shot...
Thats him always hiding and peeking like a fool.

 

[Angelmom2]

Beautiful Fish!! Thanks for sharing. It's amazing how fast we outgrow our tanks. We have gone from a 14 gal nano cube to an upgrade in progress to a 40 gallon, with future plans for a 265 gal.

 

[Angelmom2]

Yep, he sure is peeking out, our Goby does that.

 

[Z06-Hec]

Thank you, that shot is only half the tank. It is 6' so for now its definitely long enough for another fish, but I'm scared when they grow that i will need to get rid of one or upgrade. Particularly worried with the hippo tang.