Bellus angels

[caietaro]

I have two small female bellus angels in my 140g (63 x 24 x 25); they’re both about 2”. I really love the Bellus, they’re great, so I was contemplating adding a male to end up with a trio. DD has been getting in some nice males recently, but they’ve been a lot larger than my females at closer to 4” or 5”. How likely is the size discrepancy to cause issues? I thought about getting a third small female and letting one turn male, but from what I’ve read it’s not a guarantee that one will turn; they could all end up staying female.

 

[Maritimer]

Even if you add a male, there's no guarantee you'll end up with a trio. From what I understand of these fish, unless he's sufficiently "inspired" he may just as easily revert to female himself!

Any males would be significantly larger, as your females aren't yet mature.

~Bruce

 

[eatbreakfast]

The size difference can help adding a third bellus go a little more smoothly.

Adding a male to a similarly sized female can result in the new male being bullied.

However, 140g isn't a whole lot of room for the social dynamics for a trio of bellus angels.

 

[maroun.c]

+1 ID either add a larger male or a small female. If u add a male anemone of ur females has started transitioning it might lead to fighting. Also a clearly dominant fish imposes submission faster. They are beautiful fish but end size is rather large I have a couple of semifasciatus in a 400 g and wondering about adding a third

 

[mort]

Ime Bellus are pretty slow growers, so you will have a large size descrepency for quite some time. With other planktavores, letting the dominant female change can make things go more smoothly than adding a wild male, who can be more aggressive. However with this you might not get a sex change at all and I've kept trios of bellus for years with no inclination of changing. Maritimers excellent advice above is also my understanding as I've read about lots of males reverting back or staying in a kind of sex limbo, with a little of each sexes colouration.

 

[caietaro]

These are all great points, thanks everyone! These two females rank pretty high on my list of all of the fish I’ve had, so I think I’ll skip adding a large male; I don’t want to risk upsetting the current generally peaceful relationship they have. Maaaaybe I’ll consider adding a third small female if I can find a healthy one similar sized, since they do seem to be fairly slow growers, and just keep a close eye out for any aggression issues as they grow if I haven’t upgraded my tank size by then.

 

[maroun.c]

Aggression is normal with these as the dominant one will push to ascertain it's dominance and potentially turn male. So frequent charging during the day is normal. Yet torn fins and one fish isolated in tank corner or hiding all day and not eating is a sign to pull one out. If u do adenine I'll use an in ntroduction box for few days.