I read that angelfish are actually schooling fish which I didn't know. I have seen so many single or paired angels while perusing tanks, and would like an angel, but as I only have a 30 g, I can;t get a school of them. Anyone notice an angel behaving differently/depressed when alone?
Do singular angelfish get lonely?
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yeah... I don't want to be selfish and just stick an angel in there because it's pretty.
In the wild angelsfish school. It may be to be secure in finding a nate or as a defensive behavior. But we need to remember that the wild does not have glass/acrylic walls and is at least a wee bit larger than our home aquaria. So, to elicit natural behavior we need massively larger aquaria.
From that logic it would seem rather obvious that aquaria fish behavior is not natural in most cases. Nevertheless, freshwater fish are quite adaptable. They tolerate differing water conditions, neglect, and us. Given all this there is one natural instinct that still survives, the will to reproduce. This is a social behavior even when they exclude all tankmates.
Since our fish are, for the most part, many generations from the wild and have never seen a National Geographic special, they will behave in ways that are appropriate for their world. Loneliness is a human emotion and we risk error in trying to tie our emotions to animals. So, while a lone angel may look for a companion we cannot call it lonely or depressed. It is just acting appropriately to its world. This could vary with wild caught specimens but the word to use would be stress.
I know I tend to ramble, but you get my point.
Charlie
From that logic it would seem rather obvious that aquaria fish behavior is not natural in most cases. Nevertheless, freshwater fish are quite adaptable. They tolerate differing water conditions, neglect, and us. Given all this there is one natural instinct that still survives, the will to reproduce. This is a social behavior even when they exclude all tankmates.
Since our fish are, for the most part, many generations from the wild and have never seen a National Geographic special, they will behave in ways that are appropriate for their world. Loneliness is a human emotion and we risk error in trying to tie our emotions to animals. So, while a lone angel may look for a companion we cannot call it lonely or depressed. It is just acting appropriately to its world. This could vary with wild caught specimens but the word to use would be stress.
I know I tend to ramble, but you get my point.
Charlie
I have a lone female P. scalare that I rescued from a 6g Eclipse. She seems to be "OK" in that she's active, takes an occasional interest in the other fish and keeps most of them from top-feeding whenever she's laying eggs (that's pretty normal for Angels).
I agree ^^.
I have seen many tanks with a single angel where the angel looks quite healthy and active and stress-free. Of course in the wild, they do tend to group with others of their species, but they are not a schooling fish of the type that will waste away and not thrive if they are kept alone. They can certainly thrive without another angel present, and I can guarantee you that they are neither 'lonely' nor 'depressed' LOL. I have a friend who had a single angel doing well in her 55G tank, and decided to add another as a 'friend' because her angel was 'lonely'. Well, the original angel decided it didn't like her choice of 'friend' and picked on the poor new guy until she had to get rid of him. The angel's back by himself, and seems not to miss his old tankmate one bit.
my angel seems happy without any tankmates. he does get excited when he sees me and the kids though.