Joy ~ there has been SO MUCH going on that I haven't had time to really come back and type about, but I have been sharing with Bryan (bs6749) because he has experience breeding angels and has been a lot of help. But, here goes for the update....might be kinda long....
Well, on day two, when I got up in the morning, I noticed that there were more solid white eggs (not fertilized) and there was also this white fuzzy stuff starting to grow on the white ones. I got all upset, figuring it was too late to do anything. I, did, however want to make their next spawning more comfortable for them, so I returned my 5 lamp eye tetras to the LFS because they are just too darned hyper for me and they were also stressing out the angels. So, I put in a tank divider, knowing they would be hard as **** to catch. Thank goodness my best friend was available to help me. She had much more patience in the catching than I did. She caught them and we took them back to the lfs. All this time, in the morning, I had noticed my angels were acting really strangely. They were swimming over to the slate I had in the tank and cleaning it like mad....I thought to myself..."is she gonna try moving those good eggs over there??" But, then I dismissed the thought and just figured that would be their new spawning site. Even the guy at the lfs said "yeah...they are just preparing to spawn again and that is the chosen site"....so...I did some errands and came home briefly before getting my kids from school. I checked on the angels before leaving and COULDN'T BELIEVE MY EYES.....The female angel was taking the "good eggs" off of the fuzzy leaf and depositing them on the slate. I was enraptured! Then, when I went to look closer at the eggs....THEY WERE WIGGLING! She was taking load after load of wigglers in her mouth and putting them on the slate to be safe! It just tugged at these ole' mommy heart strings of mine!! I think she even "taught" the male how to do it also, because before long, I saw him in action as well. They even watch the wigglers on the slate and if one of them starts slipping, they pick them up with their mouths and put them back on top. It is absolutely amazing! I awoke this morning to still having wigglers on the slate, so we will see how this all goes. If any of them survive and get big enough, I will move them over to their own tank and eventually to the lfs they will go. I am just amazed at how wonderful and smart fish can be. Like I told Bryan in a PM....I got into this hobby for relaxation, so I hesitate taking the wigglers out at this point. I want to just let nature take its course and if any survive big enough to move, then I will move them over. It will become too stressful for me to start really "breeding" them and I feel I wouldn't enjoy it as a hobby anymore. So, that is my reasoning for now anyway...could change my mind down the road, who knows! Anyway...that is the update. Will try to post more as it happens!!
BTW --- how can I be sure these little guys are fertilized. I know I have read somewhere that the color should tell you...but I just can tell. They appear darker in the pictures than they do in "real life". Both parents are taking turn fanning though and being very protective. I guess they would still do this even if they weren't fertilized, huh??? Can you tell I am a complete newbie at this....
