Finding a Sexed Male Angelfish

[ianeberle]

I recently discovered that my female black angelfish is laying eggs (see picture below). She is probably about 8-9 months old because I got her maybe 6 or 7 months ago when she was very small.

Since I know that she is of breeding age and obviously wants to make little baby angelfish (apparent by her laying eggs... this is the second time she has done this now), I want to get her a male companion.

My tank is 36 gallons and I have this angel, 4 skirt tetras, 2 bristlenose plecos, a rainbow shark, and a bumblebee catfish in the tank. Do I even have room for another angel? I think I do

I've looked on AquaBid and eBay and I cannot find anyone selling a sexed male angelfish. I understand that they are hard to sex, which is probably why there aren't any on there.

Finally, if I were to find this sexed male angelfish and he happened to be about the same size as my current female, how can I even add him to the tank without her being territorial?

 

[butterfly_koi]

I would venture to say that you could fit an Angel in there but you might see some aggression between the Angels and the other fish. Remember that Angels are Cichlids after all and a breeding pair can get aggressive.
Once mature Angels can be easy to sex but I usually rely on Bob McCoy or Andy Sager for that.
If you do happen to get a male rearrange the tank so the fish have to reestablish their territories. Don't be surprised if the males gets picked on for a week or so. Once the pecking order is established he should be fine and the two could possibly pair up.

 

[Teakwood]

I agree with the above. And if you choose to get her a male while they are rearing eggs they will seclude all the other fish to one side of the tank. The local breeder I got my Juvies from had what I think was a 40g breeder with 7 angels (temporary set up) in it and the breeding pair took over half the tank and made all the other fish stay on maybe a half to 1/3rd of the tank. If you try that I suggest getting a breeding cone and setting it to one far corner so the angels will use that to lay eggs, if they lay in the middle of the tank all other fish will be kinda miserable... Not sure on the sexing part but you could look online and find breeders who are selling males on there own....

 

[bob mccoy]

great advice koi-- what i would do if u want to breed them is get them there own tank or rehome the other fish. angels are easily stressed by other fish when in breeding stage. in my opinion angels breed great in a 20 gallon tall tank or a 30 . i would get 2 or three more and put them in and see which one hooks up with her. i have blacks also. see how your female has a smooth forehead and a chubby belly well as a guessing guide the male will have a hump on the forehead and be skinnier but this dose not always hold true. the only true way is to wait till they pair up and breed. if u get another couple send me some pics and ill try to help. pm me with any questions

 

[ianeberle]

I looked for angelfish breeders on Aqua Bid and eBay and they only sell angels in pairs or in groups of 4 or more. I cannot find anyone selling a single male. I'm not really interested in getting a group of angels unless I rehome ALL of my other fish.

If I get a group of angelfish, how many would I want to get for a 36 gallon tank? I've read some places that if you can get an even number of fish (like 4 or 6), they aren't as aggressive.

I've always wanted to start a angel-only tank, so this seems like a great opportunity! My LFS always has tons of angels (don't know if they have any angels the size of my current one or not) and they accept donations, so I can take the tetras, shark, etc in and donate them to the store and then buy some angels. I always feel bad donating fish, but I never have any friends to give them to instead

 

[Teakwood]

You could try to find a few angels and see if she pairs up with anyone then take who she doesn't pair with back to the Lfs.

 

[ianeberle]

I'm emailing a few angelfish breeders right now in hopes to find my fish a boyfriend

So far I've only got one reply and they said breeding angels range from $49 to $149 for a sexed single angelfish, which is what I want.

Is this a fair price?

 

[Hholly]

Have you looked on Aquabid? Or you might want to check these guys out
http://www.mellowaquatics.com/Single-Angelfish-WYSIWYG_c_1.html

 

[Spongeandgary]

You would have room, however if your really intent on breeding angelfish put them in their own tank. The pleco will most definitely destroy the eggs (first hand experience). As to sexing angelfish, everything Ive ever read claims you really can sex them. I did however come across information once that said if your look at the belly between the pectoral and anal fins, a females body is flatter and meets the anal fin at roughly a 90 degree angle, a male's body meets the anal fin at roughly a 45 degree angle. I have used this method throughout the 16 years Ive dealt with Angels and haven't been wrong yet. Ive had 4 breeding pairs throughout this time.

 

[Andy Sager]

I would have to say that unless you are serious about having a pair of fish by themselves, you should really consider whether you want to spend that kind of money on a "boyfriend." As was mentioned above, Angels are cichlids and as such really like having space to themselves for breeding. They will cause chaos in the tank and can possible damage or kill off the other fish in the tank when they are ready to spawn. If your intention is just to "see what happens" you might be better off just waiting until she is a little older before finding a mate for her. At 8 or 9 months old, she (obviously) is old enough to breed but I have found that fish that young, tend to have smaller eggs and subsequent fry thereby making the fry harder to raise. I will grant you that from the picture, she looks like a larger fish but pictures can be deceiving Let her be for another 3 or 4 months to grow and mature. The eggs she's laying now will just be good food for the other fish in the tank. The good news is that once they start laying, Angels can go like clockwork for a number of years. The few spawns you sacrifice now should really play no role on future spawns.

Hope this helps