29 gallon breeder tank

[icon149]

I'm going to get a 29 gallon breeder tank for my pair of Angels (one silver one marble). I'm planning on leaving it bare bottom and getting some sponge filters (or maybe putting a sponge over the intake of a HOT power filter. I'll have regular flouresant tube light (keeping light levels fairly low).

Now for the Question,
what else should i put in the tank? a piece of slate, maybe some clay pots. I was thinking of using a piece of drift wood and some java moss, java fern, and maybe annubis attached to the drift wood. Will i have any problems growing low light plants with out a fertilizing substrate? Should i have anything in the tank at all? I figure the Angels will never be comfortable in a bare tank. Is this true?

Oh and I hate artificial plants :x

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

Is this a tank you plan on actually breeding and rearing the fry in, or are you going to use it as a "nursery" tank to hatch and rear the fry yourself?

 

[BrianNY]

Most commercial breeders use bare tanks and remove the slate to raise artificially when the spawn is done. As long as the pair get along, and there isn't too much traffic, you don't need anything else in the tank.

HTH

 

[TankGirl]

The setup you describe sounds great in terms of creating a nice environment for the spawning, and yes you should be fine with the java moss and fern and anubias in a lower light tank - I have a tank like that and they do very well, no substrate required.

Angels aren't known for their parenting abilities, so I am curious as well if you plan on removing the eggs or removing the parents. If you remove the eggs to another tank, you might as well go ahead and put in a substrate and treat it like a typical tank, or you could leave it as it is, for that matter.

You can certainly leave the eggs and hope for a good pair of parents - it is not unheard of, and would be a great experiment if you are not prone to disappointment, LOL. There are no hard and fast rules! (well, not too many....wink

 

[icon149]

I am hopeful that the parents can rear the young. The last time they spawned the parents defended the eggs in my 75 gallon community from two schools of tetra (neon and rummy nose) two other angels, and a bunch of algea eater type catfish (loaches, plecos, sae, oto's). The parents didn't lose the eggs till they got to the free swimming stage (about a week) and then i think the little ones just got to far from mom and dad. So i'm hopeful that they will rear there young. If not i will put them back in the community tank and raise fry in the 29 away from the parents.

 

[TankGirl]

That sounds encouraging, really! Did you leave the lights on all night for them to protect the eggs? That was a real accomplishment with all those egg-eatin' types in there.

I would say then that what you propose to put in the tank will work just fine, and I can't say if they prefer to have stuff in there, but I can only assume that it will help. You can't pick what they will spawn on, but it might be wise to use whatever they spawned on in the big tank.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[icon149]

No the lights went off every night as usual (on a timer). This is the only time i've seen them make an attempt at really defending the eggs, the previous 3 spawns where gone over night. It was this parental behavior that got me thinking i should really breed these two angels. I'm hoping I can just put them in the tank and let them do there thing with little help from me.

I will be getting the tank this weekend, so I will set it up and start it cycling. I've got enough filters in my other tanks that i should be able to use one of the seeded filters on this tank and water from my community tank (75g) to get it started without having to cycle it.

 

[BrianNY]

OK, I'm involved in breeding some fish as well. I make things as simple as possible. That means the tank is bare as bare can be. The fish don't need plants, gravel or anything else for that matter.