Mating Angels.

[Crustyshellback]

I recently had to move 2 of my angels from my 55 gal to my 20 gal tetra tank because the other angel were picking on one of them. Everything was was fine for several weeks. Everyone got along fine. I know my bioload is too high, and I need to make a change. Well, early this week, the angels laid eggs on a leaf of an anubius nana and everything changed. The angels were protecting the nest, and had everyone else cowering in a corner of the tank. We set up a 10 gal nursery tank that we seeded with water and material from the other tank and transferred the leaf to the new tank. All of the eggs died. Things are back to normal in the 20 gal. My wife would like to set up the 10 gal as a breeder. I've done some research, but would like some opinions. I would like to give this a try, but don't want to become a full time breeder.

 

[sinibotia]

You need a LOT of tanks for it. I recently started breeding my angelfish and for just one pair's fry I have two 10 gallons, a 26 gallon, and a 55 gallon all FULL of fry! Planning on getting two 40 breeders for more fry.

I would just put the pair alone in a 20H or 29 gallon tank. Every time they spawn it will be a nightmare for the other fish.

To get the eggs to hatch you need to have constant water flow over them (put an air pump running over the leaf) and something to prevent fungus.

 

[Crustyshellback]

I hadn't really considered the space requirements for the fry as they grow. the local LFS will take the offspring, but I'm sure they would have to be a certain size first. That leaves me with the problem of what to do with the mated pair. I love all of my fish and don't want to get rid of them, but I don't want to have to go through this all of the time. I suppose I could put the male back in the 55 and leave Pearl in the 20 with the tetras. If that doesn't work, I'm at a loss.

 

[sinibotia]

I hadn't really considered the space requirements for the fry as they grow. the local LFS will take the offspring, but I'm sure they would have to be a certain size first. That leaves me with the problem of what to do with the mated pair. I love all of my fish and don't want to get rid of them, but I don't want to have to go through this all of the time. I suppose I could put the male back in the 55 and leave Pearl in the 20 with the tetras. If that doesn't work, I'm at a loss.

I think that would at least stop the aggression.

 

[Crustyshellback]

If I set up a tank for the pair, (I'm thinking 29 gal bowfront) is there anything that I could put in that might take care of the offspring issue and not be threatened by the parents? As I said, I'm not interested in becoming a full time breeder.

 

[sinibotia]

If I set up a tank for the pair, (I'm thinking 29 gal bowfront) is there anything that I could put in that might take care of the offspring issue and not be threatened by the parents? As I said, I'm not interested in becoming a full time breeder.

Unless you're very lucky (or unlucky) they'll take care of the offspring issue themselves- angelfish have had the parenting skills bred right out of them. The only thing you might get away with in a 29 gallon with a pair of angelfish is some corydoras, but I wouldn't even try that myself.

 

[Crustyshellback]

I was thinking along the lines of a cleaning crew. Something interesting to help take care of excess food in the substrait and algae control. I would also plant the tank.

 

[Andy Sager]

I hadn't really considered the space requirements for the fry as they grow. the local LFS will take the offspring, but I'm sure they would have to be a certain size first. That leaves me with the problem of what to do with the mated pair. I love all of my fish and don't want to get rid of them, but I don't want to have to go through this all of the time. I suppose I could put the male back in the 55 and leave Pearl in the 20 with the tetras. If that doesn't work, I'm at a loss.

If you need to keep the fish, the best is to keep them separated from each other to prevent them from breeding. Make sure you put the female by herself or not with any other Angels. The problem with egg laying females is that they can lay eggs without the male present and get aggressive when they do so. So separating them does stop some of the aggression from the male but then you still need to deal with the female. If you do have a breeding pair, they can be worth some money to your local pet shop and you might want to consider trading them in for smaller Angels and raise them up again.