My angels won't spawn (calling all experienced angel breeders)

[zooking12]

A year ago this May, I bought my first two young angels. I got them some friends and they went strong. Some died over the months until there were 3 left. Then one day, arbitrarily, two of them attacked the third. I removed him, and the angels quickly proceeded to spawn. They ate that spawn, and the few after, and I removed all the other fish except the cories. I went to my lfs, and the owner suggested that the cories, being nocturnal, harassed the angels at night, causing them to abort. I proceeded to remove the cories, and then got wigglers. They all died, but the next spawn got free-swimmers up to a week old. But the pair began fighting amongst themselves. It seemed to be linked to light, and the female was always the one attacking the male. Once that spawn died, they stopped spawning. I removed the female, then replaced her in the 55 with the male. They fought again. I moved her back to the 40 gallon, and then the male. Nothing. I put them back in the 55 and began restocking it, hoping the presence of dithers would make their pair bond stronger. They got back together, but didn't clean a spawning site. So, after about a month, I put them back in the 40 gallon with a pair of kribs. Then I added tetras. For almost two months, they've been cleaning an amazon sword leaf to the point where it is beginning to die, and yet they refuse to spawn. I've since realized that it is the males bars that are typically faded that trigger the female. Whenever they become dark and vivid, she snaps. Is there ANYTHING I can do at this point other than adding a new angel for new pairing? This is irritating me. Thank you all

 

[Tandanus]

Hi Zooking, just wondering if you do regular water changes? Also you mentioned light. It may sound obvious but you do need to turn the lights off at night as usual. Some people leave the lights on when their fish have spawned but constant lighting causes stress. Also when the fry are free swimming they need to be fed a few time per day. If you have future success with a spawning, perhaps remove the male. The female will be quite capable of rearing fry on her own. I have fry currently and I feed them 4 times per day with good quality crushed pellets and frozen baby brine shrimp. They are thriving. Good luck..

 

[cbourg746]

Hi Zooking, just wondering if you do regular water changes? Also you mentioned light. It may sound obvious but you do need to turn the lights off at night as usual. Some people leave the lights on when their fish have spawned but constant lighting causes stress. Also when the fry are free swimming they need to be fed a few time per day. If you have future success with a spawning, perhaps remove the male. The female will be quite capable of rearing fry on her own. I have fry currently and I feed them 4 times per day with good quality crushed pellets and frozen baby brine shrimp. They are thriving. Good luck..

+1 on the water changes and light schedule. IME most of my spawns with various types of cichlids have followed a water change. Something about the cooler fresh water gets them in the mood.

 

[Michlol101]

This was 2 years ago guys

 

[cbourg746]

This was 2 years ago guys

What do you mean 2 yrs ago? This was posted yesterday.

 

[Michlol101]

What do you mean 2 yrs ago? This was posted yesterday.

Oh no it was his join date awkward hahha

 

[zooking12]

Yea this is as of now. It started about a year ago. I've only been keeping fish for about 4 years. Angels are weird

 

[dwayne.aycock]

I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but I get spawning all the time! I have about 12-15 Angels in a 75 gallon tank that is heavily planted. (Amazon, Ozelot Swords, Anubias, Java Fern) I use 80% R/O water and supplement my plant nutrition with root tabs and micro / macro ferts. My tank temp is 82 degrees. My hardness is about 3, My PH is 6.5. I use a combination of VHO full spectrum flourescent and LED lighting (white) during the day. Whenever I turn on the blue LEDS at night, I ALWAYS have a spawn of 200-300 the next morning. My water changes are 3X per week at 20 gallons per change so 60 of 75 gallons. My R/O water is held in a 65 gallon drum outside that is heated, aerated, circulated with a 350 Gph powerhead, a 13W U/V sterilizer and finally a trickle through peat and indian Almond leaves before going into my holding tank. My holding tank PH is 6.5 to 6.8. I know R/O is naturally soft but I am not doing anything else. Love Shack.....I don't know, but I have an average of 2-3 spawns per month.
D

 

[zooking12]

I LOVE YOUR AQUARIUM!!!!! Do your pairs every fight amongst themselves?

 

[dwayne.aycock]

My pair never fight, but they are territorial towards the other fish. I use a tank divider and everything seems to be OK. I have about 10 angels as a result of spawning and segregation from the other fish. They started out as very tiny, nut are about quarter size now. I had even more (about 30) of which I gave back to the breeder I got them from. As I hear it, these fish are doing well too. D

 

[zooking12]

Ok, so I suppose the targets may be a factor. I'll try that. Otherwise, your setup is too magnificent (expensive) to replicate. Thanks

 

[FishCr8zy]

Ok, so I suppose the targets may be a factor. I'll try that. Otherwise, your setup is too magnificent (expensive) to replicate. Thanks

When the fry hatched, did you feed them? Fry need special care and need to be fed 2 times a day. When they fought, did they just kinda budge each other or try to kill each other?

 

[zooking12]

I fed the fry the fry food, and was sure to make sure their tiny bellies were full. And when they fight, it's a full on attack. As in scales get ripped off, and fins get utterly destroyed. They lock lips and kind of spin out of control. I figured out the trigger, but I don't know how to fix it. Can angelfish, for lack of a better term, fall "out of love?"

 

[FishCr8zy]

I fed the fry the fry food, and was sure to make sure their tiny bellies were full. And when they fight, it's a full on attack. As in scales get ripped off, and fins get utterly destroyed. They lock lips and kind of spin out of control. I figured out the trigger, but I don't know how to fix it. Can angelfish, for lack of a better term, fall "out of love?"

Angels can't fall out of love. They stay partners their whole life. That is some serious damage those angels can do.

 

[dwayne.aycock]

When I see a lot of fighting, I lower the temp to about 78 degrees over a 4-5 day period. I reduce my photo period from about 6-10 hours per day down to about 4-6 hours per day. Sometimes I do a little plant rescaping which also seems to help reduce territoriality.

 

[FishCr8zy]

When I see a lot of fighting, I lower the temp to about 78 degrees over a 4-5 day period. I reduce my photo period from about 6-10 hours per day down to about 4-6 hours per day. Sometimes I do a little plant rescaping which also seems to help reduce territoriality.

Yes. Plant/decor moving will help with territorial disputes as the fish will lose control over his/her territory after its gone/moved.

 

[zooking12]

But these fish are a single pair. They share a territory. Last time I did that the male took a territory and attacked the smaller female. And as for the temp, I tried it. But I'll try both simultaneously to see if that works. The tank is big enough for one territory, though, so if it doesn't work, the female is screwed.

 

[herp_mommy]

I agree, do a major water change, about 50% and see what happens. That always encouraged my discus to spawn

 

[bob mccoy]

the key to getting angels to breed is high protein food and weekly pwc with cool water to imitate there breeding cycle. i have 10 pair and 22 tanks and i get about 1000 or more fry a month.

 

[FishCr8zy]

the key to getting angels to breed is high protein food and weekly pwc with cool water to imitate there breeding cycle. i have 10 pair and 22 tanks and i get about 1000 or more fry a month.

Wow! Do you sell all the fry or keep them? 1000 fry is a lot! What temp do you suggest?