Angelfish Egg Care Questions

[jackcaspian]

I have three Angelfish that I have had for a couple months in a six month old 55 gallon setup. I raised them all from when they were each about the size of a Half-Dollar. Just 2 or 3 days ago, two of them paired up and laid eggs. (I will probably sell, put up for adoption, or move the other.) I instantly went to work finding out as much as I could about the eggs and how to care for them. They were laid on the leaf of an Anubias Nana that had grown on to a piece of drift wood. On the first night, only about 3 or 4 of the eggs had fungus. But by the second night there were approximately 15 with fungus. I was alarmed at this but was temporarily comforted when I read that the mother angelfish will eat the eggs with fungus.
On the third night though, almost half of them were covered with it! But alas when I came home today, they were all gone. They had been eaten by the mother. I was very sad about this, as I had just informed my friends that the angelfish had laid the eggs.

I send this so that I can be critiqued on what I have done wrong in the hopes that whatever mistakes I have made won't be repeated. I am relatively new to the hobby, as I have about to approach my one year mark.

Here are some pictures from before:





These pictures were taken after they were eaten:



Please send helpful advice.

,Thanks

 

[KinsKicks]

Hello!
This may be considered a late reply...but I hope I can offer some advice to those whom may see this!

Firstly, congratulations! Watching angelfish breed is quite fun, and you own a handsome pair: my own pair of are the koi variety. So, there may be a few answers as to why the eggs were eaten and I am going to try to supply as many reasons as I can from my own experience and research.
As an FYI, I allow my pair to raise the eggs themselves...I find that they are much better at it than I could be and you don't have to stress too too much.

• while fungus may grow on eggs, I usually find that they seem to spread and grow faster on the unfettilized ones; they tend to die sooner anyhow. If they are a first time breeding pair, your male may not have quite figured out what his role is in the whole process! It took mine three spawnings to figure it out. Unfetilized eggs will have a translucent look to them, finally turning opaque white. Fertilized ones will have a translucent-brown color to them...similar to brown sugar (success!).

• lets say that they successfully fertilized the eggs, there is always a chance that they eat them "just because" and there are a few reasons to this.
- Firstly, a lot of breeders, commercial or not, like to cull and raise the eggs themselves...there is a theory that it takes away the parents' ability to act like parents, and they subsequently lose the skill, hence eating the eggs because they don't know what to do with them. This happened with mine as well...however, after a few spawning, they settled into parenthood well and took care of their babies. If you really are worried and want to save them, you can cull them yourself and raise them. Looking around the forums and further research can show you how to do this successfully.
- secondly, and more or less likely depending on your environment, if there are other fish in the tank or they become suddenly spooked, they may eat the eggs as a defense mechanism. It is thoerized that, essentially, rather than nourish and potential predators, they will just eat their own eggs for protection.

• basic signs and such...parents may not eat as much during spawns. They are on duty! Avoid over feeding. Don't be too worried if it seems like they're eating them. Sometimes they actually are and sometimes they are attempting to move the spawning site of the eggs. Careful observation can differentiate. Additionally, try not to mess with their spawning sites too much (as in rearranging them in the tank). I find this sometimes delays or prevents their spawn times. Other times, they may not care (better safe than sorry though).
- finally, to end this basic breeding rundown, don't stress out too much! Have fun, and watch aquatic natures' little miracle!

Although this information is quite primitive (and long!), I hope it's somewhat helpful to beginners. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me! I love helping.

 

[Andy Sager]

The following link is to a thread which was an ongoing discussion by both hobbyist and pro Angelfish breeders. Pretty much everything you need to now about breeding and raising this fish was discussed in this thread. It's long.......because there is a lot to know. There is a lot to know because the fish does not always have a "standard" they follow. Some are excellent parents from the start, others are bad at it. Some grow into the role, some eat eggs forever. All that needs to be done about each has been discussed.

Happy reading.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f82/wigglers-at-last-237956.html