Would these Angels spawn?

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SushiRoll

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I have 2 Angelfish and my female is much bigger than my male but both of them are showing their breeding tubes and the male is cleaning off my heater ( yes I know that is the worst place to spawn ) but they have only been together for 2 weeks! Is this possible?


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It is possibly to make the attempt. Age of the fish will determine if it actually happens. My advice is to move or cover the heater as best as possible. Perhaps lay it down horizontally as well. If the tubes get burned while the element is on, it could sear the tube closed and eventually kill them. I've heard of it happening plenty of times before.


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You can make a PVC heater guard for them. I believe the king of diy has a tutorial on it on youtube. This way they can still prepare that area but not get seared.

Or if you have a spare heater, plug that one in and turn it on. Turn the one they are preparing off so it isn't hot when they are mating and the other heater will be on to heat the water.
 
Ok I did my water change today and I have this pretty tall fake plant so I moved that to cover the heater and I haven't gotten slate for them to spawn on because I thought I would have close to 3 months before they spawned. They proved me wrong. So here's a picture of what I did
ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1425138350.687010.jpg
I also thought the male was too small and the female wouldn't even want to breed with him. They proved me wrong... Again. Here's a picture of the two
ImageUploadedByAquarium Advice1425138490.347755.jpg
The male is a little bit behind the female so he looks smaller than he really is. Thanks for the replies!


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Also will the male clean the spawn sight more than the female?


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I've noticed that the male is kinda gently pecking at the female. Is this normal?


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I've noticed that the male is kinda gently pecking at the female. Is this normal?


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Do you have an age of the fish and is there anything you're using that's truly determined it is in fact both a male and female ? Sometimes two females will appear to mimic a true pair. When they are young it's very difficult to sex them and usually easiest to make confirmation when actually spawning.


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With Angels, there is no constant. Both fish will participate in cleaning the spawning site at different times. Neither gender is the only cleaner or the more dominant cleaner. It is all hit or miss in my experience and changes sometimes from spawn to spawn.
As for size difference, it doesn't always have to be larger male, smaller female but that is the "norm " for a pair. However, it will depend on what is available and what the fish want. I just had a pair form from a school of siblings where the female was the larger fish and the male was one of the smaller fish in the school. It just goes to show you that there are no absolutes anymore. :nono: A fertility test ( hatching the eggs without the parents) showed that they did produce fry so they are fertile.
As for the pecking, this is normal. If both fish have their tubes out and both are cleaning a site, they will spawn. The male is just trying to encourage the female to hurry up and get busy. ;)
As for time frames, under the right circumstances, Angels will breed within days of being introduced to each other. While this is not usual with most hobbyists, consider yourself as having a good set up which the fish like since they want to spawn so soon after introduction. It's a very good sign. (y)
 
They both have their tubes out and both tubes look different. Also I'm kinda laughing about them loving the tank setup because all I do is 15% weekly water changes and I don't even feed them live or frozen food all they get is omega one flakes twice a day. Although it has been setup for maybe a year so that might have something to do with it. Thanks for the help!


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Do you have an age of the fish and is there anything you're using that's truly determined it is in fact both a male and female ? Sometimes two females will appear to mimic a true pair. When they are young it's very difficult to sex them and usually easiest to make confirmation when actually spawning.


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I don't have an age of the fish. At the lfs he was listed as a medium angel so I'm guessing he's yonger. The two things I'm going by are the way he looks and his breeding tube looks different than my proven female.


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They are now both cleaning the spawn sight and it's the filter ? luckily this is their first time so they will hopefully eat the eggs. Ugh I was NOT ready for this I seriously thought I had a lot longer oh well. I don't even have another tank and the tank their in has an HOB so even if the eggs hatch they'll all die. I really need to set up my 55g, get a sponge filter and a get a piece of slate.


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They both have their tubes out and both tubes look different. Also I'm kinda laughing about them loving the tank setup because all I do is 15% weekly water changes and I don't even feed them live or frozen food all they get is omega one flakes twice a day. Although it has been setup for maybe a year so that might have something to do with it. Thanks for the help!


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I don't have an age of the fish. At the lfs he was listed as a medium angel so I'm guessing he's yonger. The two things I'm going by are the way he looks and his breeding tube looks different than my proven female.


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Looking at your tank pics, they are in a penthouse compared to what my breeders are in ( bare tanks but with natural scenery backgrounds) but because of the way I maintain the tanks, the fish are happy and breeding like rabbits. :brows: :lol:

As for the water change amount, in the old days, I was told that "If your tank needs more than a 10%-15% water change to maintain water quality, you are either overstocked or under filtered". So if your water quality is showing good numbers, you are on target with just that amount of water change. (y)

As for age of the fish, I have never seen a sexually immature fish show "tube" so you can assume that since yours is, he is sexually mature. Aging fish by size is not a certain anymore. Many fish are genetically runts so they may be old enough to breed while still being smaller in size. Also, with many of today's lines being so overbred, shrinkage occurs due to this as well. I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news but these are the realities of today's home grown fish. Unless you are buying fish from a reputable breeder, there is no way of knowing just what is inside your fish.
Your next hurdle is fertility. If just one egg hatches, you have a fertile pair. (y)
Next will be the results of the spawn. I currently have one pair that are producing huge spawns however, at least 25%-30% of every spawn are runts and rejects. As a reputable breeder, I am destroying these fish so their genetics don't get passed on. It's because of breeders NOT doing this culling that so many of today's fish are not healthy or as hearty as their wild counterparts. You may want to keep this in mind as you progress with your breeding. Genetic integrity is important to maintaining good quality fish.

Keep us posted with your progress. (y)(y)
 
Ok I'll have to have someone ok with culling do the culling for me because I can't cull but I also don't want to add to the problem. Thanks for all the help!


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Also what is the nicest way to cull fish?


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Also what is the nicest way to cull fish?


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Be brutally honest. If your fish does not have the physical appearance of a wild fish (i.e. proper fin length, fin amounts, body shape or size compared to their siblings, swimming ability, etc) they should be culled. This is the only way I know to bring back quality to the fish line.
Many people use clove oil to put their fish down. P.E.T.A. once recommend immersion into boiling water to me. ( I'm not a fan of this method. :nono: ) You need to do what you are most comfortable with. (y)
 
Do you know of the fastest way? It's just i couldn't deal with them being scared or suffering.


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Another question. They've been cleaning the filter intake almost all day when will they lay eggs?


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I understand Clove oil to be instant so that's how I would go. You might need to do some local research as to where you can get it.
 
I agree with Andy, to be blunt, it dilutes the gene pool when you allow bad stock to give bad genes to your blood lines. I would cull the ones with birth defects and other problems and sell the ones you do not wish to keep.

Lots of people use clove oil and it is a good way to do it. As for when they will lay eggs, that is a tough question to answer. It really does depend.
 
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