A few answers about breeding angelfish

Chris123 just sent me a visitor message on my profile page and asked the following questions. Thought I would post it here:


"Hey Kathy,

I have a few questions breeding angelfish

What do you think is the approprite size tank for housing 6 juvies in hopes of getting them to pair?

What do you feed you angels?

What size tanks do you have for growout?

Sorry for all the questions I just want to get it right.

Thanks in advance

Chris"


HI Back At Ya Chris,

Let's see if I can answer some of your questions above. I haven't been breeding angels for long. Actually I think they bred the first time this March. It was so totally unexpected. I was really really lucky because that first spawn went sooooooo well. That experience kinda hooked me!! So I don't have that much experience, but I am more than glad to share the little bit that I experienced. For others it may be different, but this is how it went for me.

I finally got 8 angelfish to live for me. I kept them in a 40 gallon tank. When I first got them they were no larger than a postage stamp. I tried to get more to live after those original 8, probably 60 or 70, but they would all die before they came out of quarantine.

Anyway, the 6 grew up in the 40 gallon. Then in March we bought a 75 gallon and moved them into it. Within a few weeks they paired off. Romeo & Juliet are the pair that breeds for me. There is another pair still in the 75 gallon, but they have never produced a spawn. I think that it is probably two of the same gender, which I hear is quite common.

I noticed one day that there was a lot of aggression going on the the 75 gallon. Then a couple of days later I noticed EGGS on a leaf. Totally blew my mind since I had only been able to get 8 angels to live for me. Everybody got calls!!! I knew nothing about breeding angelfish or caring for the fry.

On the second or third day, the eggs became wigglers and started coming off the leaf. Romeo and Juliet was having trouble protecting them in the 75 gallon with the other angels in there with them, so at 3:30 am that night we had an emergency evacuation!! We took Romeo & Juliet and their eggs and set up their old 40 gallon tank again. I always keep an extra filters and stuff going so I can seed a new aquarium if I need to. So in they go. 40 g all to themselves and the fry. Amazing process to watch!!! The morning that the babies became free swimming, I woke up and looked over at the aquarium and Romeo & Juliet was gong crazy trying to keep all the little guys in one place. They would go grab babes and spit them back out in the corner. Go and get another mouthful and spit them out in the corner. Babies just kept going and going. So funny.

I lost half of that first spawn due to my own fault. I didn't know about sponge filters then. In the past when I had raised african cichlids I had always taken a piece of netting and put around the intake tube. It was a smaller filter and the baby africans were much stronger and larger than the Angelfish fry. I thought the netting would work with them too, but it did not and about half of them got sucked and stuck to the intake with the netting over it. Immediately began searching for a sponge filter then.

I left the parents with the fry for 3 weeks and noticed that the parents were beginning to clean of the leaf again and had heard that they might eat the existing fry, so I moved the parents back to the 75 gallon tank and left the fry in the 40 gallon to grow out. I put a sponge over the intake tube and also had a sponge filter going in the 40 gallon and did frequent water changes. They grew rapidly and turned out very nicely.

As far a food, not sure if you mean for the fry or the adults? Just let me know.....

Sorry for such a long reply. There are a few more tips that I have learned along the way if you are interested in them, just let me know.

Food for the fry is very important. So just let me know if you want more information.

Kathy

 

Good Write up

I'm subscribing to this thread

 

Great info Kathy, thanks for taking the time to write all this out and post it on the forum.

 

Love breeding stories, thanks for sharing Kathy.

 

Thanks for sharing Kathy! It's always great to see how others have raised their fry.

 

I am still having trouble with some of my spawns. Romeo & Juliet are GREAT. I don't think any of the failure falls on them. More on me and something I am not getting right. Don't get me wrong. I have had several several spawns go quite well! But just like this last one, I have lost almost all the eggs due to fungus.

 

The temperature was about 80 f or 81 f with an aged sponge filter going and the bubbles going right next to the eggs. I removed the first eggs that turned white, but they continued to turn white. So I left them to see what would happen. Nothing good came of it! I did not use methylene blue with this batch. Wanted to try it without it this time. In the photos below you can see that there seems to be plenty of air and water movement. The water was also fresh clean water. Rome & Juliet have always produced fertile spawns. It could be that the fry that were in the tank with Romeo & Juliet damaged the new eggs before I had a chance to remove them. The small fry were definitely eating away at the new eggs? What do you guys think and suggest?

 

Could've possibly had quite a few that were unfertilized. The 'moving water' thing doesn't really help me with fungus either. I've seen that just keeping the light at a minimum does much more.

Heck I've been hatching danio and cory eggs for a few weeks now without any airstone at all, just to see how it does, and it's been doing quite well. I just keep them in non-see through container above the fish tanks without any direct light.

I still put h2o2 in with the cory eggs because often times there are many that don't get fertilized. The danios however seem to do a good job, and for the most part, the eggs that I gather are all fertilized.

So far it seems to do just as well or better than using an airstone, heater, etc.


I can't for the life of me find methylene blue, I didn't want to buy it online because of the ridiculous shipping charges.

 

I think next time I am going to try a similar method jeta. Catsma used a s similar method as you mentioned and percentage wise she did pretty well.

Since the 180g tank has Angels in it now, I was thinking about getting some sort of container, maybe a milk jug, and cutting the top off of it. Then putting aged aquarium water into it and clipping or hanging it inside the tank with the eggs in it. Possibly adding an air stone. I could easily change out water by dipping some out of the jug every day. No heater added. Just the temperature of the aquarium water that it will be submersed in. What do you guys think the chances might be that this might work?

 

Let me know how that works out for you Kathy. I have a vase that is sitting on top of my 90G tank. It gets heat from my T5HO lighting strip and a heating pad as it is not in the tank itself. But I like that idea!

 

I wonder what kind of container and how to attach it would be the best? With africans, I have used the little nets that you can hang over the edge but that didn't work because the large fish in the tank would still try to get to the eggs thru the netting. But with a plastic cup/container the eggs should be safe.

Catsma, how big is your vase? Just wondering what size container would be suitable?

 

My vase is about 1/2 gallon. Here's a picture of it.....

 

Thanks catsma!! How are yours dong today?

The next spawn I am going to try your method!! What size air pump do you have going in it.

If we go with the plastic milk jug hung inside the tank, what size do you suppose would be good to go with?

 

Years ago the first spawn I raised I started the eggs in a 1 gallon glass pickle jar with a bubble stone in the bottom. 50% water changes every day and worked like a charm but you really have to stay on the water changes when they hatched. fed live brine shrimp and vacuumed/ water changed every day. Went to a larger tank at one month. Was tough but rewarding.
It's much less intensive with a larger tank
Carol

 

Thanks catsma!! How are yours dong today?

The next spawn I am going to try your method!! What size air pump do you have going in it.

If we go with the plastic milk jug hung inside the tank, what size do you suppose would be good to go with?

I am using one of the air lines from my planted tank. It is a Rena pump that allows me to control the air output.

As far as size, I'd say either a 1/2 gallon or 1 gallon jug would work; but you will need enough water inside it or it will want to float and bob around.

My fry are going great. Chasing the napulI and their bellies are turning orange.

 

I was just sitting here wondering how to attach it to the tank. Then I thought about the large magnet that I use to clean the aquarium with. Hummmmm......

Here you go....... this is one of the big ones. Going to have to experiment and see if it will hold a container with water in it.

Time for an experiment.......... Back in a bit.........

 

Catsma,

Guess what!! It works!! I just took a 2 liter plastic Coke bottle, cut the top off, filled with water, stuck it in the aquarium, and the large magnet is holding it just fine!!! Husband is scratching head and asking "What are YOU DOING?"

It will work!!!

I think a milk jug would work better because it would have a flat bottom. Really any kind of thin plastic with a flat bottom should work. Drop a air line in it, don't think it would require a heater either.

What ya think?

 

That looks like a great idea!

Let hubby scratch his head.....at least he isn't telling you that you've lost it

I just might try this solution with the next batch. It has been quite stressful trying to maintain the heat level in a 1/2 gallon of water.

 

You know, chip bag clips might work, but since I didn't have any of those, the magnet was just something I had on hand and with easy access. Plus it is really strong and keeps the container from trying to float up.

 

I found this article about breeding Angelfish earlier: