Angelfish Pairing Question

My Angelfish babies (or should I call them adolescents now, lol) are about 5 months old and are quite large! I am wondering: when do angels start pairing off? Because I am not seeing any pairing off behavior so far ... and they're not getting any smaller ... and my 30 gallon tank isn't getting any bigger either, lol.

 

About 6-8 months is about usual.
Carol

 

OK, thanks. Well, I think it's time anyway to give 5 of them away I'll be left with 6 for now.

 

I know it's hard to give them away A breeder friend of mine says you can look at their heads and tell which is male and female( I still don't see it ) The male supposedly has a little bit of a hump .

Carol

 

What size would they be at 6-8mths of age?

 

Depends on the individual angel fish.
carol

 

J-Man, some of my angles are bigger than a quarter in body size (without fins) and they're approximately 5 months old. I suppose they'll be a bit larger in a month or two. But I think it really depends on the individual batch and how well one takes care of the fish, and also on the tank size (too small a tank may cause stunted growth). Which is why I will be giving half of them away - time for them to get more space and hopefully some decent homes (I hate the fact that I won't know who bought them - I am afraid it will most likely be beginners who don't even know about the cycle and as a result will kill my babies - whom I've been raising and caring for, for so long ).

Carol, really? I'll observe my babies for any "humps" lol and will leave 3 with and 3 without the humps.

P.S. J-Man, I believe the size of angels also depends on the variety of angels.

 

That's what he tells me Isabella LOL
Carol

 

I'm not saying I don't believe Carol, lol. It's actually interesting and could be VERY helpful if we could recognize male and female angels by their body shapes, or ... humps ;D

 

I checked my angelfish pair today and ... lol, I think the male indeed has what appears to be a "hump" above his head and a little to the back (between the head and where the dorsal fin begins). I have also read somewhere that male angels have more pointed heads, while females have round bodies. My female angel has a round body indeed when compared to the male. Until angels pair off and start mating, I suppose this is the best one can do to try and determine which is which.

 

Yep that's the sure way but you know me always looking for an easier way LOL
Carol

 

LOL, yes, but I can't keep all 11 until they're 6-8 months old! So it seems I'll have to use the alternative method of "humps" and "body shapes". LOL ;D

 

HI all.

Ok, what i'd like to know is if I can safely assume the my 2 angel fish, Fire-head and Survivor, are pairing or have paired, or something of the sort.

I find them together a lot, like nipping at plants,swimming or just staying in one place. What caught my attention was them nipping the Hornwort together every so often.

Theres no aggression between the them. Survivor isn't aggressive towards the 3rd angel Blotch but Fire-head doesn't tolerate him at all and chases Blotch away whenever he comes near him. So I think Blotch and F-H are males on account of the aggression shown By F-H?

I'm debating returning Blotch, what do you think?

If this is really a pairing matter, is there no chance of them breeding in a community tank?
Thanks. l

 

Sabi,
Well, it turns out we're in the same situation. My gold angel, Sparkle, has paired with a beautiful black angel (no name yet). Like you, I'm not positive yet, but based on their behaviour I'm fairly certain.
First off, how big are your angels? They need to be old enough to breed before they start pairing off. Mine, just body size not counting fins, are about 4cm in diameter; a little bigger than a U.S. quarter.
What mine started doing is about 3 weeks ago I fed them some frozen blood worms, which they attacked immediately. Oh, I had 5 angels then. Anyway, they all ripped the chunk apart, and when it was about gone, Sparkle had a big hunk in his mouth, and the black angel came up and grabbed it. Then she grabbed sparkle by the mouth, and they spun each other around in circles. Then they did this sort of dance, swimming around each other faster than I knew an angel could move. This kept up for about a week, and then one of my other angels, one that had been trying to get sparkles attention, came up dead.
After that I took the other 2 back to the LFS and let Sparkle and his G/F have the tank to themselves. So far no eggs, but they're definitly still attracted to each other, and the black one is looking a bit fat. Hopefully there'll be some fry soon.

 

HI all.

Ok, what i'd like to know is if I can safely assume the my 2 angel fish, Fire-head and Survivor, are pairing or have paired, or something of the sort.

I find them together a lot, like nipping at plants,swimming or just staying in one place. What caught my attention was them nipping the Hornwort together every so often.

Theres no aggression between the them. Survivor isn't aggressive towards the 3rd angel Blotch but Fire-head doesn't tolerate him at all and chases Blotch away whenever he comes near him. So I think Blotch and F-H are males on account of the aggression shown By F-H?

I'm debating returning Blotch, what do you think?

If this is really a pairing matter, is there no chance of them breeding in a community tank?
Thanks. l

We have 2 pairs in our 120g...they breed like crazy but the eggs never last more than 3 days. Some of the single females laid eggs too but they get eaten right away... They get eaten by the tetra and the other angels. We've learned that we have to take our pairs out of the big tank.

 

Your Angels' behavior does seem like they have paired Although I have to agree with the others that if you want the eggs to survive, you should have them in a non-community tank. My Angelfish will usually eat their own eggs because they're in a community tank. This is a defensive behavior, they're doing it because they're afraid other fish in the tank may eat the eggs. A mated Angelfish pair, that has an entire tank to themselves, will usually raise their babies. If you want to raise Angelfish babies, another option is to get a separate breeding tank where you raise them yourself, or where you move the breeding pair to do the job themselves.

As for the 3rd Angelfish, if it stays in one tank with a mated pair, it's most likely that it will be picked on by the mated pair, especially during breeding times. If your tank is large enough and if it's not overstocked, maybe you could try getting 4th Angel, so that it would keep company to the 3rd Angel. I know it's hard to give a fish away. yet, the mated pair may even start picking at the 4th Angel too. If you have to give the 3rd one away, make sure you find it a suitable and loving owner! You know how they treat fish at fish stores :-\ Anyway, I keep my mated pair alone in a 75 gallon tank. By "alone" I mean without other Angelfish as I know they'd be aggressive towards any other Angelfish esp. during breeding times. They're not aggressive towards other fish I have (Zebra Danios, Cherry Barbs, and Harlequin Rasboras so far) I think mainly because they're simply "too small" to be bothered with, lol

 

Sabi,
Well, it turns out we're in the same situation. My gold angel, Sparkle, has paired with a beautiful black angel (no name yet). Like you, I'm not positive yet, but based on their behaviour I'm fairly certain.
First off, how big are your angels? They need to be old enough to breed before they start pairing off. Mine, just body size not counting fins, are about 4cm in diameter; a little bigger than a U.S. quarter.
What mine started doing is about 3 weeks ago I fed them some frozen blood worms, which they attacked immediately. Oh, I had 5 angels then. Anyway, they all ripped the chunk apart, and when it was about gone, Sparkle had a big hunk in his mouth, and the black angel came up and grabbed it. Then she grabbed sparkle by the mouth, and they spun each other around in circles. Then they did this sort of dance, swimming around each other faster than I knew an angel could move. This kept up for about a week, and then one of my other angels, one that had been trying to get sparkles attention, came up dead.
After that I took the other 2 back to the LFS and let Sparkle and his G/F have the tank to themselves. So far no eggs, but they're definitly still attracted to each other, and the black one is looking a bit fat. Hopefully there'll be some fry soon.

Survivor and F-H are roughly 3cm, survivor being slightly bigger. I have to say I noticed no dance of any sort. I have noticed, however, yesterday that Survivor does chases Blotch sometimes as well but not always.

 

Your Angels' behavior does seem like they have paired Although I have to agree with the others that if you want the eggs to survive, you should have them in a non-community tank. My Angelfish will usually eat their own eggs because they're in a community tank. This is a defensive behavior, they're doing it because they're afraid other fish in the tank may eat the eggs. A mated Angelfish pair, that has an entire tank to themselves, will usually raise their babies. If you want to raise Angelfish babies, another option is to get a separate breeding tank where you raise them yourself, or where you move the breeding pair to do the job themselves.

As for the 3rd Angelfish, if it stays in one tank with a mated pair, it's most likely that it will be picked on by the mated pair, especially during breeding times. If your tank is large enough and if it's not overstocked, maybe you could try getting 4th Angel, so that it would keep company to the 3rd Angel. I know it's hard to give a fish away. yet, the mated pair may even start picking at the 4th Angel too. If you have to give the 3rd one away, make sure you find it a suitable and loving owner! You know how they treat fish at fish stores :-\ Anyway, I keep my mated pair alone in a 75 gallon tank. By "alone" I mean without other Angelfish as I know they'd be aggressive towards any other Angelfish esp. during breeding times. They're not aggressive towards other fish I have (Zebra Danios, Cherry Barbs, and Harlequin Rasboras so far) I think mainly because they're simply "too small" to be bothered with, lol

Well, to start with I asked my parents if I could get a second hand tank to try and breed angels they never object so i'm going to try and find one for the pair? I'll keep them alone in that tank and see what happens. Blotch can stay in the 67gal.
Thanks for the help guys. pls let me know of any thing else to be cosidered. over the week I'll do a bit reading on the subject.

 

If you can afford it, get at least a 30 gallon tall breeder tank if the parents are to stay there and raise the babies themselves. Make sure you have a sponge filter in there too. During breeding times, and once the eggs are laid and the babies grow, VERY clean water is essential. I had performed 50% water changes in my Angelfish breeder tank for the first 2 months of the babies' lives.

If you put the sponge filter in your regular tank for a month or so, you'll have a ready mature filter for your breeder tank when it's breeding time.

 

If you were close to me, I would sell you my used 28 gallon tank, stand, filter, and canopy. It is a tall tank being I think about 25" tall and hexagonal. It was great.
Tom

 

Ah, but there's half a world of water between... Pity. ???

If you can afford it, get at least a 30 gallon tall breeder tank if the parents are to stay there and raise the babies themselves. Make sure you have a sponge filter in there too. During breeding times, and once the eggs are laid and the babies grow, VERY clean water is essential. I had performed 50% water changes in my Angelfish breeder tank for the first 2 months of the babies' lives.

If you put the sponge filter in your regular tank for a month or so, you'll have a ready mature filter for your breeder tank when it's breeding time.

I'm not so sure about the tallness but I'll see what I can do.
What exactly is a 'sponge filter'? I have a plastic filter with carbon and aomething like batting, isit something like that?
About how long does ittake for the babies to grow to about 2cm?

 

I'm not so sure about the tallness but I'll see what I can do.
What exactly is a 'sponge filter'? I have a plastic filter with carbon and aomething like batting, isit something like that?
About how long does ittake for the babies to grow to about 2cm?

Well, since you want to buy another tank just for Angelfish breeding, and if you can get at least a 30 gallon tank, then there are both long and tall 30 or 29 gallon tanks. If you can't get something at least around 30 gallons, whatever the smaller tank you get, get a tall model if possible.

Sponge filter is an internal filter that won't suck in the Angelfish fry. A regular hang on back power filter will suck the babies in, it's tool powerful. Sponge filter is gentle. Here are some websites selling sponge filters, so you can see what they look like:





Whichever the sponge filter you get, make sure it will provide enough filtration for your tank size to keep the tank cycled.

I don't even remember how long it took my baby Angels to get to 2". But you mean with or without fins? With fins, it probably took them around 3 (?) months to get to 2"; and without fins (meaning just the body) it probably took them around 5 (?) months to get to 2" (2" bodies with fins, would be some 3-4" tall Angels). It takes about a year for Angelfish to become adult.

If you feed them well and keep your water very clean, they'll grow faster and healthier.

 

Would this filter work? It is completely in the water.

Tom

 

Isabella: Thanks when I go to one of my lfs I'll ask if they have the sponge filter.It looks good.

Would this filter work? It is completely in the water.
Tom

Are you referring to one of Isabellas links or one of your own which you missed? Or the fact that its internal? ???

 

Isabella: Thanks when I go to one of my lfs I'll ask if they have the sponge filter.It looks good.

Would this filter work? It is completely in the water.
Tom

Are you referring to one of Isabellas links or one of your own which you missed? Or the fact that its internal? ???

Opps, I forgot to put a link in. I will add it right now. Thanks for pointing that out.
Tom

 

Well, since you want to buy another tank just for Angelfish breeding, and if you can get at least a 30 gallon tank, then there are both long and tall 30 or 29 gallon tanks. If you can't get something at least around 30 gallons, whatever the smaller tank you get, get a tall model if possible.

Sponge filter is an internal filter that won't suck in the Angelfish fry. A regular hang on back power filter will suck the babies in, it's tool powerful. Sponge filter is gentle. Here are some websites selling sponge filters, so you can see what they look like:





Whichever the sponge filter you get, make sure it will provide enough filtration for your tank size to keep the tank cycled.

I don't even remember how long it took my baby Angels to get to 2". But you mean with or without fins? With fins, it probably took them around 3 (?) months to get to 2"; and without fins (meaning just the body) it probably took them around 5 (?) months to get to 2" (2" bodies with fins, would be some 3-4" tall Angels). It takes about a year for Angelfish to become adult.

If you feed them well and keep your water very clean, they'll grow faster and healthier.

I got this....Right one?

 

Sabi, trust me, a sponge filter would be great... My Angel pair laid eggs again. This time they caught me completely by surprise and laid them on my back filter intake! Here's the link to the thread I posted about it.



There's a couple pics on it, and you'll definitly see why next time I'm going to have a sponge filter ready...lol Everytime I turn around the female moves the eggs from one filter to another, or to a piece of driftwood, so I've been turning my filters on and off depending on where they are; hopefully I'm not wraking to much havoc on my biowheels...
I will give the female credit, so far she's managed to move them from intake to intake wihout many (if any) getting sucked into the filter. These are big Penguin 350's and can suck in a lot of water fast, she's definitly doing something right, and must have found a little dead zone in the current.

 

I bought a sponge filter Jim, a oxygen plus biofilter 2. Now i'm waiting waiting waiting for the tank. I supposed to get one from my Dads friend (he has a fish store) but he didnt know what measurement a +-100L would be, and it proloooonged. Then my Dad said he can get it from somewhere else so i'm waiting. Maybe I'll get it next week.

 

HI Sabi
I don't believe you will have to worry about pairing off and any spawn as yet with your angelfish. If they are only 3cm as you say, you still have a ways before they mature and spawn. Its nice that you are getting your tank ready for that day tho! ;D
~ kate

 

sabi, that is the right filter...good luck with your angels!

 

HI Sabi
I don't believe you will have to worry about pairing off and any spawn as yet with your angelfish. If they are only 3cm as you say, you still have a ways before they mature and spawn. Its nice that you are getting your tank ready for that day tho! ;D
~ kate

Hi, Kate.
I think it went wrong somewhere along the way, my angels aren't 3cm but 3inch+. I had a pair but then one died. So i'm hoping F.H will pair again as I have others too.

 

HI Sabi..
LOL yes, three inches is a lot bigger than 3 cm. Sorry to hear that you lost one of your angels...
Good luck with your others and hope they do well!

~ kate

 

Got the tank!;D I'll set it up this evening. And Isabell you'll be happy to know its a tall corner tank. Why is it important that it should be tall?

 

Got the tank!;D I'll set it up this evening. And Isabell you'll be happy to know its a tall corner tank. Why is it important that it should be tall?

I'm not Isabella, but I can still answer the question. The angels fins will start to deteriorate if the tank isn't tall. They will become stubby and not long and flowing like you see in most angelfish pics. Does that answer your question?
Tom

 

I'm not Isabella, but I can still answer the question. The angels fins will start to deteriorate if the tank isn't tall. They will become stubby and not long and flowing like you see in most angelfish pics. Does that answer your question?
Tom

Lol, while the question was linked to Isabella it wasn't directed to her only, anybody can answer the question!
But I don't get it. Its not like other tanks are so narrow that the angels fins are brushing the bottom, or something? Or is it with tall tanks, because the angels swim up and down it sort of loosens the fins?

 

I honestly don't understand why it has to be tall, but I just do what they say. lol
Tom

 

I honestly don't understand why it has to be tall, but I just do what they say. lol
Tom

Lol yeah me too! But on this i'm rather curious so I think I'll open a topic on it.

 

I really don't know myself if it's true or not My gold angel has ventral fins that are at least 6" long now, and he doesn't seem to have a problem in the tank he's in. It's a 46 gallon bowfront, nice and big, but only 18" tall (I think). He has huge long fins, and I've seen absolutly no sign of his fins beings stunted or anything because of the tank.

 

Same with F-H in 67gal rect tank. His fins are beautifully long! I'm sure there is a reason for it though...

 

Same with F-H in 67gal rect tank. His fins are beautifully long! I'm sure there is a reason for it though...

I hope mine can hold out for a while, the next tank I'm looking at is an amazing 120 gallon at my favorite LFS. The measurements are like 48x30x24 (inches) or something like that... one huge cube waiting for the ultamate garden. It's like $1200.00 with the stand and lights (which will get replaced), so I won't be getting it right away, but then again, neither will anyone else.