55 Gallon Tank Breeding angelfish? Please say it isn't so!

Hey guys,

I have 4 angelfish, 3 speckled Cories, 1 Albino BN, and 8 neon tetras (I think, it depends on the day when I try to count them). I DO NOT want to try and breed angelfish, I tried with bettas years ago and discovered how space-intensive it is!

I saw one of the Angelfish picking at one of the amazon swords. She(?) is also chasing the other angelfish to the other side with the exception of one. Lucifer and Raphael are male (by my best guesses) and Micheal will chase them off, but is alright with Gabriel is this normal behavior?

What should I be expecting? How long of a process is this, I'm not really feeding anything 'special' just fish flakes, sinking cory pellets, and shrimp pellets. I also have zucchini in there for my BN. I also have 3 speckled cories (It was 5, but I never found a corpse of the other two so maybe they just ran off???) and about 8 to 10 neon tetras. I am wondering if there are any special considerations I should do as well.

If I do end up with eggs, are the cories going to bother them? What about Ram Horn snails? How low of a current is required? What are my target parameters for the water as well?

Thanks, guys!
~Inari

 

Chances are the Angel parents will eat the eggs. The other fish or snails wont be able to get near them. The angels and tetras will more than likely eat the fry if they do hatch. You may end up with a few that were able to hide good. Let nature take its course if you dont want to breed them....

 

Chances are the Angel parents will eat the eggs. The other fish or snails wont be able to get near them. The angels and tetras will more than likely eat the fry if they do hatch. You may end up with a few that were able to hide good. Let nature take its course if you dont want to breed them....

That is a bit disturbing to think about but good to know I won't have a massive Bioload suddenly to contend with! Good to know the Tetras might actually get a protein-rich meal out of it LOL. Is the seemingly bullying of the other fish specifically angels by one other angel a normal breeding behavior?

 

That is a bit disturbing to think about but good to know I won't have a massive Bioload suddenly to contend with! Good to know the Tetras might actually get a protein-rich meal out of it LOL. Is the seemingly bullying of the other fish specifically angels by one other angel a normal breeding behavior?

I really have no experience with angels. I had Rams and they are both Cichlids. That's what they did.

 

I really have no experience with angels. I had Rams and they are both Cichlids. That's what they did.

No worries, did your rams bully the other fish?

 

No worries, did your rams bully the other fish?

Only when by the eggs.


There is always the chance, when you dont want them, they will all survive.

 

That is a bit disturbing to think about but good to know I won't have a massive Bioload suddenly to contend with! Good to know the Tetras might actually get a protein-rich meal out of it LOL. Is the seemingly bullying of the other fish specifically angels by one other angel a normal breeding behavior?

I had angels trying to breed in a community tank twice. The 4 angels were always very peaceful. But when they started breeding which would happen every 3 months or so, they would chase other fish to the other side of the tank, no harm was done to the other fish. the female would lay the eggs on the filter tube, the male fertilizing as she went, none of the fish in the tank ate the eggs with that pair of angels, but the eggs always turned white, then the angels ate them, The second pair, a few years later, pretty much the same except that my loaches "the same loaches" kept getting to the eggs and eating them. I guess the second pair was not as militant.

 

The BN may eat some of the eggs if it gets a chance (mine always did) but if not, when the babies hatch they will become free swimming after a couple days and then the parents will usually eat them about a week later. When Angels start breeding, they tend to breed every 2-3 weeks.

 

The BN may eat some of the eggs if it gets a chance (mine always did) but if not, when the babies hatch they will become free swimming after a couple days and then the parents will usually eat them about a week later. When Angels start breeding, they tend to breed every 2-3 weeks.

Oh great, so I'm going to have to deal with it constantly...great about half my tank is going unexplored because of Micheal (Since it is a she Jophiel). Jophiel keeps chasing everyone out of her 'territory' lol...She isn't hurting anyone so far, just being a jerkwad! LOL

 

Yeah, angelfish are pretty peaceful until they breed. Then they protect the eggs somewhat aggressively.

 

Yeah, angelfish are pretty peaceful until they breed. Then they protect the eggs somewhat aggressively.

Yeah...for some reason I also thought that conditions had to be really close to 'perfect' for them to even consider laying eggs, I'm not feeding them brine or anything so I was thinking I was pretty safe, but if they end up eating the eggs - meh. I'm not too worried about it as long it won't hurt them, otherwise, I'll probably just have to remove the leaf Josphiel decides to lay her eggs on! The only other fish I've ever tried to breed was a couple of bettas and they ended up with a dead female because I did it completely wrong and misread every sign every step of the way. I figured all breeding was pretty much the same, difficult to pull off and impossible in a community tank....