I need to confirm angelfish eggs

I bought 2 angelfish from my local fish store about six months ago I've grown them from about 50 cent piece to almost the size of my palm they are both in a 29 gallon tank. This morning I woke up and I seen some small eggs on a sword leaf which Google Images has confirmed to be angelfish eggs. If these are in fact angelfish eggs then that would be surprising to me because I would make my Black angelfish the female and the white fish the male which I always assumed was the opposite. I have attached pictures of the eggs please help me confirm if these are angelfish eggs.

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It looks like angelfish eggs to me!!

Its looks like most of them are white. Which means they are infertile and died off. And it appears many have been removed as well.....

But the parents will lay more eggs in just a couple weeks!!

if you have any questions, let me know!!

 

Thanks. lol. I wasn't expecting a miracle. I didn't imagine any would be fertile as these are two very young and ambitious (and sometimes reckless) fish. I really love them. I see some good traits coming from them and I think they are going to be excellent parents when the time comes. Also my guy looks like the angelfish off the tetra whisper box. and they both have the craziest baby blue through their vents. you may have to look close.

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Thanks. lol. I wasn't expecting a miracle. I didn't imagine any would be fertile as these are two very young and ambitious (and sometimes reckless) fish. I really love them. I see some good traits coming from them and I think they are going to be excellent parents when the time comes. Also my guy looks like the angelfish off the tetra whisper box. and they both have the craziest baby blue through their vents. you may have to look close.

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Oh wow! Your angels are beautiful. The first one is so unique looking, I have never seen anything like it! They must have some crazy mixture of angel genes!!

Also, just because SOME eggs were white and infertile, it doesn't mean all of them were. And none of them are white to begin with....The male typically doesn't successfully get every single egg....especially when he is young. And the unfertilized ones die off. But there is a good chance there WERE some fertile eggs in there. But the parents were responsible for removing the white/dead ones. By leaving them on there, they ended up damaging the good eggs.

It can take angels many tries to fully understand the process. Even full grown adults need practice before they get it right.

If you get those dead eggs out of there, it'll be about 10-14 days before they lay more. And next time they will probably realize they are supposed to remove those. In my experience, they get better and better each time.

 

Pretty angels. Alison

 

Thank you Alison and bizaliz. I was somewhat worried that the male was eating a lot of the eggs. and then The female started doing it too. then I realized I needed to trust their instinct as it has already brought them this far. it seems they are culling the dead eggs currently. If they are still there tomorrow morning I'll take the large white ones off. When I first got them they were alone in a tank with another angelfish that was terrorizing them. The white one was so terrified it was trying hide behind the filter intake and wouldn't eat. The woman at the store said not to take him as he would probably die. and recommended I take the aggressive fish! I knew this was totally wrong so I left the aggressive one and took the other 2 home. They didn't come out for 3 days and would try to jump out when I came near the tank. then slowly started to feed. now I can't even put my hand in the tank because they think it's food! Here's a pic of my guy the first day I got him home.

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It sounds like you made the right choice rescuing those two from the bully angel they were living with! And it is nice to hear that they are coming around and getting more confident. And the breeding thing certainly indicates they are happy and healthy!

one of my pairs of angels always ate too many of the good eggs when culling the bad ones and then eventually there would be nothing left. Sometimes they would care for them until they were little wigglers and then they would eat them....it never made any sense to me. It got frustrating over time so finally I took some eggs out and did it myself! lol I had only given them about 3-4 tries before I did that though! LOL They probably would have figured it out eventually.

Are you familiar with breeding angels? Have you done much research on it? I don't want to bore you with all sorts of info you already know!

 

I don't know anything about breeding honestly.

 

I don't know anything about breeding honestly.

Ok what do you want to know?

I have experience with breeding angels, plecos and crayfish.

So the tank you have is 29, that is pretty small, but it is not unusual for angel breeders to keep breeding pairs in a 29...BUT...what other fish are in there? Because a 29 for a breeding pair is best if it is just the angels...and maybe some cories on the bottom or something.

What would be your ultimate goal here? Are you serious about wanting to give it a try? You will need more tanks for the fry, and you will have to learn how to hatch baby brine shrimp. In my experience the angel fry will only eat live freshly hatched baby brine shrimp for the first few weeks. They also require DAILY water changes for the first few weeks! It's not difficult to raise angel babies...BUT it can be VEEEERRRY time consuming! And that can be very difficult for people.

So for the record, the eggs are laid, then about 3 days later they hatch but stay connected to whatever they are attached to and they are just little wigglers. Sometimes mom and dad will move the eggs or the little wigglers to different locations. Ultimately the babies start to free swim around day 7-8. Mom and dad will try to keep them in place by putting them in their mouths and moving them back where they "belong". That can be scary if you don't realize what they are doing. It looks like they are eating them.

 

I have hatched brine shrimp. The only other fish in the tank are 5 cories. I would be willing to set up 2 more 29 gallon tanks. I already have a 55 as well. When I got these fish I didn't realize until some time later that they may be opposite sex. and I was never completely sure until the eggs came along just this morning. I would be willing to give breeding a try as I think I can easily sell these fish. At the place I bought them from and others. And I seem to have a natural talent for fish keeping. Please do not suspect I am out for profit because I AM NOT! This was completely accidental. I do have one major issue. about 2 months ago I ordered some Phillipine blue angels from angelmania. I ordered 2, the guy sent me 5. not sure why. so now I am planning to keep 2 and give 3 of them away. I'm not sure if it would be irresponsible to try to set up 2 breeding programs or if I would be able to turn them over fast enough. I know I'm not selfish enough to sacrifice this first program just to start one with the Phillipine Blues. What is your reaction to this entire thing?

 

Omg you sound just like me! LOL

I actually just ordered four angels from angelmania and ended up getting 8.

I have grown very obsessed with angelfish breeding and angelfish genetics. And I needed more different genes to work with LOL

I never would have thought you were in it for the profit. In fact I don't find there to be a profit. in my experience most fish stores only give store credit... the store credit might help sustain your hobby but I'm not sure you would make a profit with the fish stores anyway!

If you are able to dedicate three 29 gallons and a 55 gallon to angelfish breeding.... then I think not only do you have a great setup but you could definitely handle more than one pair.

I personally have two 20 gallons a 29 gallon and a 46 gallon dedicated to my angelfish breeding.... and I cannot wait until my angelMania babies are big enough to breed!

 

update: last night most the eggs turned large white and the female ate most of them. The pair suddenly started fighting a bit and actually locked jaws for about 15 seconds straight and the male pulled the female about halfway across the tank by her lower jaw. it was kind of gross to watch honestly but they haven't fought since and I believe it was just a small spat. This morning and I woke up and all the eggs are gone. I think the algae from the sword leaf was just to thick and dirty and the eggs didn't stand a chance. I am going to add a large piece of flat rock. basalt or slate. whatever I can find along the river and wait for them to go again. Thank you bizaliz for all your help and I will post again soon!

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update: last night most the eggs turned large white and the female ate most of them. The pair suddenly started fighting a bit and actually locked jaws for about 15 seconds straight and the male pulled the female about halfway across the tank by her lower jaw. it was kind of gross to watch honestly but they haven't fought since and I believe it was just a small spat. This morning and I woke up and all the eggs are gone. I think the algae from the sword leaf was just to thick and dirty and the eggs didn't stand a chance. I am going to add a large piece of flat rock. basalt or slate. whatever I can find along the river and wait for them to go again. Thank you bizaliz for all your help and I will post again soon!

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You're welcome! I am happy to help! And I would love to follow your progress!

So just a couple things....

I don't think the algae caused the eggs fall off. Those eggs should be on there pretty solid. Most likely the parents finished them off overnight. Which is very common. How many times have they tried now?

Keep a close eye on the fighting issue. My very favorite angelfish just recently died from complications of an injury from fighting with his female partner. His swim bladder was damaged and he never recovered. These two angels got along just fine when there were no eggs or babies around. But if there were eggs or babies, they were fighting a lot. And it got worse and worse every time they spawned. It started with just the lip locking. But as time went on, it became head-butting each others sides, spinning in circles....it got ugly. Which was a real disappointment!

Are you thinking about getting the slate in order to remove the eggs once they are laid? Because I really don't think the eggs are going away because of the surface they are being laid on. It's most likely the parents. But something like slate comes in handy because if they happen to choose that slate, you can easily remove the eggs to do it yourself. However, I tried the slate for a while and they still chose either a broad leaf or the filter intake. They never used the slate. It was annoying. But you can't force them to use it. Unless it is the only thing in there!

I look forward to updates!

 

This is the first time they've tried. I've seen the female headbutt the males side before way before they even had eggs and it was so bad once I had to use a net handle to make her stop. not like wacking her with it or anything but just kind of herding her away with it. I didn't suspect the eggs of falling off I realize the parents definitely finished them off. I just suspect possibly the sword leaf was too dirty and the parents couldn't make it clean enough and that is possibly what led to the rapid spread of white fungus. I'm not sure though.

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This is the first time they've tried. I've seen the female headbutt the males side before way before they even had eggs and it was so bad once I had to use a net handle to make her stop. not like wacking her with it or anything but just kind of herding her away with it. I didn't suspect the eggs of falling off I realize the parents definitely finished them off. I just suspect possibly the sword leaf was too dirty and the parents couldn't make it clean enough and that is possibly what led to the rapid spread of white fungus. I'm not sure though.

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I am not sure that would be the case. But maybe....

I had the same thing happen the first time around with my angels. And the place they laid the eggs was SPOTLESS. The fungus will spread quickly no matter what the surface is. If the parents do not remove the white eggs, that fungus spreads fast and kills them all.

I would guess that next time the parents try (in 7-10 days) they will have a better understanding and will have learned from their mistake this time...and hopefully they will remove those white eggs better!

it took my first pair 5 tries to get it right.....the learned from their first mistake...but then they overcompensated the 2nd time around and removed ALL the eggs. Not just the dead ones. Then a few tries later they finally got a good understanding for the process.

I hope your angels don't get to the point where you have to separate them. And I hope their fighting does not cause permanent damage like it did for mine. :-(