Stopping Angels From Breeding? Splitting Breeding Pair?

(mods, please do not move to breeding forum...I feel like there may be people with this problem or who have solved this problem who aren't interested in breeding and might not check that forum)

I have a pair of angels in a 29-gallon community that have recently paired up and started to terrorize tank mates (they laid a batch of eggs). Is there any way to curb the breeding or aggression? I really am desperate to not have to break up the pair (I'd have to give the female away). They are the only two angels in the tank.

I am thinking I might try disposing of the eggs immediately after they lay them (assuming there are more cycles of breeding) and hope they revert back to non-aggressive behavior.

Another random thought...since I have read that they mate for life, how risky would it be to swap out the female for a new angelfish, hoping that the new ones wouldn't mate?

THANKS!

 

Nothing you can do about it but to separate them. Sorry to say.

A 29 gallon is really only suitable for one angel, or as a temporary breeding tank for two angels. And making it a community is dangerous with a breeding pair.

Removing the eggs will accomplish nothing. They will just lay more 7-14 days later. It will be an endless cycle.

And based on my experiences, your breeding pair will likely start to fight with EACH OTHER at some point due to the small tank size.

Swapping to a new angelfish will be very risky and I encourage you to not do that. Your tank is really only suitable for one angel ESPECIALLY if you are trying to keep a full community in this tank :-(

 

They will just continue to breed and be aggressive. They either need their own tank all to themselves or you will have to rehome one.

And if you swap out one established for a new one it is likely the old angel will either kill it or, if female, breed with it.

 

Sigh. I was worried that was the answer.

But will it be OK for the male to be by himself (meaning no other angels)??

I have no fin nippers, but I feel really bad taking his wife away from him and leaving him all alone as a single angel.

 

They don't mind being bachelors ... or bachelorettes as the case may be.

 

How in the world do people keep more than 2 in even a larger tank if they start getting so wildly aggressive during breeding?

 

He will be fine. He may even enjoy it!! Like I said, 29 gallons is very cramped for two adult angels.

How in the world do people keep more than 2 in even a larger tank if they start getting so wildly aggressive during breeding?

If the tank is larger, the other fish are able to stay further away from the spawning site and therefor, the angels don't feel the need to chase them away. A 3 foot tank can have a breeding pair with other fish....but nothing smaller than that.

In my experience, angels don't really care about other fish in the tank UNLESS it is other angels!! So as long as the tank is big enough for the NON angels to stay away from the breeding pair, it can work in a community. As long as the breeding pair are the only angels in the tank.

 

Thanks so much for the help. Last question...will the male, who was very peaceful before, hopefully regain his peacefulness after the female (and thus the spawning situation) is removed?

 

As long as he is the only angel you should be fine.

What other fish do you have in this tank?

 

I was afraid you would ask because it will open me up to a lecture. I have four black neons and two small ( 2 inch) clown loaches. I KNOW the loaches will have to be rehoused eventually, but they are very friendly and active now, and have been growing very very slowly, so I figured I could have them for at least 18 months or more. And despite all the reading about having to have them in larger shoals, these two are not at ALL timid and clearly happy as clams.

But anyway, all have been together for nearly two months and all have gotten along perfectly. The now-breeding angels are focusing all of their aggression on the loaches. To their credit the loaches seem completely unfazed (they are much faster than the angels) but you would think it's going to stress them out eventually. The angels 100 percent ignore the black neons, even when they get close to the eggs.

After reading all this, I am hoping that if remove the female angel all will return to normal. The loaches and angels got along great before, and even appeared to sort of play with eachother.

 

Ya, Hopefully things improve for you once you remove the female. Sorry it has come to that, but keeping multiple angels is always a gamble. I always tell people to mentally prepare themselves for having to rehome down the road if they want to keep multiples.....

I know how you feel about not wanting to get lectured, lol, and I'll try not to do it TOO much....BUT...the one thing I have to say is......just because the loaches are active and all that, does not mean the loaches are truly happy as just a duo. They would be MUCH happier as a group and you would notice that quickly if you gave them more friends. BUT of course you can't do that because technically you need over 100 gallons to house them properly. I am NOT going to lecture you about tank size, but I do want you to know that you don't know what a truly happy schooling/shoaling fish looks like until you see them in a proper school/shoal.

I am saying this from experience!! I had a trio of harlequin rasboras who SEEMED happy as can be.....but once I gave them a proper school.....it was totally different, they were clearly happier. I don't know how to put it into words. It was the same the first time I got an appropriate sized cory shoal of ALL THE SAME SPECIES. I thought my different kinds of cories were shoaling just because they hung out together. but NO...again, once I got a full shoal of one cory species, I noticed right away that they were happier.

 

It's just a bummer because even if I gave the loaches away, the angel problem will likely still exist until corrected. I sure as heck don't want to resign myself to having just two angels and nothing else in my tank.

 

It's just a bummer because even if I gave the loaches away, the angel problem will likely still exist until corrected. I sure as heck don't want to resign myself to having just two angels and nothing else in my tank.

Like I said though.....a 29 really is not large enough to permanently house 2 adult angels anyway. So you should try and get your mind set on stocking around the single angel.

 

You could sell both as a breeding pair and try to get some sort of money out of them, idk how much they would go for but probably not all that much. After that you can get just one angel and stock around that, or you could post another thread on here and ask for stocking suggestions

 

I think I have no other choice than to get rid of the female angel. I will plan to keep the single male angel and hope he reverts back to his normal peaceful behavior. It will be a HUUUGE bummer if for some reason he does not, because if he remains aggressive I'm gonna have to bounce him, too. But I'm really hopeful he'll calm back down.

 

I have an exciting (at least to me) update. This morning, on a whim, I removed the anubias, thoroughly rinsed off all the eggs, and put it back in the tank. There was not an immediate difference, but by lunchtime both angels had completely reverted back to their peaceful old behavior - to the point that they didn't even bat an eye on two separate occasions when both loaches were sniffing around the former egg leaf.

If it's just a matter of immediately disposing of the eggs each time, I'm willing to do that. I also always kept the tank at about 81 degrees, but now will keep it at 78 to see if the slight temp difference discourages breeding.

Anyone have experience with reducing spawning frequency by reducing temp?

Once they get bigger I will probably have to rehouse the female anyway, but we'll see how it goes.

 

You could put a piece if slate( or something similar ) in the tank so if they do decide to spawn in it then it is easily removed, instead of having to remove a plant

 

That's a pretty good idea!

 

IMO your angles will continue to breed, but the stress of a small tank you will likely not have any fry that live or even hatch.
My advise do nothing unless they start attacking and harming other fish. Mine stopped spawning after a few failed attempts.