Angel Fish Breeding?!

[blakey26]

Right

Well everything was going fine with my community tank until now.
I have 2 medium angel fish, four american flag fish, 3 penguin tetras and a male betta.
Everything was great with them even though people said they wouldnt be.
Now, however, the angelfish have laid eggs!!!!!!
And they are becoming super protective and are going for my betta rather badly. The other fish have the sense to keep out the way. But the have laid on the filter and that is where my betta like to spend most of his time.
Only just noticed it now and all shops are closed sad.gif

I have managed to create a divider for the fish, angels on one side everything else on the other, but i am not sure about the angels and their breeding. Well they have definatly laid lots of eggs but i am still unsure if the male has fertilised them yet. Is it possible for a female to lay eggs even though there are two females in the tank? Or how long does a male wait to fertilise the eggs??

Thanks in advance.

 

[Tolak]

It is possible for the female to spawn without a male. If both fish are defending the eggs, you probably have a pair.

The male will follow directly behind the female as she spawns, with perhaps a few second delay. This is when you will definitely be able to tell the male from the female.

Bettas & angels in the same tank usually don't work out too well, especially with a spawning pair. Betta look like another angel, and will get treated as such. You can pull the spawn from the tank & rinse it in the sink if you don't plan on raising any angels. This will eliminate the aggression caused by them spawning. There is a good chance they will still defend their spawning territory, though probably not as aggressivly.

Tolak

 

[Kopix Nation]

Question: Are the eggs white?

 

[blakey26]

yeah the eggs did turn white but now they have all disappeared, not sure if they have ate them or they have hatched.

any help much appreciated.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

The eggs that turned white were not fertilized. When an egg isn't fertilized it starts to fungus. That is when they turn white. If the egg is fertilized it will stay clear and eventually hatch into wigglers.

If you can't see any wigglers(tiny tails wiggling where the eggs were) your fish ate the eggs.

 

[Kopix Nation]

I suspected correctly! I am sorry that the spawn was a dud ... But trust me they will do it again if it is a pair!

claire

 

[blakey26]

they better spawn again after the amount on money i spent setting up another tank for my other fish!!!!

 

[Kopix Nation]

If they are not both female you should have another spawn that will hopefuly be a good one! Angelfish are normaly very simple to breed it is just finding out if they are boy and girl is the hard part.

claire

 

[Tolak]

Many times it takes a new pair a few times to get it right. I never pull the first spawn with a new pair, it usually ends up being a waste of time.

Harder water with a higher pH can lead to many eggs in a spawn turning white, due to fungus. They may be fertile to start, but the fungus seens to take hold much easier in hard, alkaline water, more than likely due to osmotic pressure. If I leave a spawn in with a known breeding pair with my hard alkaline water, at least half if not more will fungus. If I pull them & put them in a hatching/growout tank with a mix of anti-fungals, I lose less than 10% to fungus. Unless you have soft, acidic water, this could be part of the white egg problem.

You could try using some Maroxy, a Mardell product, in the tank with the pair. This product won't stain like meth blue, and won't affect the bio filtration. This will help with the fungus problem, and won't hurt the pair or any other tankmates.

Tolak