Angel Fish...

[Carter]

Now, i know you guys have probably been asked this question a million times, however...

I have two angels, and i am wanting to bread them. Now. I have had reports that it is easy, and then again, it is one of the hardest to bread as they are so temperamental.

Now. I know that it is virtually impossible to tell the sex of an angel unless you actually see the female lay the eggs, but, is there any possible way for you to know if you have a male and a female?

I have a 3ft, community, planted tank...

anyone able to help me with this problem, it would be much appreciated.

 

[england]

No sorry mate, you would need to get a group of atleast 6 individual's and wait for them to pair off naturally, unless your lucky enough to find someone selling a breeding pair, There are alot of wive tail's about face structure and size's and belly's....Iam sure breeders can tell the difference, but to us normal folk its much more difficult.....This will be your only true way of getting a pair from a group.....You will know when they pair of how they act, dances they preform/cleaning of area's together and lip locking, how ever aggresstion also consists of lip locking and tuslling as does breeding ritual

 

[Carter]

Right... so i should be looking for foreplay
well... sounds like mine are... either both boys, or both girls... shame

 

[CrItIcaL]

i think i might be able to help you as i also have a desire to breed angels

the guy at my local pet shop has been into fish for years and he said that you can tell them apart by looking at their top fin... the males have a sharp one and the females look much more rounded...

is there any expert that can confirm this?

im finding it difficult to come across a fourm that says exactly what the water conditions need to be.
such as temperature ph lighting etc...

 

[JenCliBee]

i think i might be able to help you as i also have a desire to breed angels

the guy at my local pet shop has been into fish for years and he said that you can tell them apart by looking at their top fin... the males have a sharp one and the females look much more rounded...

is there any expert that can confirm this?

im finding it difficult to come across a fourm that says exactly what the water conditions need to be.
such as temperature ph lighting etc...

Nope you cant tell by that, as nelly says the only sure way of sexing is actually while they are breeding..... be aware though angels lay ALOT of eggs and you will need another tank but probably 2 to rear fry..... once angels get going there is usually no stopping them and if you havent got a constant source to rid the fry when old enough you will be soon over run with them

 

[CrItIcaL]

that may be so....

i did some digging so i spoke to my local pet shop owner... so the lady pulls out this probably 40 year old book... it said that you can determine the sex by looking at the fish straight from the front... the males tend to be concave and the females convex



female: rounded stomach
l
xx
( )
l

male: v shaped stomach
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xx
\ /
l

water conditions:
ph 7.0 - 7.4
temp 27 degrees
lots of plants for the eggs (plecostomous will eat them, so no plecos in the tank)
..........
eggs will hatch in 3 days and become free swimming after another day or so
do not remove parent fish they rear the young guard and protect them
and be prepaired for 200 400 eggs... iv herd of a 1000 bt cant prove that....

can anyone confirm this information?

 

[kribensis12]

There at 2 ways to confirm the sex. You can either wait to see their breeding tubes,if they breed. OR, you can vent them.

 

[Tolak]

Venting is something usually done with larger cichlids, and takes practice. Venting an angel would be a touchy thing due to size.

As mentioned, tubes dropping is the only 100% sure method. You can look at body shape, fin angle, and behavior, in person with a group of settled in angels, and determine sex accurately about 80% of the time, if you know what to look for. Plain guessing is 50%. Not a big advantage.

I breed angels in 82-86F, pH around 7.7, bare tanks with no plants. Parent raising is rare with domestic angels, I pull the spawns. Eggs become wigglers after 3 days, swimmers after 6 or 7 days. 200-400 is an average spawn, I've seen 1,000 egg spawns, biggest I've ever had was in the 600 range.

Plan on more tank space if you do plan to breed. First figure out what you are going to do with 200-400 angels.

 

[Everyones_fairy_godmother]

female: rounded stomach
l
xx
( )
l

male: v shaped stomach
l
xx
\ /
l

Not always I have been breeding my angels through there 3rd spawn and the females look almost the same until the week leading up to spawning, I have three breeding pairs and the only difference I can see is that the female breeding organ is almost always visible, I thought it was part of their finage at first but it was not it sits just infront of the anus and is a sort of milky to opaique colour. Unless I have the only three females who have this feature I think it is a pretty accurate way of telling them apart, as the males organ is so small it is hard to see even when they do spawn. My breeders are just over a year old so it might not be as clear in younger fish.

You guys seem to have the Ph a bit on the high side too, but each to there own what works for one rarely works for another.