Breeding Angel Fish!

[lol]

Hi
I have a couple of questions about my angels... I'm new to keeping them, but all is well. The female is bulging as is the male, but far less so. Over the last week or so both angels have developed a very vivid blue on their bottom fins (sorry, forgotten the technical name). Is this usually an indication that they are preparing to lay eggs? Or is it just that they've settled? (They were recently moved - this tank is second hand and came with the fish)

It's brilliant to watch, I've been reading posts from you all and they are doing everything by the book - kissing, chasing, showy dispalys with lots of chest puffing! They're hiding in plants, making their own corner etc.

Until I read about breeding angels I thought the mark on the female's side was caused by the feisty chinese algae eater, but now I realise it must be the male. It's only small though. These 2 have laid before, several times, with the previous owner, so I'm really pleased they must be as settled as they once were.

How often do they lay eggs? Because when I bought the tank (approx. 3 weeks ago) thay had spawned then? The eggs didn't survive the move and they ate them.

The chinese algae eater seems to be much caler than he was at the weekend after following advice from this site, but I'm just checking - he won't eat the eggs will he? He isn't moving about the tank loads, but occasionally suckers up and down the sides.

Thanks in advance for any replies!

Really excited!

 

[mlawson]

Congratulations!

I haven't had any experience with breeding Angels, but I've heard
that conditions must be right for a successful spawn. If you give them
time, they will learn to guard the eggs and fry well, but they can become threatened
and eat the eggs.

The algae eater shouldn't bother the eggs.

 

[crazie.eddie]

Congratulations. How do you know they are male and female? Did you buy a confirmed breeding pair of angels. Angels sometimes act the same way when they are defending their territory.

 

[Heather.]

I can usually tell when my angels are ready to spawn as they get kind of aggresive to their tank mates.. and the females breeding tube is usually larger than the males..My angels spawn every 3 weeks or so..Currently I have 26 angel babies that are 4 weeks old..they spawned about 2 weeks ago and thats them spawned again tonight

Here is the female fanning the eggs which she laid on the filter..

And here is the male..

 

[LisaLQ]

Mine have only just started breeding, but have bred twice ten days apart - and Heather's spot on, they defend an area and start being more aggressive to their tank mates. Also IME, both male and female take great care in cleaning up the area where they want to lay eggs, for at least a day or two in advance.

Mine never ate theirs, so luckily my parrots came along and did it for me instead lol - saved me having to lift them out and get rid of them. I just dont have the hundreds of gallons of tank space you need for raising baby angels, I prefer to watch them rather than try and breed them - just so happens my breeding two are particularly randy lol

 

[Heather.]

Mine are the same LisaLQ ..Randy buggers Yeah mine clean the area for a few days before they lay the eggs..Then usually they lay them on the filter then move them back and forward to diffrent places in the tank

 

[newtotropical]

Congratulations. How do you know they are male and female? Did you buy a confirmed breeding pair of angels. Angels sometimes act the same way when they are defending their territory.

Didnt you read th epost before replying??

 

[lol]

Thanks for all the replies, sorry I've taken so long to respond! I work ridiculous hours (scuba diving instructor) so this is my first chance to reply.

My sister told me the technical name for the breeding tubes but I've forgotten it - evo something? They're quite big now. They first started showing 2 days ago. The female's is definitely bigger. I know which is male and which is female because the guy who owned them before filled me in, and he knows because they've spawned before. It's easy to tell them apart because the male has a veil tail. Other than that they are exactly the same size and colour, and look just like the pics Heather posted!

This morning they've been cleaning the side of the tank in behind the plants, so I think they'll lay there. Because I'm new to this I think I'll see how it goes naturally - if fry develop I'll remove them etc, but I'll leave the eggs with mum and dad.

Really looking forward to seeing how this goes!

Thanks again for your help - I'll keep you posted!

 

[Heather.]

Good luck..Keep us updated ..

 

[lol]

They've spawned! The eggs are on the filter, which isn't perfect for me, as I was going to fit a new clip today, only arrived yesterday, but nevermind, it can wait!

The female is busy fanning and the male is protecting their half of the tank. Every now and then he does a short swap, and she has a swim, but then chases her back to get on with looking after them!

Going to re-read the section about breeding angels for revision now!

Really hope they don't eat the eggs!

 

[Heather.]

CONGRATULATIONS..Good luck with the babies...Remember pictures please..

 

[lol]

Thanks Heather! They are still doing really well, mum and dad are still fanning, have only eaten the white eggs. As soo as I have babies I will let you know. Fingers crossed!

 

[lol]

I've been watching them a bit obsessively for the last couple of hours and I just wanted to say how lovely they are... It's so cute to see them working together to look after their eggs... They're now both in the process of moving the eggs from the filter, carrying them in their mouths... If I get too close the male darts towards me so I'm keeping my distance so I don't frighten them into eating the eggs.

I've named the girl piglet because she eats so much! When we arrived at work in the mornings, before she spawned, she used to swim upside down with her mouth to the surface of the water, back and forth until we fed them! As soon as we came into the building, and got close to the tank, she'd start. The male isn't so greedy. But now they're devoted to their eggs, not their breakfast, which is lovely! Bless!