Smokey Blushing Angels

[Akasha72]

I have a very beautiful pair of Smokey Blushing Angels that I'm incredibly proud of. I thought I'd share some photo's of these lovely fish
 
 
So we'll start with the baby pics shall we cos they were so cute 

 

 
this is the female who arrived first, she was nicknamed Shadow within the day. She was bought to replace another baby that had died leaving a lone baby angel
 

 
Sadly the little koi baby died also a few days later and it turned out it had Hexamita. So poor Shadow was left alone for almost 10 days while I treated my tank.
 
And then I went shopping again and managed to get another Smokey Blushing at the same lfs
 

 
This one was named Misty within a day or so. It turned out to be a 'he' and so now I had a male and female
 
They soon grew into a pair of terrors
 

 
As they grew bigger their colour started to change and more and more blue started to show through which set me wondering if they were true Smokey Blushings or if there was some Turquoise Blushing in there
 

 
I joined an angelfish group and they assured me they were definitely Smokey Blushing and not Turquoise - the blue is something called Parabia and is normal
 
And then they did this...
 

 
And eggs soon followed.
 

 
Sadly they left the eggs unattended on day 2 and they got eaten and so I decided to move them into their own tank alone so they could learn to be parents
 

 
But Misty decided he'd fallen out with Shadow and she could lay as many eggs as she liked - he wasn't going to play his part ... he'd just eat them instead. 
 

 
 
And so after 3 failed spawning attempts in this tank I decided to return them to the main community tank. Since going back they've come back together again and follow each other everywhere. They look like a couple in love .. until they have a lovers tiff and knock the heck out of each other ... it doesn't last long though and they soon kiss and make up.
 
They've spent the last few days obcessively cleaning anubias leaves and Shadow is looking very plump and there might be the beginning of a breeding tube showing ... hard to tell just yet but maybe in a few days I'll be looking at eggs again and hopefully Misty with play his part this time
 
I'll keep any breeding logs to this thread so as soon as I have eggs I shall let you all know
 
Thanks for looking 

 

[simplyfish]

They look beautiful!
 
If you get fry, whats your plans for raising them, or are you going to let nature take its course in the tank?

 

[Akasha72]

Hi and thank you ... I have thought a bit about it and the plan would be the same as when I bred my curvicep cichlids. I allowed the parents to get them to free swimming stage and then got in with a turkey baster and took just a few away - the rest I left with the parents. Free swimming fry in a community tank don't last long - all the curviceps fry got picked off bit by bit and all were gone within 4 or 5 days.
 
The plan at the moment is to do the same with the angels but that might change. At the moment the angels are really young and it's going to take them some time to get the hang of things. It may be that they allow the eggs to be eaten time and again. I'm afraid I'm going to have to wait and see!
 
I have the lfs where they came from wanting any young that may come and another local independent want some too so moving on any fry (if I'm lucky enough to get some) will be no issue
 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Great stuff!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Akasha72]

thank you

 

[Baccus]

Lovely angels, I didn't know there was even such a thing as a smokey blushing angel, although I have seen the odd normal blushing in the local petshops. Best of luck getting them to finally care for and raise their fry.
 
And I love the Photo bomb by one of your Corys in the 3rd photo

 

[simplyfish]

After my last spawn I bought a little breeding net to hang on the side, thought I'd try and raise some from the next batch, wouldn't you know they never did again!

 

[Akasha72]

Hi Baccus ... from my understanding the Smokey Blushing comes from crossing a Ghost Angel with a Blushing ... but of course that may be wrong! You know what the internet is like for misleading info. As for the cory ... it could be one of the panda's ... looks like it might be even though it's blurred
 
 
Hi simplyfish ... oh dear ... perhaps they will spawn again in time and if not - I'm sure the net will come in handy at some point
 
 
As for the angels ... well it does look like Shadow is slowly lowering her breeding tube. She has done this before though - she's dropped it partially and then changed her mind. I'm watching closely and I'll keep you all posted

 

[Dreamer03]

This is adorable!!!

 

[Akasha72]

aww thank you! They were utterly adorable when they were babies and I really hope I manage to get a few babies of my own from them

 

[RCA]

Stunning photos, and a pleasure to view and read. Looking forward to seeing them raise some young for you, such fun

 

[Byron]

Beautiful fish, Akasha.  And I like that "breeding" aquascape.

 B.

 

[Akasha72]

hello and thank you RCA and Byron.
 
The 'breeding' scape was loosely based around a Biotope as I love to see a blackwater tank with it's stained water. I was hoping the oak leaves would start to stain the water in that tank but they never did. The tank is now back in the shed for now.
 
Should I ever be able to afford to buy a brand new tank I'll be starting a fresh and I will be aiming to do a proper amazonian biotope inspired tank. I could do it with the tank I have of course but the thought of pulling it apart fills me with dread

 

[Byron]

hello and thank you RCA and Byron.
 
The 'breeding' scape was loosely based around a Biotope as I love to see a blackwater tank with it's stained water. I was hoping the oak leaves would start to stain the water in that tank but they never did. The tank is now back in the shed for now.
 
Should I ever be able to afford to buy a brand new tank I'll be starting a fresh and I will be aiming to do a proper amazonian biotope inspired tank. I could do it with the tank I have of course but the thought of pulling it apart fills me with dread

 
Oak leaves will colour the water, but you need a lot of them.  I have a 10g that is used as a grow-out tank for my Farlowella vitatta fry, and now as my Corydoras pygmaeus tank which has fry galore.  The dried leaves produce infusoria which is the ideal fry food.  Farlowella eat algae, and thus must graze to feed, and after trying blanched spinach and such with no success, I stumbled onto the oak leaves.  The five fry grew slowly, but are now (at 4 inches) in the main tank with their parents.  So the 10g is solely pygmy corys, and the leaves provide the only food.  The water in this tank is quite brown, though in the tank it is not as noticeable as when it is in the pail after siphoning out.  Here's a photo that will show how many leaves I kept in this tank; I added 3-5 at every weekly partial water change and usually left them until they were well decomposed as that is providing more food.  And just for fun, a photo of three corys on a leaf, one of the original females with two fry from different spawnings.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Rooibos tea is another really good option to 'tint' the water, and even offers minor health benefits for the fish.