Angels Spawning

[Kuhli Loach]

I introduced six angels to my 400 liter community tank two weeks ago. Last Saturday a pair spawned on a plant leaf in the tanks, but shortly after they finished spawning they ate all the eggs, and was joined by a third angel in the feast :mad:. Yesterday when I got home, I saw that a pair of angel has spawned on a piece of driftwood, and were looking after there eggs, fanning the eggs with their fins and chasing away all the other fish from the spawning site :bigsmile:. This morning when I put on the light all these eggs where gone :mad:. The pair was still hanging around the spawning site, pecking away at the driftwood.

The angles share the tank with platties x 4, whiptail catfish x 2, bronze cories x 8, Ancistrus x 2, kuhli loach x 1, tetras x 6 and 4 apple snails. I have not seen the spine eel for quite a while, and have not found him on the floor, so he must still be in the tank.

Now my questions are:

What could have caused the first pair of angels to consume their eggs?
Who is the most likely culprit that consumed the second batch of eggs?
Are the angels capable of protecting their eggs after lights out against the nocturnal guys in the tank?
Could it have been the same pair that has spawned twice with in a matter of five days?

[veegal]

Domestic angels will often eat their eggs before actually realising that 'hey if I eat my eggs then I don't get babies and can't continue my genes' :) Leave them alone and let them eat the eggs, eventually they will get the hang of it. Some of my pairs immediately got the hang of it and never ate their eggs whilst others ate their eggs 4 times before getting the hang of it.

The angels themselves probably ate the eggs and most likely had some help with the other tank mates. Once the angels start eating the eggs they don't really 'protect' them any more.

Yes, angels most certainly can protect their eggs are lights out. My angelfish at work spawned very recently in the community tank and to my utter surprise, they now have wrigglers. The lights there are set on a timer and it gets really dark. I leave a 'night light' on in my fish room for my angels and other fish to give them a very little bit of light.

Yes, it is likely that it is the same pair spawning. Have you only got 3 angels in the tank? When they next lay eggs, make sure that the pair spawning is definitely a male and female. Females can be very sneaky and pretend to be a male if there are no males around :)

[Kuhli Loach]

I have six (6) angels in the tank, and they are definitely not all females. I could see that from the difference in the tube (not sure what the correct name is :wondering:) protruding from the male and female when they where laying the eggs on Saturday.

[veegal]

Great! Then it is just a matter of patience while waiting for them to get the hang of things :)

[Zafgak]

Female tube is the Ovipositor, Male is the uuummmmm.... sorry altzheimers kicking in again

Papillae = Male breeding tube

[Gert Combrink]

A night light help a lot to keep the pairs and young orientated and will also help them to protect their young.