Angel Breeding

Hi Guys/Galz

I am a real noob when it gets to aquariums, so sorry if I sound dumb.

I have a 120l tank I bought my wife as a gift about a year ago, stocked it with fish and away we go. It's a really nice comunity tank with 2 Guppys, 2 Ghost Fish, 2 Corries, Algae eater and 2 Angels.

Last night I saw that the female laid about 200 eggs (I kid you not), I feed them blood worms twice a week (Monday morning and Thursday night) and only Japanese fish food (heard that it's the best).

Now...
From reading some overseas sites, I see that I should start feeding them Brine Shrimp or something. Where Can I get this in the Centurion/Midrand area?
Is this a good idea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infusoria, it looks easy enough.
If I don't find the shrimp can I feed something else as I have phoned 4 places this morning and could not find any?

Thanks,
H

 

Hi @hypervdm

Now for the "Bad News".... raising Angel fry in a community aquarium is usualy a no go... not sure what species of fish your Algae Eater is,but they usualy chomp the eggs at night when the parents are not so vigilant... also,the parents of a newly formed pair usualy eat the eggs for a couple of spawns anyway...

At least you know now that you have a pair,so consider buying them their own 3 foot tank to live and spawn in - once they get going,they will do this incesantly.... + most probably kill some of your other fish in defending their spawn...

Brine shrimp eggs can be bought from most Fish Shops,but Dorry Pets(one of our sponsors here on TASA ) is in the Centurion area - they should have some... (Find them under the sponsor tab at top...) - LiquiFry for egglayers will be a good food for the babies as a 1st food as well,till they can start taking finely ground Flake...

Dont be discouraged by what I said - miracles do happen and I have raised Angels in Community setups in the past...

 

I can give you the name of a place here in Boksburg, but no-one out your end of the world, sorry.

 

Try Dorry Pets in Centurion. They should sell Brine Shrimp Eggs. The DIY hatching kits should work very well for hatching them. You will need a very fine sieve though. They are super small guys.

Congrats on the spawn!

 

@azurekoi, what would be the minimum requirements of a breeding tank for a pair of Angels? Mine also spawned, this is their second time, yesterday, but when I switched on the lights this am all the eggs were gone. I hope this question also helps @hypervdm, as I'm sure he might go through the same thing I'm going through.

 

I used to breed Angels on quite a large scale over a period of 7 years to fix a long fin strain...so sort of think I got all my ducks in a row with them....lol
Used banks of tanks that where 60 x 50 x 50(150 liters) - Could raise the babies to a relatively decent size(like a 20c piece body size) with the parents before moving them to grow out 4 foot tanks... But a 3 footer will do at a pinch - just keep up withthe waterchanges.... used two of those double air driven sponge filters in the tanks,bare bottom and a piece of black slate for them to spawn on... to tell the truth - I never bothered with brine shrimp(although it DOES give them a huge boost early on) - fed them egg yolk for two to three days after they became free swimming,then straight on to crushed Flake and finely ground TetraBits...

On Angels eating spawn - some pairs settle down and stop this behaviour after a couple of times,some never do... Other community fish in a tank will also "bother" them to the point of eating their spawn...

 

@azurekoi, thanks for the info. I think that could be the problem with my pair as they are in the 6ft Large Fish tank and I think they are being pestered by my Gourami's, Rainbows and Bala Shark. They will have to wait a while till I can afford a 3ft tank though... Thanks again

Sorry for the hi-jack...

@hypervdm, just a quick note for you, your Angel's eggs should hatch in about 3 days... I hope you have better luck than I do...

 

@azurekoi, thanks for the info. I think that could be the problem with my pair as they are in the 6ft Large Fish tank and I think they are being pestered by my Gourami's, Rainbows and Bala Shark. They will have to wait a while till I can afford a 3ft tank though... Thanks again

Sorry for the hi-jack...

 

Firstly….. THANKS for all the replies guys!

I rushed home to find that the dad eats the white eggs from the place they laid the eggs, about 5% of them turned white the rest are still clear.
What does a white egg mean?


I found some Brine Shrimp, it’s frozen though. I am going to try the egg yellow! Thanks!!
Can I feed them frozen like with the blood worms?

I forgot to mention the Sharkish catfish (they have red fins) I have in the tank. They are not interested in the eggs though. The mom and dad are very protective of the eggs, they attempted to bite me when I removed them from the tank with the other fish.
I moved the other fish rather than the eggs, I figured the parents laid them in perfect conditions rather not change that.


Skye01 – I read on an international forum on breeding that you are not supposed to switch the light off during breeding time in a community tank.


Photies coming soon!

 

A lot will depend on your pair when it comes to breeding.

Some will never eat the eggs and other won't stop eating them.

I use to breed mine in a bare 3ft tank.
No lights turned on.

Did you ask the Prof for some brine shrimp eggs?

Hope you get some fry to raise. Make sure they are not to crowded or they will start nipping each others fins very quickly.

Best of luck.

 

I have tails coming from the eggs 36 hours in!! Jippie!!

I feel like a grand dad.


What am my going to do with 100+ angels???

 

Congrats on the tails! Unexpected fry is always exciting...

 

@hypervdm white eggs are not fertilized eggs and can develop fungus.

Have a look at the following link it is a documentary on angel fish breeding it is in 2 part though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBF4CfUCVpY

In about 3 days or so they will start to swim, I would recomend that you siphon them into a seperate tank and start feeding them with artemia. Don't feed them until they are free swiming.

With lots of feeding and water change you should be able to raise them to good selling size.

Congratulation and good luck

 

Hey Hypervdm,

Glad you found your way over to this side.... congrats on the tails ! PLease do keep us updated !

 

Thanks to you mate!!!

They fell off the fiter and are now looking like little tadpoles between the rocks. Mom and dad are trying to get them out but fails.

Should I leave them there or try and split them from the rocks? Maybe suck them out?

As soon as I can take decent photies I will put the up on this thread.

 

Just leave them there - sounds like mom and dad doing a good job,so dont interfere... They are now in what I used to call the Wriggler phase...next will come the hopper phase when they have almost fully absorbed the yolk sack and start making short little swims into the wide blue yonder...Start feeding them from then on...

 

Thanks pal!

 

Haha... There is small bug like creatures in my tank, they are beteen the stones. They are really small, since I removed the corries from the tank they started multiplying.

Looks like they killed some of the fry. I managed to save about 20.

From the books they are supposed to start swiming soon.

I learned allot and the next batch will go better.