When to remove angel eggs?

i was about to do a water change in my tank, when I saw an angel pair doing the wild thang. As luck would have it, I happen to have a tank available, AND I can remove the pump that the eggs have been laid on without any hassle.

The question is, when can I do this? The eggs will be chowed if I leave it until tomorrow. HELP!!

 

if you're certain the eggs will be eaten you can remove them now but make sure not to expose them to air
I recommend ensuring that the tank you put them in is well oxygenated with a gentle current as the eggs are very susceptible to fungus. Perhaps add a small amount of methylene blue to the water

 

Thanks Ray. Gonna put the eggs under some very gentle flow. Do you thing I can substitute the methylene blue with Paraguard? It says it's for external fungal infections.

 

You may well be able to
It's not always vital but in my experience angel eggs are very fungus prone
Also be sure to use water from the original tank

 

I can't use water from the original tank, but have done a 50% waterchange and am busy matching temps before the switch. Gonna just have to hope for the best. Water parameters should be very similar though. Thanks for your help man!

 

No problem. Happy to help

 

The mass kidnapping is complete. Let's hold thumbs

 

@Broder

Another angle on this scenario would have been to leave everything as is in the tank and let the angels protect the eggs and or eventual fry. What we do know is that this pair will spawn again soon and then you sitting with the same problem again.

I would have then waited to see what happens in the main tank in terms of the angels ability to protect the eggs and then after this batch is eaten, rather move the pair to a breeding tank.

Just my 2c in this.

 

Thanks Andrew. From the subsequent reading that I've done, your approach is definitely the preferred method amongst experienced breeders. I'll let the next pair do it naturally. I decided to move this batch because it's the first time I've seen eggs, yet I'm sure they've paired up a long time ago already. I suspect that eggs get eaten very quickly in this tank of tetras, plecos, bgk etc. plus the fact that I had a tank available.

About 30 of the eggs have already turned white, 18hrs later. Hope they don't all go..

 

Just a side note, the angel at the top of the photo looks to be the female. Would be nice to see a side pic of the other fish during spawning to identify its sex.

 

Here you go... I only have cellphone pics unfortunately.

 

Haha... Looks like spring is in the water, if not in the air. Seems I have another pair in the tank



Well, these will obviously stay in the tank.

 

Sorry @Broder, you've probably posted this information in another thread, but how many angels in this tank, and how big is it! Good luck with your eggs! keen to see what works for you.

 

Thanks RoGe. There are 7 Dantum Angels in this 550 liter tank.

None me of the second spawn survived the night. Of the first, moved batch, about half of the original eggs are still viable. The test have turned white or become prey to snails and shrimp. I can just see tails developing on the macro pics.

 

You are right there is something in the water/air. My Dantums also lay a batch yesterday, all eggs gone this morning, 3rd time this happened. Per a previous post, you should remove the pair if you want to raise the fry, let us know what happens with the eggs you removed.

 

Would it be possible to house an angel pair in a standard 2ft tank until they spawn again? Or will the confined space freak them out of the mood?

 

Thanks Reedfish. I doubt that it will get to that stage with this round, but if I decide to move the angels, could I not grow the fry to about 2cm in the same 2ft? Or is it the shear numbers that I would need to spread out?

 

@Broder

Ok, thanks for posting a pic of both fish. It looks like the fish at the top is female and the one below is the male. I would move the pair to a separate tank ( MTS I believe ), bare bottom, and put a cone or piece of slate in there as a spawning site and see what transpires.

Good luck.

 

Fungus took over the remaining eggs of the first batch that was moved. Conclusion... If you want to breed angelfish, you need to set up a proper breeding tank.