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fwd: angelfish breeding
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From: Denney, Richard
To: 'Tony Lim'
Subject: re: angelfish breeding
Date: Wednesday, November 20, 1996 2:45PM
Congratulations. You must have conditions satisfactory for amorous
angelfish. I have had some success rearing multiple broods of angelfish
since mid-September, when like you I found that I had a breeding pair. The
first sign was that the pair persistently chased the other fish in my 29
gallon tank behind rocks and wouldn't let them come out. I quickly set up an
emergency 10 gallon tank to take the overflow fish, including one adult
angel now dubbed "lonesome", and let the parents do their thing. The first
batch hatched successfully (two days to hatching, but the fry remain bound
to the leaf, or other substrate, and five more days to the free-swimming
stage). Out of this first batch of about 150 eggs, I got about 50 free
swimmers. I fed them newly hatched baby brine shrimp, as the books say, and
things looked good until on the third night after becoming free swimming,
the babies disappeared. The parents (probably the male, I am told), probably
ate them.
This happens. Your turning off the light at an inopportune may or may not
have been the reason. Most breeders try to minimize disturbance of breeding
pairs to reduce the liklihood that this will happen, but pairs differ in how
"scitterish" they are. Mine are used to my oggling at them and feeding them
frequently, and don't seem to be disturbed by my presence. The tank is,
however, heavily planted with lots of shadows and hiding places.
A week later, another batch. Consulting an excellent web site
(http://pages.prodigy.com/CA/lordbyron/angelfish1.html), I elected to try to
remove the fry after hatching (but before they became free swimming) to
another 10 gal tank. I used MarOxy antifungal medication, as recommended on
the Web, and a sponge filter in a bare tank. I managed to get some to
survive. To make a long story short, the parents continued to lay every week
or two after eggs were removed. I had some, but not many survivors when I
tried to rear the fish separate from the parents. Most mortality occurred
within three days of the fry becoming free swimming. Rearing the fry
separate from the parents is not a trivial task. The problem is feeding them
sufficiently, without fouling the water in a bare tank. (Incidently, don't
put any gravel in the tank. I did at first, and most got caught in the
gravel almost immediately upon hatching.) Since you have to feed regularly
two or three times a day with newly hatched baby brine shrimp, it is very
difficult to keep the tank adequately clean. Anything but a sponge filter
sucks the fry up. (Sometimes you can recover them from a box filter!) I of
course got high nitrates, and had to change about half or more of the water
every day in an attempt to keep the rearing tank minimally clean. However, I
now have seven 2 inch angels from one batch, and about 10 1 inch angels from
a second batch. These are doing beautifully in my 75 gallon, heavily planted
(and gorgeous) tank. (This tank been going about two and a half months and
also has 20 cardinal tetras, four SIA's, ten Oto's, and two mollies.)
Three weeks ago, the parents layed yet another batch in the 29 gallon. I
decided that if I was to rear more angels, the parents were going to have to
do most of the work. (I was willing to hatch the brine shrimp every day, but
all this messing around with separate, dirty tanks and continuous water
changes was too much.) So I let nature take its course. I added MarOxy
fungicide to the main (29 gallon) tank daily while the eggs were incubating,
to fight fungal infection. Nevertheless, the majority of eggs became
infected. However, the parents rescued about 25-30 fry, which hatched and
became free-swimming. About 23 of these have since grown into the cutest 1/2
inch angelfish you ever saw. No angelfish caviar! It is very satisfying to
see them school around the parents. So far, the parents have done exactly
what they should have. I subsequently read in a book somewhere that it is
worth giving the parents a few shots at rearing the fry themselves. It is
not uncommon for them to eat the eggs or fry, especially if they sense
something is not right, but rear subsequent batches without incident.
Concerned about the heavy feedings with baby brine shrimp, I have monitored
ammonia, nitrate and phosphate levels in the 29 gallon tank, but have not
had a significant rise in either. (It is heavily planted, and I have a
Whisper box filter with a well-aged foam bacteriological filter insert. The
tank typically does not exhibit detectable phosphate or nitrate readings.)
Apparently the plants and filter have thus far been able to handle the heavy
feeding without excess nutrient buildup. I have continued to do weekly water
changes of about 30% as before. So far, so good. I might have had more
problems had the hatch been more robust (say 200 to 300 swimming fry!).
It has been a fair amount of work, but I now have about fifty growing fish.
Fortunately, three aquarium shops in the region have expressed interest in
taking my overflow. I am obviously going to have to get rid of most of them
or my tanks will suffer from a severe overstocking. I am definitely going to
let the parents do the work from here on. The scary thing is that the owner
of Village Tropical Fish in Houston said that the offspring may themselves
start pairing off in as little as six months. Oh my, won't that be a circus?
Breeding pairs anyone?
Good luck, and check out that web site.