How many AC mebers breed Angels for fun?

[PopPopsfish]

Hi,
I just wanted to get to know some new people that share the same passion as we do for breeding Angels, we are looking into setting a more efficient way of raising our fish (micro hatchery) we would like to be able to pick your brains, we are relatively new to the breeding part and would like some help from you all. Maybe we could learn for each others mistakes? Or just talk about what we are doing with our fish.

We have around 30 tanks set up and would like to take a few off line in order to save a few $. Our Feb electric bill was 425.00$ , water bill was 250.00$. Selling to local pet shops is slow and they only want Quarter size for now. We have grow out tanks and don't want to power feed in order to make a buck.

If anyone has pics. they would like to share ,we would love to see them.


Thank you,

Pops /Pa.:headbang2:

[jm1212]

i wish i had the space to breed my angel.

ive got this one here, a female that i would really like to breed. perfect fins, great color, and 6 inches long.

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[Dangerdoll]

how ironic, I have my first wigglers that I am raising now... they are tiny and no where near quarter size yet and this is all new to me. I am interested in hearing experiences too.

[Animallove]

:headshake2: I wish - I tried keeping angels once, and they didn't survive. =[ I'm not sure what was wrong - the tank was cycled, no tracable ammonia or nitrite, only around nitrate was only around 10. Temperature was correct, I have no clue what happened. :confused:

[Star_Rider]

I do, when I have time to raise them.
it does require some effort as the young angels need plenty of clean water and food...


I currently have 6 pairs of angels 3 of which are actively spawning.
the wilds I have do not spawn as often as the domestic. and took nearly 2 years to mate.

[Mgamer20o0]

i have some that i been growing out. i still have to set up their own tanks and get a few more tanks for grow out.

[PopPopsfish]

Hi all
Thanks for replies,
JM that one is a beauty I may be able to send you a mate if you are interested.
Dangerdoll , have fun the little guys are a treat. Star is right they need clean water we do 80% daily when free swimming for two weeks then we transfer to a 10 or 20 depending on how many fry.
Star, do you have any pics? Love to here and see more.
Anmiallove, Fry are very sensitive to change we have lost well over 5000 fry and continue to lose about 5% there are so many things that can contribute to fry mortality. Don't give up practice is key and the end result is priceless.
MGAMER, We would love to here more about your angles

[Animallove]

:shakehead: Fry? I wish, no not even adults do well in my tank.

[MIKE D]

I wish mine would get past the egg stage. I have 2 pairs that like to spawn. I've only had them make it to the free swimming stage once but then they died :( I do plan on selling them to my LFS if and when they hatch.

Ps Mgamer may the schwartz be with you. Love the avatar

[Tolak]

I breed angels for fun & very little profit. 30some tanks, a little over 1,000 gallons running atm.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/9902/dsc016621gm1.jpg
http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/6752/dsc016631bw3.jpg
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/3373/dsc016691in0.jpg
http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/5875/dsc016741zt4.jpg
http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/6190/dsc018491sp1.jpg
http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/6758/dsc018501td6.jpg
http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/5491/dsc018471he8.jpg
http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/8183/dsc018521ds6.jpg

The first few are from about a year ago, before I set up the rack over the tubs with the 40's & 20's. The latest fishroom redo (it never seems to end) included the rack over the tubs & the hatching/fry tanks below the 55. I also have a 72 in the family room, and a 65 up in the living room.

You are getting killed on water & electric, if I had to pay that I would bail. I'm paying around$4.25/1000 gallons on water, my electric to run this setup is around $75 per month. I can't bring them up fast enough here, this is the time of year when it's busy. Summer slows down for a few months, I shut down tanks.

Cram as many tanks as possible into as small a well insulated room as possible. This saves on heating costs. Eliminate evaporation as much as possible, this will help to prevent humidity problems in your house. I have a vent fan that turns on a few times daily to ventilate that room.

Reuse that water to water your garden, saves some money off of the food bill that can go towards aquatics. Consider driving to outside auctions, and you should hook up with a local club. Both of these are lines on sales. On every bag you sell at an auction put your name & phone number, free advertising.

[Star_Rider]

PopPopsfish,
`my luck..give me 5 angels I get 2 pairs.
I have a huge spawn now of a wild with a domestic..these two have had large spawns before but they all died,got eaten etc.

this time I may move them to a heavy moss ridden tank to see what happens.

again my big problem is time..young angels take time..

I wish I could take pictures..but my camera skills are horrible.
so ATM I have three pairs currently spawning and 2 in limbo.(wilds)

[PopPopsfish]

WOW ! Tolak,
Thats a great set up, I am not at that level yet.We are redoing our fish room to try and condense a few things. I am insulating, running all new pipes and I will add an exhaust fan with a climate control. If I have any questions may I PM you. Thanks for the tips.

Star: We had the same luck with 10 we purchased, we ended up with 4 pairs and they are laying every 10 to 12 days. We are up to our ears in fry and dime size juvies all is well I found and outlet for 300 and if this works out they will buy all up to 500 every 3 months.

Water quality is key when raising Angels they are a lot of work but so is anything else that is worth while. We are not in it for the $ this is something the whole family enjoys . May be with our new setup we will be able to cut some of our cost.

Thanks again
Pops/Pa.

[oO.Crim.Oo]

Congrats to you breeders!!! I can't wait to get my first angels. Currently looking for a small pair. :grinyes:

[jahma]

I used to breed them 20 years ago. Keep the tank clean and its easy.

[boofish2]

Tolac That's very cool! I wish I had the space for that! I used to have a breeding pair and got a couple of spawns from them but it was a community tank and although I moved the fry they didn't survive :( I just posted this pic recently but this thread is more applicable. BTW, hey star how are ya? You were so helpful to me during my angel breeding frenzy, thanks for all the great advice :)
wrigglers/freeswimmers and the male guarding the eggs:

[TwoTankAmin]

I have only kept one strain of angels since i started- DD Blacks. I enjoy watching fish spawn and then having babies grow out. The problem with angels I learned very early- they make big spawns and do say pretty often. I had mine in a community tank and had to pull the eggs and hatch them myself, Both times i got spawns pulled it coincided with having to go away the following weekend. As a result I only managed to raise about 100 despite hatching out in excess of 500 eggs each time.

http://home.att.net/~c.leighton/wsb/media/39037/site1090.jpg
http://home.att.net/~c.leighton/wsb/media/39037/site1091.jpg

The space required to breed angels is too onerous for me and I am not a fan of culling which most breeders do heavily. That combined with the amount of work involved made me stop trying after a couple of spawns.

Finding homes for the offspring can also be a problem when big numbers are involved.

[PopPopsfish]

Very nice Blacks, they can be difficult at times to raise, love all the pics.
We will be posting some new pics of all our tanks in about two weeks. All of our juvies have found new homes and now we have about 1000 fry that are 1-3 weeks old talk about work , we do daily 90% water changes and wipe out all the tanks to ensure a very clean environment. Daily water changes are key when raising fry.

Thanks for all the cool pics and great comments

Pops/Pa.