How large/old must angels be for breeding?

[Catahoula]

I have two angel fish which I've had since April. They were probably about the size of a quarter (fins excluded) at the time. They are about 4 inches long now. I noticed them swimming around each other as if they were courting. Are they old enough to be breeding? And if so, exactly what does the courtship ritual look like? Thanks!

[ChicoRaton]

They probably are large enough to breed now. a sure sign that somethign is gonna happen is if they find a plant leaf/fock/filter intake tube, etc and start guarding and cleaning it all the time. That will the the spot where they lay their eggs.

[Dangerdoll]

As chico mentions, they probably are old enough..... I'm not sure of any specific ritual that they follow such as say live-bearers for example. However, you will know they are pairing up in order to start breeding if they are staying close to each other a lot..... following each other around the tank and also as chico mentions, pecking at several different areas in the tank.... which would be them cleaning the surfaces, preparing them for a egg-bunch. Be prepared though, a lot of young parents aren't sure what to do and wind up eating their first few broods... If you are going to try the other route of raising them yourself, be sure to do your homework so that you can have a successful bunch.

[VitaminJ]

They may also get a little feisty when they decide it's time to mate. The cleaning is a sure sign (my pair incessantly cleaned one leaf of my Amazon Sword for days), but even more interesting in my 46g was the fact that no other fish in the tank would swim into "their" third of the tank. They had quickly bullied their way to a lot of peace and quiet.

Not particularly wanting them to breed, I lowered the temperature in the tank a little bit (it was high, about 80) and they calmed down, and now everyone else is allowed into "their" third of the tank again.

To answer more of your original question, yes, they are definitely old enough. Mine are still less than a year old and, in fact, were probably about as old as yours when they started.

One final note: as Dangerdoll said, if you want to try to raise the fry, definitely do some research. Rearing them is certainly possible, but they are not the easiest fry in the world to raise!

Best of luck!

[beavertayl1]

look for the liplock...that's usually a sign that they are a pair. having a successful breed with two angels can be tricky because they are very difficult to sex and usually need to grow up together in order to make a pair (in other words dumping two adults in together will probably not produce a successful pair) If they are chasing eachother it could just be a territorial issue and probably has nothing to do with mating but if they lock lips are appear to be fighting head to head there is a good chance that they might be a pair. Cleaning a rock would be a definite sign as well, as mentioned earlier.