fork in the road

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COpathfindin

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Jun 3, 2011
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Continental Devide, CO
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Sam
hey folks, I am playing with breeding different species of fish. from egg scatters' to mouth brooders. About a year ago I purchased some angels. I have 2 marble colored fish now which have paired off, and found a corner of the aquarium they like, near the inlet to the the canister filter. In fact, I have not scene it as clean as it now. I have noticed an increased aggression, face locking, not to mention one of the pair looks gravid to me. I lowered the number of fish in that tank, any other suggestions would be great.
The tank is a 80 gal tall. its a heavily planted tank with dirt substrate. I have a large canister filter with uv light, and a small powerhead in the tank.
 

COpathfindin

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Continental Devide, CO
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Sam
I let the pair do their thing, and all the eggs, went white and eventually got cleaned up. I decided I would move the pair to a smaller tank which is also heavily planted. they have the entire 20 to themselves, a few pieces of flat stone, a hob filter with sponge over the intake. everything seemed to be going well, the fish laid eggs again, this time on the filter body. 2 days went by with the eggs looking off white both fish taking turns fanning the eggs, then the eggs went white and they all got eaten up.
I know it sometimes takes a few tries for a first time pair to get it right, but I am wondering if I might be doing something wrong here. the fish seem to breed once a week, curious as what is causing the loss of eggs.
 

Rbishop

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Dec 30, 2005
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Are you sure one is a male..??
 

excuzzzeme

Stroke Survivor '05
If they are turning white in a day they are likely non-viable. Try moving some to a qt tank that has meth blue in it and see if they still turn white in a day.

As far as aggression goes, yes angels get very aggressive when spawning.

If you can't clealy sex the fish try looking at the nose to lip ridge line. If they are both the same chances are you do have 2 females as RB pointed out. If the ridge line is different you might have a pair and will take awhile for them to get it right.
 

COpathfindin

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they had been laying in a tank with a dirted substrate, lots of live plants. I decided I wanted to have a little more control so I cleaned out the tank, rinsed the gravel off in clean fish tank water. I now have a very thin layer of gravel, terra cotta pot, a silk plant, and a piece of granite. I lowered the lighting from a t-5 to a regular t-8. I am hoping to see something out of this new set up. If the next round goes bad I will try pairing them with my other angle I have.
 

COpathfindin

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Jun 3, 2011
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Continental Devide, CO
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Sam
here is a picture of the new breeder set up. its a 20 gal. I have in the tank a nice flat piece of stone, a fake plant, and a terra cotta bowl. I am thinking I may add a piece of drift wood as well. I am whisper 40 with a sponge over the intake and netting over the sponge. I am keeping temp at 82 degrees F. GH is at 60, KH is at 100, pH is around 6.5, barely a trace of NO3 or NO2.
mi amore 001.JPGmi amore 002.JPGmi amore 003.JPGmi amore 004.JPGthis picture shows what I used to wrap the tank. its a black out film used in building dark rooms. I have 2.5 sides completely wrapped, and I leave the front and a bit of one side open

mi amore 001.JPG mi amore 002.JPG mi amore 003.JPG mi amore 004.JPG
 

excuzzzeme

Stroke Survivor '05
What you do to the tank isn't going to change the viability of the eggs. You could stick them in a pot of dirty water and still have the same results.
 

COpathfindin

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Continental Devide, CO
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Sam
by blacking out the sides the fish feel less distraction. I am hoping that the lack of visual stimuli will result in the male doing less defending work, and more parenting.
 

MaiaDee

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Jun 14, 2012
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Payson, AZ
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This is interesting, Sam. I hope you'll keep us updated.

Question, why the netting around the intake sponge?
 

chickenlady

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Acually, by defending there nest, it gives the parents something to do besides eating the eggs and babies. That is why small fish (dithers) are put in a tank with pairs, it takes their mind off being cannibals. My convicts did a whole lot better raising their babies when I put them into my community tank and gave them a nice little cave in the corner to defend.
 
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