Angel pairing ... now what?

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suziq

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May 30, 2002
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i have 6 angels ( all approaching pop can bottom size ) in a 75g planted tank. a few weeks ago we noticed some quarrelling but now we think we got a pair and the male is being a little terror.

Now I am not real happy about the obvious pair and am hoping that I may get another pair out of the four left but they are tooo stressed right now. any ideas as to how to reduce the stress right now to allow the others to find mates so i can make a decision? The only other tank I have is a 10g (complete but empty). could I remove the female of the pair to the 10g for a while to see if anyone else decides to get romantic?

:D Anyone want any big, beautiful angels in Michigan?
 
Remove the male to the 10 gallon and wait to see if you get another pair. If necessary you can sell the male back to your lfs. The attitude is temporary, he'll lose it after the spawn. If you can get 2 pairs going you might achieve a balance of terror.
good luck
:)
 
not sure of the problem

Are you saying the male of the pair is not breeding quality? If so and you are anxious to breed, why have ANY that are not breeding quality in the tank?

75g should give the others plentyof places to hide, so the aggressiveness should not be a serious long term problem.

I have 9 angels and have frequent spawns - the nonparticipants just hang in the other half of the tank (after some persuasion). If you want to hatch the eggs, place a removable slate or similar in there for them to use and remove the eggs to your 10g an hour or two after the last one is laid. My spawns never last overnight in the community tank.
 
Why aren't you happy about the obvious pair? As fanman has suggested, you can remove the overly aggressive male into the 10 gallon and hope you will get another pair out of the remaining 5 angels. Hopefully the pair will be more to your liking. I think it is prudent to have fish that you like, and are from good breeding stock so that when pairs do form, you won't have any qualms about the pair-bond. After you have another pair, you can sell the aggressive male to your LFS.

If you want to raise angel fry, I suggest you set up the 10 gallon tank as a hatch-out tank. Fill the 10 gallon with water from your main tank, and maintain conditions as closely as possible to your main tank. Place long thin pices of slate in the main tank and hopefully your angel pair will lay their eggs on the slate. As soon as your angel pair breed, remove the slate with the eggs and place it in the hatch out tank. There are lots of available information about angelfish breeding if you do a google.
 
No, I must have given the wrong impression. I like the male. He is a gorgeous gold pearlscale. The female he chose was the blahest of the 3 silver angels. there is also a black and another gold for a total of 6.

I'm not sure what are standards of breeding quality, I haven't had the opportunity to do much aquarium research/work this summer. I had just always wanted angels and thought that as they mature they will always pair. I thought though that a 75g could only hold 2 pairs at the max!

Angel wise, there is nothing but crap in my area and I purchased thse guys at a store about 2 hrs away when they had them on the rare occasion. They are the most stunning angels I have ever seen in person but if they are worthy of breeding , I don't know.

So aggression wise, it should mellow after these 2 get their freak on and I remove the eggs?
 
Yes, hopefully the male will mellow out after the pair spawn, and after you remove the eggs. The pair will be extremely aggressive prior to laying the eggs, and after they've laid the eggs, as they will drive off any intruders into their spawning site. You will not be able to raise the fry in a community tank so it is prudent to remove the eggs and hatch the eggs artificially in a seperate breeding tank. It is also a good idea to have a seperate tank for the breeding pair all to themselves, a tank of at least 20 gallons.

I would go to some angelfish sites like:

http://www.angelswest.com/main.htm

http://www.angelsplus.com/

There you will find some really nice pics of some breeder stock angels. Who knows, if the angels in your area are crap, then maybe you can be a resource for your aquarium shop by providing quality angels. There is always a demand for angels.
 
A good way to get them to spawn is to place terra-cotta plant pots on their side at the bottom of the tank. Angels love the dark caves and they feel safe enough to spawn in there. My dad used to breed angels by the tank load (he had 8 up and running at once).
 
Update

I live in Grand Rapids.

they are still at it. Most of the agressions seems to be focused on one silver angel. this one must be a male because he is always displaying himself. but all the one I think are males keep pummelling him. He is now missing scales and his tail is ripped, but he won't stop being his horny self and sparing with the other males.
Of course he is the biggest one :rolleyes:
should I just remove him, force one of the females with him, until things cool down?
 
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