Breeding Angels

[flyte00]

What size tank is suitable for 1 pair of Angelfish? I am going to be keeping some aquariums at my boyfriends hardware store for breeding fish and I don't have much room so looking for the bare minimum here. I will not put them into anything too small, don't worry.. If they require too much space I'll simply pick a different fish.
I'm looking for something I can breed that I can actually get back alittle of my money, and get some experience. Thanks!

Sarah

 

[bettagurl]

i think its 30 to 40 gallons min,but bigger is better.

 

[Dangerdoll]

If you're going with bare-bottom... you can try a 20 but you need to be diligent with your water changes and such. The best option would be as bg says, a 30-40.

 

[jm1212]

i would go with somthing like a 29, because it is as long as a 20 but much taller, and barebottomed too so you can get rid of all of the deterius easily every day to keep the water in perfect condition.
you mich also want to consider a small portion of the tank that is densly planted (the plants are in pots) for 1-it will make the parents and babies feel more secure and 2-it will help keep the water in tip-top shape

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The issue isnt the size of the tank in which they spawn, it is the number of tanks you will need to raise all the fry. It is not uncommon to get 4-500 fry per spawn and they can spawn about every 2 weeks. Most breeders will tell you to have between 2 and 3 55 gal tanks for growout.

That said, accomplished angel breeders have been known to spawn them in as small as a 10 gal. but this is not recommended. the minimum size would be a 20 gal tank. Also, many angel parents never learn to raise fry and end up eating the eggs or wigglers. So you would have to be prepared to pull the eggs and hatch them yourself. If you do get fry- they need live food for the first 2 weeks and need feeding at least 4 times a day and you need to vac the tank a couple time/day and change about 10% water daily as well- this is mostly accomplished from doing the vac of uneaten food.

 

[JulieC]

You may find that your angels eat their first few batches of fry. Mine have eaten fry at all stages of development. I just wanted you to know that sometimes breeding these guys can be difficult due to their eating the eggs. You may want to prepare to rasie the fry yourself (away from the parents) if your angels won't raise them.

However, I agree a 29 would be ideal, but since space is an issue a bare bottom 20H should work. But as others have said, make sure you are diligent in cleaning.

Good luck! You might need it. I hope not, though!

 

[coupedefleur]

If you go with a 20, you want a 20 High ( 24" long ). The 20 Long tanks that are 30" in length are too shallow, and angelfish will be very uncomfortable. A 20L would be good for fry if you don't have anything bigger.

One thing you'll have to decide is if you're going to let the parents take care of the fry, or pull the eggs as soon as you see them. It's a lot more work to pull the eggs, but that's what people do that want to raise the maximum number.

The Angels Plus guy has a lot of good information on breeding:

http://www.angelsplus.com/Breeding.htm

His articles on quality stock and genetics are also worth reading.

 

[dorris]

Yeh everyone is dead on. You need lotsa room to rais all the youngins and it is a big job feeding and cleaning for them all. I imagine it would be hard to do if you weren't living with the fish in your house and even hard if you worked away from home. So the two biggest problems are ample space and maintenance/feedings. If you want to do it casual with less maintenance I have one suggestion which can work. Have as large a tank as you can, at least 30-40G, and have it heavily planted, perhaps with a little co2 and/or liquid fertiliser, try and overfeed the fertiliser and have your lights on for more than 12 hrs so that you iduce algae. If you can get enough algae growing on the walls of your tank etc. then the fry will love to eat it all day long, thus you could get away with feeding then once or twice a day with bbs. Fry love to eat algae I have found. I am fairly sure in the wild they eat heaps of it. The amazon river floods into the grass-lands where it is not use to the water, which creates lots of algae, and this is where the angels spawn. You do the math. The fry would eat algae as well as any small water fleas etc.

Good luck to your angels. Also, if you are on good terms with a pet shop you like, try and see if they would buy your stock. Some won't because breaders are actually suppose to have a liscence. In-fact you are not allowed to breed fish without one. hahaha. Madness. How can we stop them half the time?