My angelfish just laid their first batch of eggs!

[supercalifragi]

Here's the story:

I have four angelfish, two that are about 5 months old (they're the ones with the new eggs!) and another two that are about 2.5 months old. I just noticed this afternoon that I have eggs all over one leaf of a sword and up part of the heater. The eggs are very secluded and in a very nice spot, directly in the corner and partially shielded by a cave. It appears to be a batch of 150-200, I didn't expect there to be that many. The two older angelfish have everyone else coreened off to the other side, waaaaaay off. They're superprotective. I have a 38 gal tall, very well planted with slate, and two caves. The other fish in the tank (besides the four angels) are four red-eyed tetras, three mollies, two gold mystery snails, and one plecostomus (he's about six months old). All the fish are really young, most under 4-5 months. My water temp is at 80 degrees.

I want to try to raise these eggs. I realize it's the first batch, but I want to at least give it a go. I was planning on watching the eggs and when they begin to hatch move everyone else out. I might do that after the second day just so I know they'll be okay. So, here are my questions: How long should the parents stay in the tank with the eggs? Also, I have a 29 gal and a six gal that I am getting next week, would the 6 gal (they're both eclipses) be big enough for fry? I'm already thinking about how to rig up the filter so that it won't hurt the fry. I only have a very basic Wal-mart that is in the area for supplies. Please help me with any advice! I want to get a routine down so that I can do this in the future as well!

[fishfreaks]

well im sorry that i cannot anwser any of your questions, but i must say congrats! and I hope all goes well

[supercalifragi]

Thanks, I'll keep everyone posted as the events unfold!

[Lisachromis]

Angel article

Watch out for the snails. They may try to eat the eggs. The parents may or may not eat either the eggs or the wrigglers. That happens a fair bit with angels. They may be good parents right away, but I wouldn't count on it. IF they are good parents, you can keep the parents in with the fry for 2 weeks or so. After that, the female is usually ready to lay more eggs, and the older fry become a threat to those eggs, so she gets rid of the first batch of fry. I would give up any of the eggs on the heater hatching, they're probably 'cooked'.

The 6 gallon will be too small for your fry except maybe for the first few weeks. Hundreds of baby angels take up more space then you expect. You'd also have to be doing lots and lots of water changes to keep up with water quality in the smaller tank.

Do you have any sort of first food for the fry if they make it to freeswimming?

[DavidDoyle]

The odds they will hatch in a community tank are very low. Other fish see the eggs as a free lunch and the parents will not only try to keep others at bay, they could even kill other fish. The parents will eat the eggs rather than let others do so.

Your best bet is either to isolate the pair in their own breeding tank if you want to let them try to raise the fry. Some angels do this the very first spawn while others take a few spawns to get it right and some never learn.

You can also pull the eggs shortly after they are laid and fertilized by removing the plant leaf and putting it into a small tank with heat and air plus a dose of methyblu. I hatched 500 angels in a 2.5 gal tank but they didn't stay their long. If you are serious about raising angels, you need a lot more tanks. Angels spawn every 10-14 days and will give 100s and 100s of eggs.

Finally, once they go free swimming agnel fry need live food for the first 2 weeks or so, I suggest you research hatching baby brine shrimp if you are going to try and raise fry.

[supercalifragi]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I've been in contact with my college Bio professor who is going to help me get started with the brine shrimp hatchery. This morning, at 6a, there was only ~6 white eggs, now at 2p there are probably 30 white eggs. The parents are popping the white ones but don't mess with any that are still yellow. I'm going to get supplies today (a 10gal) and having my teacher order the stuff for the brine shrimp. The parents are still standing heavy guard near the eggs and for a juvenile pair, seem to be doing everything right. I'm planning on removing the eggs later this evening, after the heater gets the water up to a temp consistent with the tank the eggs are in now.

[Lisachromis]

Good luck

[supercalifragi]

Deep down, I knew their first spawn, especially at such a young age, wouldn't work. Looks like the male didn't properly fertilize and all the eggs turned white over three days. They ate them after they turned white, but not until they were all white! I think they'll make great future parents for protecting them, even when they were turning white. I'll keep everyone posted on future spawnings.

[Lisachromis]

It's all good practice for later.

[Obed Mathis]

Typically I pull the eggs from the parents about 2 hours after spawning activity is finished. I place the slate with the eggs on it into a gallon jar full of water from the parents tank. I place the one gallon jug into a 10 gallon tank with heater and filter to keep the jar at an even temp. I insert an air line into the jar with a gentle flow of air and add several drops of methylene blue to keep the bacteria from developing and spreading funus over the eggs. After about 48 hours the eggs will hatch into wigglers and on day 6/7 they will begin free swimming. On day 6 I set up the brine shrimp and when they hatch out (24 to 36 hours later) [in truth I keep two 2 liter bbs hatcheries going all the time now] I start feeding the new free swimmers, the bbs. I wait until they have been free swimming for a few hours before the first feeding. The next day I empty the one gallon jug into the 10 gallon tank. I use air line and siphon the bottom of the 10 gallon tank every day and try to do 50% water changes every day. After about 2 weeks of being in the 10 gallon tank I move the fry into grow out tanks.
There is lots of useful info about breeding and raising angel fish on THE ANGELFISH SOCIETY website. There is also lots of good stuff on the TAFII forum. check it out.