Whats the best way to pair angels?

[Duzzy73]

Hi there,

we are in the process of changing our big tank from a community to a tank for 1 pair of angels and nothing else. The tank is 1metre wide x 1metre high x .5m front to back. what is the best way to get a true pair? buy 6 small fish and get rid of the 4 spares later on or buy 1 pair that look like 1 male and 1 female?

Also in this size tank will 1pair of angels reach a good size? and what size do they grow too.

Regards Darren

[Damon]

This topic has been posted here before. But to answer your question, buy 6 juveniles and let them pair up naturally.

[DavidDoyle]

Simpte- you forgot the part about get rid of/move the others after there is a for sure pair.

ps- proven pairs cost a lot more

[Obed Mathis]

Lots of information on angelfish and breeding is available at http://www.theangelfishsociety.org
That is the home page for the angelfish society and they operate a couple of angelfish forums.
The tank size you have is way more than adequate for a breeding pair, I use 25 gallon tanks for all my breeding pairs. The best way to obain a breeding pair is relative to how long you want to wait and how much money you want to spend. Another consideration is what quality fish do you want to breed. Most of the fish you can buy at local fish stores are of the fish farm type variety and quality form and good genetics is lacking. If you want to raise quality fish you would need to buy your juvies from a reputable breeder. I would suggest someone like Steve R. from angelsplus or Tony M. from angelswest. There are a number of well known quality breeders. Purchasing juvies you will wait from 7 months to 9 month or so for them to mature and pair off. (sometimes as little as 6 months).
If you are in a hurry you can buy a proven pair, one of the cheapest ways is to go to aquabid, there are usually many pairs available starting at around $100 dollars, but again know your breeder. If you want a quality proven pair from a well known line starting prices for silvers, blacklace, marbles, smokeys etc is around $250, if you are looking for quality koi with heavy orange fill the price could go as high as $600 a pair but is usually around $450. It is pretty much a matter of which you have more of,,time or money. You did not mention your other tanks but a breeding pair with out adequate grow out space is not a good thing, so make sure you are ready with lots of tank space for spawns that go from 200 to 800 fry.