A Question About Angels

[LizStreithorst]

For those of you who breed Angels, at what age is it best to seperate the kids from the fry? I won't be wanting to breed them again right away since I have 4 pairs now with either eggs or wigglers Can I just leave the pairs in with the kids until I'm ready for them to breed again?

[Ryan]

A couple things to keep in mind.

1. Some parents may get frustrated after a while and start eating the fry. I've seen this happen even after the fry were quite large -- pea-sized or slightly larger. I think it really depends a lot on your pairs' tolerance to their fry. Some angels seem to do really well with fry-rearing... others, well, not so much. If they get ready to spawn again they may turn on the other fry.

2. Angel fry in large numbers can damage parents as they get older. If the babies are hungry, they will actually start eating their parents. Al can confirm that I've had mine start eating the fins off of my pairs.

I usually can keep angel fry with the parents until they are pea-sized. Once their little dorsal and anal fins start developing, I'd say remove the parents just to be safe. That's if the pair tolerates them up to that point, that is.

If you don't want the pairs to spawn, you may need to separate them. I tried a divider and they just spawned at the divider. Some angel breeders have community tanks where the pairs go to rest, but depending on the attitude of your pairs, that may not work either. I've got some female angels that are set on killing each other, whether they're in spawning mode or not.

[LizStreithorst]

A couple things to keep in mind.

1. Some parents may get frustrated after a while and start eating the fry. I've seen this happen even after the fry were quite large -- pea-sized or slightly larger. I think it really depends a lot on your pairs' tolerance to their fry. Some angels seem to do really well with fry-rearing... others, well, not so much. If they get ready to spawn again they may turn on the other fry.

2. Angel fry in large numbers can damage parents as they get older. If the babies are hungry, they will actually start eating their parents. Al can confirm that I've had mine start eating the fins off of my pairs.

I usually can keep angel fry with the parents until they are pea-sized. Once their little dorsal and anal fins start developing, I'd say remove the parents just to be safe. That's if the pair tolerates them up to that point, that is.

If you don't want the pairs to spawn, you may need to separate them. I tried a divider and they just spawned at the divider. Some angel breeders have community tanks where the pairs go to rest, but depending on the attitude of your pairs, that may not work either. I've got some female angels that are set on killing each other, whether they're in spawning mode or not.

Thanks for the advice, Ryan. I have a community tank that I can toss them into when I'm ready. They were in this tank before I mobed them to the breeding room. I never saw any aggression then, so I think I'll be OK.

[CARY_GLdiscus]

You haveing fun yet with My angels Liz ?


LOL!

Cary Gld!

[LizStreithorst]

What does it sond like to you, Cary. lol
I'd post pics but all my breeding pairs are in these tanks. It makes them feel more secure.

[CARY_GLdiscus]

What a good Mommy! LOL!

[JeffreyRichard]

I found it almost always better to pull the eggs and hatch the fry out separate from the parents right from the start. The only time I didn't is when I was too lazy, or missed a spawn. As Ryan said, fry will do a number on the parents as they grow.

My advice would be to pull all the fry no later than 3 weeks from free swimming.

[LizStreithorst]

For some reason I like parents to raise fry. Don't know why. Maybe it's just because I'm a Discus person at heart. They're only 10 days right now. I'll be keeping an eye on the situation.

[CARY_GLdiscus]

Liz throw some angel fry on your discus pairs!

Brew did it to!

hee.hee.hee.

[LizStreithorst]

I guess I should have done that with the pair that just now ate their wigglers. Grrrrr...Well, they're forgiven. It was their first time to achieve "wigglerhood". They'll be more comfortable with the situation next time.

[LizStreithorst]

HA HA HA HA HA They didn't eat them after all!!!! This afternoon I found the entire huge batch on the iar tube.
Thank you Cary for these wonderful mommy's and daddy's.