Angel fish eggs!!!
By sedel1027
@sedel1027 (17846)
Cupertino, California
July 24, 2007 9:04pm CST
AHHH! We just realized our Angel Fish laid eggs on our tank Filter. They are attacking the other fish who try to get near the filter. I have not clue what to do with these fish! This is a 55 gallon tank with the 2 angel fish, 2 african leaf fish ,3 Rainbow Kilis, a betta, clown loaches, and dojo loaches. The majority of the fish are at least semi-aggressive. Any had to deal with this before and have any clue?
I know we can move the eggs. I am hoping we are home when they hatch (7 days?).
From what I understand we need fresh live brine shrimp, I have been told they are not easy to raise. NAy tips on that?
2 people like this
2 responses
@oscarbartoni (2581)
• United States
25 Jul 07
First off Congratulation on having a pair of angelfish. Hopefully they are a true pair (male and female) and that the male is fertile. If that is the case you can be assured that the pair will spawn every week to ten days or so. Now since you cannot remove the eggs you can put a tank divider on the tank so that the parents are with the eggs and the other fish are on the other side of the divider. It will take about 3 days for the eggs to hatch and another 2 to 3 days for them to become free swimming. It is when they become free swimming that you need to start feeding the swimmers live baby brine shrimp. If there is large gravel in the tank then the babies will possibly get lost in the gravel and die of starvation. Do not try to put the parents in a new tank with their eggs or you will stress them and the parents will eat the eggs. There should be between 200 and 400 eggs in that clutch of eggs so don't worry if you lose a few. If you really wish to raise a lot of angelfish then set them up with a 20 gallon tall tank (or larger is better) that is bare bottom and has a sponge filter (a sponge filter will not suck up the babies and will provide some infusoria for food for the babies).Also keep the temp up to about 80 to 82 so that the eggs and young will grow faster and have less chance of getting fungus ed. good luck and have fun with them. If yo need more information about the angelfish then go to aquariumpros.com, I am of the moderators there.
Oh yeas, when the eggs hatch, take to e filter out of that side of the tank so that the babies do not get filtered out of the tank.
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
25 Jul 07
Thanks for your help. I was *hoping* that they were not a true pair, but when I got up this morning only about 15 of the eggs had turned white.
When you say "large gravel", do you mean regular aquarium gravel? We have had babies before - guppies, danios - and had gravel in the tank with no problems.
As for the live shrimp, do you suggest buying a kit from the pet store? I have heard that they are a pain to maintain and are expensive.
1 person likes this
@oscarbartoni (2581)
• United States
25 Jul 07
If yo are not interested in raising many (or any) baby angelfish then just let the parents take care of them in the tank. They might raise a few in the main tank for you. If yo are interested in raising more then you might wish to get a ten gallon bare bottom tank going with a sponge filter. Use water from the main tank and when the eggs hatch you can use a turkey baster to syphon the babies (leave a few for the parents) into the ten gallon tank. There is food for babies egg layers as well as live bearing fish. On angelfish you might be able to start with the live bearing foods (live bearing foods for babies is larger than egg laying foods for babies). Make sure to clean the bottom of the tank two or three times a day and add dechlorinated water in to replace the water that you take out. As they get larger then yo will need to put them in larger tanks or several tanks to keep them from becoming stunted or deformed. Also do plenty of water changes for the same reason. Let us know how things are going.
2 people like this
@HighReed1 (1126)
• United States
28 Jul 07
Sedel, I have seen live brine shrimp for sale at some fish stores and they aren't expensive. Especially when you look at how many you get for your money.
You might want to check around for a fish store that sells them and ask about keeping them alive until you need them. It might not be as bad as you've heard.
@rusty2rusty (6771)
• Defiance, Ohio
25 Jul 07
Would you happen to have a second tank to move the eggs and angel fish to? As they are only protecting their eggs. The other fish gets clos eenough they will eat the eggs. Even buying on of those little plastic ones to place them in til the eggs hatch.
2 people like this
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
25 Jul 07
Unfortunately, the eggs are on the filter tube that goes into the tank, so I can't move that. They are medium-large size angels and we don't have any free tanks that could hold any fish that size. I do have quite a few plastic breeders because our guppies have babies non-stop. How do you get the eggs into the plastic breeder?
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