My female angel has gone insane

[MiamiCuse]

Every since she spawn and had fry now the fry is doing fine but she is so over protective she is driving herself insane.

If I walk by the tank even 10 feet away she would come to peck at the glass, if I approach to feed the fry should would also attack the little spoon I use. Any movement she would jerk around and sometimes she would "zip" real quick just because of a small movement outside of the tank, she would get herself caught in a plant then twist herself out and in the process stir up the gravel at the bottom, she seems to do that a lot and then she gets so stressed out she would end up fanning her fins tilted sideways.

I don't know what is happening to her but she seems to be totally paranoid now she was not like that before she had the fry. I am afraid I am going to lose her if this continues.

[MiamiCuse]

My female agent has gone insane

Sorry I meant to say angel, not agent.

[Fishalicious]

Welcome to the world of spawning Angels...they turn into sharks overnight with brood and it is completely normal...she is protecting her babies :c2: My angels when spawning attack the glass and even take chunks out of my arm when working in the tank - as soon as the babies are grown they are my pretty little darlings again that eat from my hand until the next spawn :11:

I edited the title of the post for you :19:

[Lady Hobbs]

Put a towel or something over her end of the tank so she isn't so stressed out from the movement around her.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

That's that generally dormant cichlid nature showing up. Quite normal for angels.

[MiamiCuse]

Thank you, I am just concerned, and thanks Fishalicious for correcting the title!

My little babies are now two weeks old and size is about 4 or 5 mm (or about 1/4") from tip to tip. I am still feeding them SERA micron. When is a good time to switch to other food? Can they eat ground up flakes yet?

I found the least stressful way to feed the little one.

I spot the babies and then I sprinkle some blood worms on the far side of the tank, away from the babies. The parents will zoom to that end to feed.

Then I use a chopstick and wet the end a little, dip into the SERA micron and the powder attaches to the stick, then I slowly lower the chopstick to the spot directly above the baby population, then I shake off the powder a bit.

Sometimes the parent will see me do this and come back to defend, most time I could distract them enough without them noticing.

I wonder if they can eat ground flakes now.

[MiamiCuse]

Strange that the fry seem to follow the dad and not the mom.

[Fishalicious]

Mine always seem to prefer dad as well instead of mom :c2:

[MiamiCuse]

I am curious, when should I separate the parents from the fry?

They are getting along well, but I read somewhere that the parents may start to eat the fry once they get to a certain size.

The fry are now getting bigger I would say from tip of mouth to tip of tail about half the size of a penny. Some of them even start to develop into the shape of the angle with triangular fins.

[Fishalicious]

I always just leave mine to grow up with the parents.... if your tank is large enough I would leave them. Never ever had my angels eat the fry.

[MiamiCuse]

The only problem is that I don't have enough room. It's ok for now but I am counting 25-28 little ones and I have no idea how I am going to deal with so many. Meanwhile I have some other fish in other tanks that were originally in the angel tank that I did not plan on being permanent moves.

I have 10 neon tetras in the tank originally, wonder if I can move them back? will they eat the fry? It seems their mouths may be too small for the fry now but I am not sure if they may just peck at them. But then again I think the parent angels will guard them.