sitruc7
06-08-2009, 11:22 PM
I have had 4 angels for almost a year in a community tank with 5 tiger barbs (i know, bad idea but I couldn't find them a home and they haven't seem to have caused any problems,) 2 redfin sharks and a pleco (55g semi planted tank). I was lucky enough to have 2 of the angels spawn a week ago and as expected the eggs didn't make it through the night. Eventually (in 4-5 months when I move) I will most likely put the pair in their own tank to breed. Until then though I am extremely excited and would like to raise some fry, lol.
Since I'm not at a long term residence I am not that interested in having a huge yield. I am hoping to just get some babies as soon as possible, have at least a handful live, and not disturb and break up the pair or ruin any possibilities that they would become the parenting type in the future.
I do have a 40g tank that I can either use for fry, the pair, or some of the community fish that won't do well with the fry.
The most appealing scenario for me would be to remove the tiger barbs and let the pair spawn in the big tank and raise the fry on their own, even if only a few make it.
I think I will remove the tiger barbs (maybe replace them with around 5 neon tetras) before their 2nd spawn and see if the eggs make it in the community tank. Then on the next spawn (Pretty sure I read that the still spawn every couple weeks whether they have fry or not) whether there are fry or not, remove the rock and hatch some artificially. At that point I don't have enough space to raise fry so I would probably just let them do their thing (assuming I don't fail miserably with the eggs I harvest lol.)
I guess some questions I have would be about the likelihood of my fish ever becoming parental. They are petsmart and walmart fish (lol) so I'm not expecting the highest quality of genes. (btw one is some strand of black and one is the wild type(but I doubt its within 100 generations of a wild caught fish since it came from petsmart) if that affects their parental traits). I know its common for all angels to eat their first batch, but if the eat their second or third is their still hope? Also If I take their eggs from them in their early spawns does that increase the risk of them never becoming parental?
Another issue is tank aggression. The male on occasion will peck at the body of the female which isn't a big deal I believe. Their also seems to be a second female (my assumption based on its tendency to show aggression to the confirmed female and i think it was showing or partially showing a blunt papillae(sp?) when the other 2 were spawning.) This fish (some strand of koi angel) is very aggressive towards the female that spawned and faces little retaliation. I can tell from looking at the spawning female that she has been taking a beating and either has missing or disrupted scales. It doesn't look to bad but my experience is zero and it is noticeable so I'm not sure if this is something to worry about. I am wondering if it is safe to keep these 2 fish together while the male/female spawn. Also I guess I'm curious if the male would fertilize eggs with multiple females (I am assuming not especially if the fry are left with the parents).
The 4th angel may be a male (about a month ago it protected one corner of the tank aggressively with the confirmed female until it lost interest after a week or 2.) If this fish matured and became interested in breeding and the other unpaired fish was a female and I happened to end up with 2 pairs. What would happen if both pairs were in the same tank? would this result in huge dangerous territory disputes? My tank is very (in my opinion) tall and is only 12.5 inches from front to back so the fish are able to put a lot of distance between themselves from end to end.
Also what do I need to be careful of to ensure that I don't somehow break up the pair and never get another spawn?
Thanks for reading my 6 page essay of a post, or even part of it! I'll post some pics when I get off work.
PS I'm excited.
Since I'm not at a long term residence I am not that interested in having a huge yield. I am hoping to just get some babies as soon as possible, have at least a handful live, and not disturb and break up the pair or ruin any possibilities that they would become the parenting type in the future.
I do have a 40g tank that I can either use for fry, the pair, or some of the community fish that won't do well with the fry.
The most appealing scenario for me would be to remove the tiger barbs and let the pair spawn in the big tank and raise the fry on their own, even if only a few make it.
I think I will remove the tiger barbs (maybe replace them with around 5 neon tetras) before their 2nd spawn and see if the eggs make it in the community tank. Then on the next spawn (Pretty sure I read that the still spawn every couple weeks whether they have fry or not) whether there are fry or not, remove the rock and hatch some artificially. At that point I don't have enough space to raise fry so I would probably just let them do their thing (assuming I don't fail miserably with the eggs I harvest lol.)
I guess some questions I have would be about the likelihood of my fish ever becoming parental. They are petsmart and walmart fish (lol) so I'm not expecting the highest quality of genes. (btw one is some strand of black and one is the wild type(but I doubt its within 100 generations of a wild caught fish since it came from petsmart) if that affects their parental traits). I know its common for all angels to eat their first batch, but if the eat their second or third is their still hope? Also If I take their eggs from them in their early spawns does that increase the risk of them never becoming parental?
Another issue is tank aggression. The male on occasion will peck at the body of the female which isn't a big deal I believe. Their also seems to be a second female (my assumption based on its tendency to show aggression to the confirmed female and i think it was showing or partially showing a blunt papillae(sp?) when the other 2 were spawning.) This fish (some strand of koi angel) is very aggressive towards the female that spawned and faces little retaliation. I can tell from looking at the spawning female that she has been taking a beating and either has missing or disrupted scales. It doesn't look to bad but my experience is zero and it is noticeable so I'm not sure if this is something to worry about. I am wondering if it is safe to keep these 2 fish together while the male/female spawn. Also I guess I'm curious if the male would fertilize eggs with multiple females (I am assuming not especially if the fry are left with the parents).
The 4th angel may be a male (about a month ago it protected one corner of the tank aggressively with the confirmed female until it lost interest after a week or 2.) If this fish matured and became interested in breeding and the other unpaired fish was a female and I happened to end up with 2 pairs. What would happen if both pairs were in the same tank? would this result in huge dangerous territory disputes? My tank is very (in my opinion) tall and is only 12.5 inches from front to back so the fish are able to put a lot of distance between themselves from end to end.
Also what do I need to be careful of to ensure that I don't somehow break up the pair and never get another spawn?
Thanks for reading my 6 page essay of a post, or even part of it! I'll post some pics when I get off work.
PS I'm excited.