some angel breeding questions

i have a pair a couple of pairs of angels breeding for me but from the 4 attempts(5th one in progress) i havent even got to wrigglers yet.the big pair which ha spawned 3 times when they were in the community tanks i assume ate the egss while under stress from being in a lot of company so i moved them to their own tank and they have now since spawned again my problem is they get very jumpy if i come anywhere near the tank and hi tail it to back of the tank,there seems little over protectiveness on their side of the eggs.is this something they will learn and i should leave them be?the smaller pair who are still in the community tank spawned once,the eggs lasted a few days with the pair very protective over the eggs however fungus got the best of them and they were abandoned.so what to do with the nervous pair?and should i feed them while they are looking after the eggs?

 

Hey Athol, I am no expert with angels breeding. But I can assume that if you have other fish in the tank they will automatically be more protective of the eggs. This is perhaps the reason why the other pair in the comunity tank is so protective?

 

Hey @oscar freak

Not an expert by any means but I believe that most Angelfish will take a while before relearning their natural parental behaviour.

Keeping your pairs separated is probably best. I have mine on the top shelf in the far corner of the fish room, they're there because there is no foot traffic other than me feeding them (about 4 times a day when they have babies). Last spawn I started a water change before noticing they were busy laying eggs, they continued as soon as I stopped and I'm currently feeding the fry (with the pair in the tank). Let your pair get used to their new tank and give them a few more goes at trying to raise the fry themselves, keep them well fed so they don't get tempted to eat any eggs. Claims that pairs don't really eat while breeding are probably mostly rubbish but to be safe make sure they're eating the food you put in for them, mine gobble it up then move on to the brine shrimp or microworms intended for the fry... great because they get a lining and then nice nutritious snacks.

Some people reckon the parental behaviour is bred out of some Angelfish (by using artificial hatching methods) but I think an animal will go back to what's natural eventually and am not interested in the fuss of artificial hatcheries, it seems wrong, too much effort for something your fish can do and no doubt enjoy doing by themselves. Not to mention the cool displays you get out of them. Otherwise just ensure top water quality. Also, my pairs first batch in my tank (they had had plenty before) were attacked by fungus. I read that too much water flow can cause the males sperm to float off and eggs that aren't fertilised will be more susceptible to fungus. I took out an air stone and the next batch was good. Could be unrelated, maybe not.

Time will probably sort this problem out for you, fish like breeding and cichlids are particularly proficient at it.

 

It's good if the parents are very protective over the eggs. When I tried to remove the leaf where my wrigglers were on, they actually bit me, continuously. Let them raise the fry in their own tank. It was their first try and they didn't eat eggs.