How to tell if angelfish eggs are fertile?

[Linda4fish]

I came home from work and found my Koi angelfish had laid some eggs.

I don’t know if they’re fertile or not maybe I have too girl angel fish?

[Fish Folk]

Looks like most are fertile. Fertile eggs are light yellow-golden. Infertile eggs turn white. I can only spot 3x apparently infertile eggs:

Are you hoping to raise a ton of Angels? 

[Linda4fish]

Wow!! Im going to be a mom!!

I had never supposed that I had a male and a female and that they would actually be happy enough to start laying eggs

I’ll have to read up on raising angelfish😂

Soooo

What is one to do with angelfish eggs in a community tank?

Move them?

[Fish Folk]

On 3/11/2022 at 11:12 PM, Linda4fish said:

Wow!! Im going to be a mom!!

I had never supposed that I had a male and a female and that they would actually be happy enough to start laying eggs

I’ll have to read up on raising angelfish😂

Soooo

What is one to do with angelfish eggs in a community tank?

Move them?

Here’s a link to another thread with a ton of videos my son made. This is not the only way to do it, but will explain to you one way to find success. Be prepared: this is going to be a lot of work!

If you just leave them, typically angels eat their eggs within a few days. But sometimes they care for them and make great parents.

Edited March 12, 2022 by Fish Folk

[Linda4fish]

So I sit watching the beautiful Koi angelfish valiently  protecting their eggs.

So far have 1 (of 22) dead ember tetras in my community tank of:

5 forktail rainbow fish, 6 panda corys, a couple of stray endlers that I have been unable to catch and The sweetest ever old male Betta that is scared of the angelfish and hides:(

So I was thinking to run out and get a 20 gallon tall tank. Take out the piece of Anubis that the eggs are on and the parents and put them in the 20 tall?would the eggs possibly survive? 

I suppose either way I need to do it because it’s ruining my community tank😥
I would have never thought I would get a random breeding pair only a month after purchase, who knew

 

[Odd Duck]

If you don’t already have tiny live food cultures it will be extremely challenging to raise the babies if the parents don’t help.  First time angel parents are notorious for eating the eggs and sometimes the fry.  If you want to raise fry without help from the parents, you will need live food cultures to start, infusoria, vinegar eels, microworms, then will need to start hatching baby brine shrimp.  The babies will start out eating slime from the parents if the parents don’t eat them.

There are some very experienced angel breeders here, which I certainly am not, but I’ve been reading a bunch since I’m working on setting up an angelfish habitat tank.  I’m sure someone will chime in with more help.  @Fish Folk has already linked excellent videos and he is a very experienced breeder and the videos he and his son are producing are always excellent and highly informative.

[Linda4fish]

Yes they’re excellent videos and I have a lot to learn🤓

I’m concerned about the other fish in my community tank in the meantime

[Odd Duck]

On 3/12/2022 at 11:53 AM, Linda4fish said:

Yes they’re excellent videos and I have a lot to learn🤓

I’m concerned about the other fish in my community tank in the meantime

Yep.  Cichlids of any kind can be very bad when breeding.  Do you happen to have any big plants you can add? Even if they’re fake?  That can help break sight lines, will give your other fish more cover, and less stress on the parents.

Otherwise you will likely need to pull either eggs or the other fish.  You can try pulling parents and eggs but high risk for triggering them to eat eggs.  Trying to catch the other fish would also be high risk for triggering egg eating.  If you pull out eggs to a separate tank, then transfer parents, it’s likely your only chance of saving this clutch if you don’t already have micro live food cultures already producing or can get them in the next few days before the eggs hatch and fry become free swimming.

Expect the parents to charge and bite you when you pull the eggs.  It’s just startling, it won’t actually cause harm unless you have very fragile skin.  My Jack Dempseys never broke skin on me and they are bigger and generally considered meaner than angels.  

[HH Morant]

If you want a bunch of fry, cut the leaf off and take the eggs out. The angels won't be as aggressive without eggs to protect. The parents do nothing to care for the fry, and often eat them, so you are not losing anything by separating them. Sometimes they protect the fry from other fish, but you don't need that if you move the eggs to a container with no fish.

I have put eggs in a bucket with a heater and an air stone. They were fine. I left them in there until they hatched and became wigglers, just sitting on the bottom. They don't eat at that stage, so you don't have to worry about food until the free-swimming stage.

I took a turkey baster and sucked the wigglers up and put them in a 10-gallon aquarium with a seasoned sponge filter.

Move some plants or rocks or something from your established aquarium in with the eggs so when they become free-swimming they can have some microscopic stuff to eat.

You don't have to fill the 10-gallon tank. Just full enough to cover the sponge filter's lift tube is fine at first. Makes it easier to change the water, which I did every day for the first 2 weeks or so. I hatched brine shrimp for the fry to eat, but I understand that you can get by with very fine fry food. I also used Aquarium Co-op's fry food. Feeding several times a day is good.

The problem with taking angel eggs out is this - it is a 4-month commitment to get them to a size the pet shops will buy. And if you have 200 little fish, you need 100 gallons of grow-out space (or more). Most of the time I just leave the eggs in the tank and the fish eat them.

Edited March 12, 2022 by HH Morant

[StevesFishTanks]

this is worth reading https://angelsplus.com/pages/how-to-breed-angelfish