Sexing/Paing Angelfish for breeding

[Goosedub]

Hello fish fam,

I was wondering if anyone has any tips out there for getting your angels to pair off. I have 2 groups of angels in 20s. They are pretty clearly at breeding age and Inhave been waiting for them to pair off, but they just kind of hang out in a group. Anyone have tricks for getting them to pair off so I can whittle them down to a pair and get them spawning?

[TheSwissAquarist]

@AllFishNoBrakes has been breeding angels recently. Any recommendations? Last bred some a couple of months ago, and idk which is which!

[T. Payne]

I like to have them pair off naturally and let them pick their own mates.  I would start feeding frozen foods including bloodworms and watch out for a pair starting to become defensive over an area.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I too have done it exactly as @T. Payne said. I’ve let them pair off naturally and then pull the eggs when they spawn. 
 

Right now I’m working with a m/f pair that were paired up and breeding at one point, that pair broke, and now I have them isolated to pair up and spawn again. I’m keeping them fat and happy with bloodworms, tubifex worms, and krill flakes and am just biding my time until they pair again. This is my first try with a known m/f and trying to induce them to spawn. 

[DiscusLover]

On 11/27/2022 at 7:54 AM, Goosedub said:

Hello fish fam,

I was wondering if anyone has any tips out there for getting your angels to pair off. I have 2 groups of angels in 20s. They are pretty clearly at breeding age and Inhave been waiting for them to pair off, but they just kind of hang out in a group. Anyone have tricks for getting them to pair off so I can whittle them down to a pair and get them spawning?

I also had a group of angelfish and I believe that in such a small space it be harder for them to pair off. I had 6 angelfish in my 55 gallon and all 6 paired off naturally and went into their own sections. I recommend getting at least a 40 breeder and see if they pair off naturally.

On 11/27/2022 at 8:29 PM, DiscusLover said:

I also had a group of angelfish and I believe that in such a small space it be harder for them to pair off. I had 6 angelfish in my 55 gallon and all 6 paired off naturally and went into their own sections. I recommend getting at least a 40 breeder and see if they pair off naturally.

Also sexing angelfish is a bit difficult because a lot of male and female angelfish look very similar but are different genders. Really the only way to identify angelfish is when they spawn or by their size which can differ. My angelfish are very similar in features they both have the hump and are nearly the same size.

 

 

[Goosedub]

On 11/27/2022 at 10:29 PM, DiscusLover said:

 

 

What kind of angels are those? They are gorgeous!

[DiscusLover]

On 11/28/2022 at 5:59 AM, Goosedub said:

What kind of angels are those? They are gorgeous!

thank you! They are called pearl or shimmer zebra blue angelfish. 

[Goosedub]

On 11/28/2022 at 10:37 AM, DiscusLover said:

thank you! They are called pearl or shimmer zebra blue angelfish. 

Wow. If you get a spawn off of them I would love a group of fry!

[DiscusLover]

On 11/28/2022 at 8:45 AM, Goosedub said:

Wow. If you get a spawn off of them I would love a group of fry!

I actually am selling my fry! check out the fish swap section and message me if still interested!

[rockfisher]

I would give the time. It can happen over night, but for me it tends to take some a longer time. Then it make take longer for eggs to be fertilized well. I have double blacks, platinum, platinum pearlscale, blue blushers. The double blacks are laying and breeding every two to three weeks. I have way more than I can sell. The others took a longer time to pair up. After 6 months I switched a few females because the males seemed to be doing a poor job fertilizing eggs. It can take time. Right now I have 6 pairs with eggs. I tend to leave the eggs with the parents as it seems after the learn not to eat them I get so many more fry. If after 10 spawns and the are still not taking care of the fry I start to remove eggs but only about 1/2 of there hatch. . 

[Andy's Fish Den]

If you have a larger tank, I would try putting them in it and feed them some frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms, do a few good large water changes. When I was breeding angels I would keep a group of 8-10 in a 55 gallon, let them pair off and lay eggs in that tank, pull the eggs to see if they hatch or not (sometimes you will get two females spawn together) then I would move the pair to a 20 tall tank and spawn them in that tank. 

[redfish]

On 11/28/2022 at 10:37 AM, DiscusLover said:

thank you! They are called pearl or shimmer zebra blue angelfish. 

I have not seen an angelfish that I liked as much as these.  Angels don't get me excited in general but these changed that.  Wow.

[StevesFishTanks]

On 11/27/2022 at 10:54 AM, Goosedub said:

Hello fish fam,

I was wondering if anyone has any tips out there for getting your angels to pair off. I have 2 groups of angels in 20s. They are pretty clearly at breeding age and Inhave been waiting for them to pair off, but they just kind of hang out in a group. Anyone have tricks for getting them to pair off so I can whittle them down to a pair and get them spawning?

I like those tank setups and size for breeding pairs. I had many of my pairs in identical tanks but I used them to house only a M/F after they have paired up in much larger tank. Usually a planted setup. I used a 125 what I named the angel dumping ground. It was a growout/pair off/planted display setup that was one of my favorites.

Its cool to see some of my green slates in use on here. I actually ended up on the final size and shape from testing it using 20h tanks in a setup just like yours in my breeding rack.

 

I know the thread is a little old but hopefully you have had some success with the angels since.