Plants
Broadleaf aquatic plants are favorites of Angelfish for laying their eggs on.
Amazon Sword Plants (Echinodorus) are in a genus that embraces more than fifty
relatively hardy and adaptable species, most of which are native to the flood
plains of South America. They prefer water that is neutral or slightly acid and
not too hard making them perfect plants for your Angelfish tank.
Diet
Angelfish can survive on flake food alone, but they will thrive and be much more
apt to breed on a greatly varied diet. Live foods such as Adult Brine Shrimp,
Black Worms, Mosquito larvae, finely chopped earthworms and Guppy fry are
accepted with enthusiasm and should be included regularly. If live food is not
available, frozen packages of Blood Worms (Midge Fly larvae), Brine Shrimp and
others are available from your favorite pet supply store and are acceptable
substitutions for the live food. There are many dried foods available that will
suffice too.
Raw beef heart, finely ground, mixed with unflavored gelatin and frozen
immediately in small one serving size pieces is a good and economical addition
to your Angelfish diet. Be absolutely sure there is no fat in the meat.
Fry Diet
Angelfish fry have been successfully raised on a diet of newly hatched Brine
shrimp (napulii) for the first 4 weeks of their lives and fed two to four times
daily. After that, they were gradually introduced to a mixture of finely
powdered Angelfish flakes and powdered dried blood worms with an occasional
(twice a week) feeding of baby brine shrimp.
When their bodies are about the size of a quarter, they may be fed Guppy fry. An
easy way to provide this very nutritious food is to keep pregnant guppies in the
same tank as the young Angels and the rest is up to nature. Of course feedings
of other varied foods are needed to round out the diet.
Spawning
In mature fish, breeding can be stimulated by a partial water change and a rise
in temperature to between 80 and 82 degrees F.
One sure sign that spawning is about to occur is the appearance of the pair's
genital papillae. These look like little nipple-like projections and are called
ovipositors (oh vi poz' uh turs), a word that literally means "egg-placer(s)".
The female's ovipositor is larger and more blunt than the male's which is
slender and more pointed. These protuberances which appear at the vent are used
respectively for depositing eggs and fertilizing them. The obvious differences
in the genital papillae are the first completely reliable indication of sex
determination.
The pair will select a spawning site and thoroughly clean it about two or three
days before actual spawning takes place. When the cleanliness of the spawning
site finally meets the approval of the parent fish, the female will make a few
test runs. She will pull her ventral fins or feelers close to the lower sides of
her abdomen and her anal fin will be situated so that her entire lower line is
relatively straight. Her ovipositor will then be able to make full contact with
the slate, leaf or whatever was chosen for a spawning site. The male will then
make a few practice runs too before the actual spawning takes place.
When spawning actually takes place, the female will pass over the site and eggs
are deposited which adhere to the surface. The male then moves in and scoots
along over the string of eggs just laid and fertilizes them, his fins taking the
same position as the female's so he can press closely to insure a higher
fertilization rate.
The male and female Angelfish will take turns making passes over the spawning
site until several hundred or more eggs have been laid, depending on the size
and condition of the female prior to spawning. The parents will hover closely
over the spawn and fan continuously with their pectoral fins to create a
circulation of water over and around the eggs. Some unfertilized eggs will turn
white in a matter of hours and will be removed by the parents.
Hatching Eggs Away from Parents
Should you decide to remove the eggs after spawning to raise away from the
parents, a bare 15-20 gallon tank with sponge filter and a piece of slate leaned
up against a side wall would be the angelfish will use the piece of slate to lay
their eggs on making it easy for you to remove the entire spawn.
A restaurant sized pickle or mayonnaise jar submerged into the tank and the
slate with the spawn gently transferred into it is the best way to handle the
delicate eggs which should be facing upward. An airstone should be placed in the
jar in such a way that the somewhat vigorous stream of air bubbles does not hit
the eggs directly. The jar should be floated in the tank so the temperature
remains constant and that water changes can come from the parent's tank.
Do not put food in the jar until they fry are free swimming. This will only
serve to foul the water and they won't eat while they still have a yolk sack to
live on. After about 3-5 days when they are free swimming, you may introduce
newly hatched brine shrimp into the jar for the fry to eat.