PART 3: Artificial Hatching / Raising Juvenile Angelfish
Often, or even most of the time, the parent fish will not raise their young. They may continue to do this or stop if conditions change in their favor. Artificially raising angelfish is quite simple if a few procedures are followed. It is likely that more fish will survive with artificial raising than with parent raising since the parents sometimes kill weak or sickly fish.
Here is what you will need to prepare before hand to hatch the eggs in. A one gallon jar works best although a small 2-5 gallon tank may also be used. Fill the jar with clean water and then it will have to be placed in another aquarium with just the upper portion of the jar out of the water. The water temperature in the aquarium should be between 82-84 degrees. This will maintain the water temperature in the jar.
An antifungal chemical such as Formalin or Methelyne Blue should be added to the hatching container. Fungus can rapidly engulf a spawn and this is very important. Two drops of formalin per gallon can be used;, or if methelyne blue is used, then just use enough to turn the water a dark blue color. The reason that the gallon jar is preferable is because then fewer drops are needed. Another option to try is to used distilled water in the hatching container. I often do this but am not sure if it is better than regular dechlorinated tap water.
The last step in preparing the hatching container is to add an airstone with a controlled valve. With parent raising, the parent fish continually fan the eggs with their pectoral fins. To air bubbles are to substitute this.
The haching container is now ready. You can tell when the pair is done spawning when they stop making spawning passes but just stay at a distance fanning the eggs. This is the time to remove the eggs. The the advangate of having the eggs layed on a piece of slate is that it can just be removed at this time. If they are layed on a leaf they it will have to be plucked off. Try to distract the parent fish and keep them away as you reach in to get the eggs since they can be very protective and aggressive at this time. Quickly lift the eggs out of the water and place it in the hatching jar. The eggs should not be out of the water more than 5-6 seconds.
Position the airstone about an inch away from the slate and set the airflow at a medium rate to provide a slight current around the eggs. After the eggs hatch, the wigglers can be sucked up with a baster and placed in a small tank(plastic shoebox size container floating in a heated aquarium). Or if all the wigglers are still on the slate, then the slate can just be placed in the new tank. Some breeders choose to raise the wigglers in the jar but I find it harder to keep the jar clean compared to a wide flater container. From now on, the same procedures as described on the parent raising page should be followed.
In 2 weeks, the dorsal(top) and anal(bottom) fins should be clearly visible. The two ventral fins(feelers) should also have started to show. Good feedings of live baby brine shrimp are still important and its best to always keep the fry with big red stomachs. An average sized spawn(400) can be kept in a 10 gallon tank for the first 2 weeks. Then they have to be separated into larger tanks. No more than 6-7 fish must be kept per gallon at this age. The fry will grow very fast and will need more room before you know it. To obtain best growing rates, the fry will have to be thined out to 1 to 2 fish per gallon.
I always feed my fry only live baby brine shirmp for the first month. I then continue with the live shirmp but feed decapsulated brine shirmp eggs once a day. Juvenile angelfish are capabale of eating large amounts of brine shimp in one meal, but several smaller feedings are best. Flake food can also be introduced at this time. Just be sure to crush the flakes up very finely so that it is a powder. Sometimes juvenile angelfish are picky and refuse to eat flake or decaps. Then they must be starved for 1 day and then fed the new food. This usually works and the baby fish will eventually get hungry enough to eat anything.
When the fish's body is about a dime in size they are saleable but its best to wait till they reach the size of a nickle or bigger. Most local petshops are happy to buy fish from breeders since angelfish that are shipped great distances are sometimes very weak. A good rule as far as price goes, is to sell the fish for about 1/3 the sale price although some stores only give 1/4 the price.
In all, I'm sure that you will find breeding angelfish very interesting and entertaining. Its just a hobby for me but I hope to keep developing and expanding it.
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