Angelfish Breeding | Angelfish and Cichlid Care | Keeping Angelfish

Angelfish are omnivorous; they should be feed both meat and vegetable combinations. Try feeding flake and pellets to see which your Angelfish prefer.

The domestic angelfish is fairly adaptable. Angelfish can be raised in water between 4.7 and 8.7 pH, very soft or very hard water. If your water is outside this range and is extremely hard or alkaline, try a de-ionization filter or reverse osmosis (RO) filter. RO filters allow mains water to be converted to the equivalent of distilled water. Angelfish thrive when their fish tank resembles the natural Angelfish habitat: calm, shallow water with plenty of vertical weed and objects to hide behind such as driftwood. Angels will not tolerate high levels of nitrites and ammonia, so a good filtration system must be installed. Simple aquarium sponge filters will cause little turbulence. Frequent, partial water changes remove excess discarded matter. Angelfish thrive with at least 40% water changes, preferably daily or at the least, once a week.

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To breed Angel Fish, you will need first to ensure that you have a breeding pair. For many fish keepers, the first they will know that they have a true pair is the production and fertilization of eggs. Identifying male and female Angelfish is not an easy task, as they are very similar in appearance. Close observation of the coloration of the papilla, a tiny pink protrusion between the anal and ventral fins will give a clue to the sex of the angelfish; the female papilla is larger than the male and blunted. In addition, the male is more territorial than the female.

The best way to ensure you have a pair is to buy an established pair from a store or local Angelfish breeders; although this will be more expensive, it may save time. Alternately, buy 8 Angelfish and wait for them to pair up, then remove the breeding pair. (8 fish offers 99% probability of yielding 1 pair.) Don't expect your Angelfish to breed until they are mature. This will occur when they are around 2 inches in size and around 10-12 months old.

Even if you have a proven pair, they may still take time to settle in. House them by themselves in a place where they are less likely to be disturbed. They may spawn soon or it may take a few weeks of heavy feeding and good care. Raising the temperature of the water a few degrees may stimulate them, feeding good quality frozen food, or even placing another Angelfish in an adjacent tank.

To start the Angelfish spawning, keep them in a tank which is large and do not allow it to become overcrowded. Angel fish are tall, so allow at least 16 inches in height. A 10-20 gallon tank will serve. Angelfish prefer good quality water; change it frequently and keep the temperature around 28 degrees celsius. Install a sponge filter for safety; other types may endanger the fry.

Feeding Angelfish consists of giving them a good varied diet: prepared Angel food is a good start. Supplement with meat products such as mosquito larvae, daphnia, beef heart and brine shrimp. Remove surplus food after five minutes to avoid overfeeding. Angels breed on vertical or near-vertical surfaces, so lean a piece of slate against the side of the fish tank for the Angels to spawn. Leave the tank free of decoration to avoid distraction. Angelfish eggs are deposited in a long line on the spawning slate, ready for the male to fertilize. The eggs will remain clear if they have been fertilized; eggs which grow cloudy have not been fertilized. Angelfish may eat their own eggs; if this occurs, the slate with the eggs can quickly be transferred to a separate pre-prepared fishtank. However, Angelfish are good parents, so if thay appear to be treating the eggs correctly, leave them alone. This is especially important with new breeding pairs.

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After 48 hours, the Angel fish fry should start to emerge. After three days, the fry should be moving around the tank. After seven days, the yolk sac on which they have been feeding will be exhausted; now is the time to feed them newly hatched brine shrimp. Newly hatched Angelfish fry eat things that move, so live shrimp are the perfect food. After a few weeks, you can introduce flaked food. Remove dead fry and left-over food and change around one-third of the water daily. Once the angel fry have grown larger than a dime, they will be crowding the fish tank - time for you to offer the young angelfish for sale.