Angelfish are popular and easily recognizable inhabitants of artificial reservoirs. The characteristic shape of the body, bright color and easy breeding of angelfish at home have made the fish famous and common pets. Every aquarist has a desire to acquire offspring from elegant angelfish, which is why phenotypes are often bred in artificial reservoirs. Despite the fact that breeding of angelfish is easy, before you spawn an angelfish, you should know how to distinguish a male from a female angelfish, how rearing occurs and what to feed the fry.
Conditions in the aquarium
Conditions necessary for reproduction:
- water temperature 27–32 degrees;
- frequent fluid changes;
- slightly acidic and soft water;
- sufficient amount of space (from 100 liters for a spawning pair, for a group of fish - from 200 liters);
- filtration and aeration;
- plants and shelters;
- daylight for at least 10 hours.
Incubator equipment
Set up an incubator in a 5–10 liter aquarium. Fill half the vessel with water from the aquarium with the producers, the other half with distilled water. Install an aerator and heater adjusted to 30 degrees. After an hour, place the sheet with the masonry in the incubator so that no air bubbles get on it. Provide 24-hour lighting. Add plants for biofiltration and cultivation of ciliates, which will serve as food for the fry.
Incubation period
For successful reproduction of fish, feeding and housing conditions must be observed. In the spawning tank, the offspring will be completely safe, the fish will be able to calmly prepare for reproduction after forming a pair. The main recommendation is to reduce the water hardness level if possible - the softer it is, the faster spawning will occur.
In most cases, angelfish spawn at the age of 1 year. The process assumes the absence of any irritants. The fish must be fed and protected from excessive attention. You can even cover the walls of the aquarium with paper to eliminate stressful situations.
Spawning can be considered to have begun if the female has a clearly visible, rounded abdomen. In this case, the male will be active, swim after her, and try to drive her into a place prepared for eggs. Peculiarities in the behavior of the male are also manifested in the fact that he begins to intensively clear the territory and protect it.
In most cases, spawning processes take place in the late afternoon, after the intensity of daylight decreases. The eggs are laid for about 1.5 hours, after which the male performs fertilization. After this, you can move the eggs to another aquarium so that spawning occurs again. The pregnancy of an angelfish lasts about 10-20 days.
Methylene blue is an excellent means of preventing infection of eggs.
The conditions that must be created for the successful development of eggs deserve attention. It is necessary to avoid the negative impact of fungal infection. To do this, it is recommended to add a little methylene blue to the water. If the eggs are moved to a separate place immediately after the process of fertilization, then care must be taken to ensure that their location is away from the aerator - at least 5 cm. This is necessary in order to avoid the entry of air bubbles. At the same time, care should be taken not to interrupt the process of washing the eggs with a small stream of water. The lighting of the aquarium is set specially - it should be moderate, but continuous.
If a separate incubator is created, then the water for it must be taken from the aquarium where the spawning took place. Temperature – not lower than 30 degrees.
During the development of eggs, constant monitoring is required. The following actions must be taken:
- remove whitened eggs from the clutch - this should be done with a needle or tweezers;
- regulate the water temperature - sudden changes in values should not be allowed, otherwise the eggs will die;
- Make sure that light penetrates to the masonry site constantly.
Young angelfish do not immediately acquire characteristic breed characteristics.
The larvae will appear in 2-3 days. On day 6-7 it will be possible to observe the fry. Depending on the type of parent, the transformation process takes up to 12 days. The duration of pregnancy for this species is approximately the same.
Differences between male and female
Sexual dimorphism in fish is weakly expressed. It is easier to determine the sex of standard individuals than of albino, golden and marbled angelfish.
Females differ:
- absence of a fatty lump on the head;
- smaller size;
- single front fins;
- The ovipositor (genital organ) is blunt in shape, in males it is pointed.
Sex differences
It is easy to propagate angelfish yourself. When starting this process, you should be able to distinguish between individuals by gender.
The difference between a male and a female is noticeable only after the fish has fully matured, namely, after a year of life. Even an inexperienced aquarist will be able to find distinctive features between the sexes:
- The male angelfish has a steep forehead due to a large fatty bump. In females it is practically absent, the forehead is sloping or there is a barely visible concavity.
- The fin on the abdomen of the male has a fork at the bottom, while at the same time it does not fork in the female;
- An adult male is larger than a female, this is noticeable if the fish are close to each other.
- The genital papilla in males is narrow and sharp, while in females it is thick and resembles a “stump”.
Pairing
Angelfish are monogamous. Pisces choose a mate from several representatives. It is optimal to purchase a group of 6–10, where the fish will naturally find and form pairs for themselves. It is possible to select bright producers and ensure artificial reproduction. This option will not give a guaranteed result.
Hierarchy of fish
The hierarchy in a common aquarium is built independently. A pair of the largest angelfish occupies the best part of the general aquarium when breeding. Among couples, singles have the most difficult time, they are oppressed and driven away, they get less food.
Spawning tank
Before you start breeding, you need to create a special space - a spawning area. It is best to set aside a separate aquarium for it, but if this is not possible, then use a fenced-off space in a common tank. Peculiarities:
A spawning tank for angelfish is a medium-sized aquarium, about half filled. Without soil, with surfaces for masonry, and the necessary equipment: filter, heater, aerator, light.
The spawning container is created in advance. It is necessary both for the safety of the offspring and for the peace of mind of the couple (there is no need to constantly drive away other fish). In the spawning tank, it is advisable to plant vegetation with strong leaves, place a plastic object or a small container - this will serve as a place for laying eggs (in natural conditions, fish look for a flat and dense surface). After mating, the parents take care of the eggs, but in a stressful situation they can eat the eggs, so sometimes the owner takes care of the eggs, and the parents of their spawning fish are evicted into a common aquarium.
The relocated fish will begin to independently prepare a space for laying eggs.
Spawning
Sexual maturity of angelfish occurs at 6–12 months and depends on the conditions of detention, breed and health of the fish. Females spawn on leaves, soil, and sometimes on the surface of the filter.
Preparation
Create good conditions for future offspring. You will need containers for spawning and keeping fry. A week before spawning, feed the future parents with protein and high-quality food:
- bloodworm;
- tubifex;
- culex;
- coretra;
- specialized feeds.
Process
The readiness of angelfish for spawning can be determined by the rounded abdomen of the female and the aggressive attitude of the couple towards other inhabitants. The fish drive their neighbors away from their designated spawning site. Place the pair in a prepared aquarium with similar water parameters. The female lays 100–500 eggs, which are later fertilized by the male. After spawning, they care for the clutch until the fry appear. The parents fan the eggs with their fins, removing unfertilized ones from the clutch.
What food does the angelfish prefer?
Fish readily eat any live food, which is especially useful during the period when angelfish spawn. However, this type of feeding has three significant disadvantages:
- it is not always on sale;
- may be spoiled;
- often causes infections.
The microorganisms that fish like to eat include:
- amphibian and mosquito larvae
- copepods and small planktonic crustaceans;
- coretras – larvae of non-blood-sucking mosquitoes;
- tubifex - oligochaete thread-like worms;
- Mormysh are freshwater amphipods belonging to the arthropod family.
But these angelfish “dishes” cannot be served in their natural form - the food is first frozen or purchased already frozen, with the exception of the tubifex, since after freezing the bodies of crustaceans turn into a solid mess. Feeding fish with bloodworms caught on your own is also dangerous, since there is always a risk of infectious infection.
You can purchase mormysh in specialized stores for fishermen and freeze it yourself. First, the crustaceans are heat-treated in the microwave (for 2 minutes), after they turn red, they are placed in the freezer. Before giving food to the fish, it must be thawed and kept at room temperature for some time (food should not be given cold).
Mormysh is more suitable for large specimens, but it is better not to feed the dried product (as well as daphnia) to your pets. This is the opinion of experienced aquarists, who believe that there is nothing useful in them for ornamental fish.
Fry
After 2–3 days, the larvae hatch from the eggs.
At first, they are weak and immobile; they require special maintenance.
Conditions of care
- Only 2 liters of the aquarium volume is enough for the fry that hatched from the eggs. For a month-old fry there must be at least 4 liters of water volume. As they grow, plant the young ones. Lack of space leads to improper development.
- Juveniles are very sensitive to water purity. Change one third of the fluid daily.
- It is important to choose a filter that will not suck the fry into. Cover the bottom of the filter with nylon.
Development
The fry stage occurs in 6–12 days. At the age of a month, the fry acquire the features of adults and a more complex structure.
Feeding
When the fry's egg sac dissolves, they begin to feed. They eat 5-6 times a day. Suitable for feeding fry:
- ciliates;
- nauplii;
- Artemia;
- egg yolk;
- daphnia;
- Cyclops;
- small bloodworm.
Life of schooling fish
Some types of aquarium fish, for example, almost all bottom-dwelling catfish, feel great alone. With angelfish, everything is not so simple; in nature, they are schooling fish, living in groups of 10–15 individuals. And even long-term domestication could not change this habit: representatives of this species feel good only in a group.
Experienced aquarists advise choosing a dozen small angelfish with wide and long fins. Then, as they grow older, the fish themselves will split into pairs. Usually in an aquarium there is one dominant pair of angelfish, the largest and with a good appetite. The rest of the fish will stay away.
Most likely, it is this dominant pair that will lay angelfish eggs in the aquarium. Although, if the aquarium is large enough and has a lot of plants for cover, other fish will also have a chance to reproduce.
Warnings
- Do not separate the resulting pair; this is a lot of stress for the fish. With a new sire, offspring may not work.
- Do not put gravel on the bottom. In incorrectly selected soil, eggs are easily damaged or washed off during cleaning of the aquarium.
- Change the water temperature gradually. Too sudden a change in temperature will cause shock to the fish.
- The maximum temperature is 32 degrees. If the temperature is too high, the water becomes less saturated with oxygen and the angelfish may faint.
- Provide the parent fish with peace. Angelfish usually care for their young, but stress can lead to them being eaten. Feed the fish on time and monitor the water quality.
General information
Angelfish, whose reproduction fascinates owners, belong to the cichlid family and are caring parents. The homeland of the phenotype is South America; a characteristic feature of the angelfish is considered to be a disc-shaped body shape, which is why the phenotype received the name “angel”. In aquarium conditions, angelfish grow 15-26 cm in length, and under favorable conditions they live up to 10 years. However, this is not the limit - in the aquarium hobby, long-livers have been recorded that lasted up to 20 years.
The keeping of these South American cichlids began in 1911, and the first successful breeding in a community aquarium occurred in 1914. The success was repeated a year later by the American expert W. L. Polin. How fish reproduced was known only in Europe: the reasons for angelfish to lay eggs were kept secret. For a long time, Russian aquarists were unable to reproduce from angelfish, and it seemed that the long-awaited fry could not be obtained. A happy accident helped: aquarist A. Smirnov, while trying to spawn an angelfish, forgot to turn off the heater for the tank, as a result of which the temperature of the liquid increased to 32C. This led to the fact that the fish began to reproduce, and the conditions of reproduction were no longer a secret.
Now breeding angelfish in a general aquarium or a hatchery for fry is not difficult: cichlids spawn independently, and spawning occurs frequently. However, in order to raise and preserve the eggs, aquarists have to take care of the fry themselves.
Typically, reproduction is divided into four stages:
- Mate selection and sex differences.
- Preparation.
- Spawning.
- Growing.
Step by step
- Prepare a spawning tank of 100 liters with settled water. Adjust water temperature and settings. Provide a place to lay the eggs, such as a sponge or spawning cone.
- Wait for the angelfish to form pairs.
- Place the pair in the breeding aquarium.
- If the couple eats the eggs, raise them artificially. Transfer the eggs to a clean jar. Treat the water with a fungicide, then acriflavine, and provide oxygen. The temperature should be 27 degrees.
- The next day, carefully remove the white eggs with tweezers.
- The fry will hatch in 60 hours. Start feeding 5-6 days after hatching.
- Transfer the fry to a larger aquarium when they begin to swim in a school.
Breeding angelfish is a process that is interesting to watch. The first successful attempt at breeding fish occurred in 1914. Since then, aquarists have learned to breed angelfish at home.
Previous
FishIs it possible to have a fish like a blue dolphin in an aquarium?
Next
FishBotsia marble - can sleep on its side and vertically
Experiences of aquarium breeders
There are many aquarists who have shared their experience of breeding angelfish with others. Enthusiasts nurse the eggs on their own, while others entrust this task to the parent fish. There are cases when the spawning of an angelfish comes as a surprise to the aquarist.
