How to Breed Freshwater Angels
Written by Evelyn (c) 2007

Angels in 2 Slide shows

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What you want to do first is getting at least 6-8 quality juveniles either from a breeder or a reputable pet store and put them into a 55 gallon tank. After about 9 months you will see them pairing off, that's them time you put them into your spawning tank, or if you have a community tank with angels and you will see a couple of them pairing off.

What will I need?

• 1 angel pair, that has paired off on it's own

• 20 gallon tank high with bare bottom

• a sponge filter

• a heater

• a thermometer (the temperature should be at least 80 degrees)

• healthy & clean water which is cycled, with pH of 7 - 8

• a 3in PVC pipe or a piece of slate with a flat surface

• 2 gallon jar for the eggs

• air stone set on low

• 5 gallon tank for the free swimming fry

• sponge filter

• heater

• a thermometer
  
  
• an outgrow tank of at least 20 gallon high or bigger
  

How to spawn them

• When you have a breeding pair put them into your ready to go spawning tank which has a 3in PVC pipe or a piece of slate in it.

• Start feeding them with white worms, frozen brine shrimp and flake food 3x a daily, always small amounts, as much as they will eat in a period of 1 minute. (That way you don't overfeed them)

• When they are ready, the female will deposit eggs on the PVC pipe or the slate. Which will only happen if the temperature is at least 80 degrees and the pH around 7-8

Usually the same pair will spawn again in 7-10 days, but only if the eggs are taken away from them


How to care for the eggs

• Once the eggs are deposited, take the 2 gallon jar and fill it up with water from the parents tank

• put in the air stone with the setting on low

• take out the PVC pipe or slate, where the female has deposited her eggs and put it into the jar, including a few drops of hydrogen peroxide daily (it's recommended taking the eggs out, because usually they will eat their eggs right after they're laid, especially if it's the first spawn try)

• you can place the jar back into the parents tank at that time

• the air stone gives the eggs a current and prevents them from getting fungus, and with that ensuring them to hatch

• They will hatch about 2-3 days later, if the temperature is correct at 80 degrees

• The reason you want to take out the eggs is, because the parents will usually eat them.

Raising the Fry

• Once they have hatched, don't feed them, they will live from their yolk sack until they are free swimming

• It takes about another 5-6 days for them to be free-swimming

• Have your 5 gallon tank setup and ready to go at that time (it should have water from the parents tank and also be at 80 degrees)

• After they're free swimming and in the new tank, you can start feeding them with self grown fresh hatched Baby Brine Shrimp up to 4x a day (the babies will grow very fast at this stage)

• Now you should also start with partial water changes 2x a day about 1 gallon. Siphon out about 1 gallon of water with an air stone tube and replace it with stored water that has the same temperature as the tank water. (Best time is after the first feeding in the morning, and again after the last feeding in the evening)

• But be very careful when siphoning out the water, the babies can be easily sucked out!

• When they're about 3 weeks old, you can put them into an outgrow tank, which should be at least a 20 gallon high for about 60 baby angels (2-3 angels to 1 gallon of water)

• Start weaning them off from the BBS and start feeding them with fine ground flake food 3x a day

• At that stage you can cut back on water changes, and need to do only 30% of partial water change 3x a week

At 6 weeks old, they're about the size of a dime and are ready to be sold to a pet store if you wish.