Breeding Angel Fish
Pterophyllum scalare
Angel fish are an american cichlid that prefer neutral to slightly acidic water at 78°F. They are a relatively easy fish to breed and care for and raise their young. As with the other cichlid
species, the angel fish may eat their young if they are disturbed or under stress and the aquarist must decide whether to let the eggs hatch naturally with the parents or to hatch them with an airstone in a separate tank.
Usually the easiest option is to gently syphon the fry into another tank using an airline just after they hatch from the eggs, but are still attached the rock or solid surface they were layed on.
When the breeding cycle begins, the female produces a small white tube from the abdomen and the pair start to meticulously clean a flat piece of rock, plant leaf, or even the wall of the fish tank.
The pair clean the spawning site for several days while sometimes fighting and showing aggressive behaviour until finally the female swims slowly over the site with her white tube barely touching the surface, leaving a string of eggs.
The male follows closely behind spraying the eggs with sperm. Usually a female angelfish will lay several hundred eggs or more and the pair will then spend around 1 to 2 days fanning and mouthing the eggs until they hatch.
Angelfish fry can be fed tube fry food from the aquarium shop or boiled egg yolk squeezed through a piece of cloth is a great substitute. Be carefull when feeding the fry these
foods as they will foul the water very quickly. After 2 to 3 days the fry can then be fed slightly larger fry food like freshly hatched brine shrimp or graded dry food.
Shown here is a fish tank setup for breeding angelfish, this setup is used by some commercial angelfish breeders. The end of the fish tank is sectioned off with a mesh wall and the floor is angled down so that any fish waste or uneaten food is washed down towards the mesh. The water inlet is placed somewhere near the centre of the tank and
the mesh wall can be lifted to remove the junk collecting on the floor. On the end of the tank is placed a 2 to 3 inch wide piece of plastic or acrylic for the angelfish to lay their eggs on. Once the eggs have been layed the plastic can be moved to another tank or the pair can be removed and
the inlet hose can then be placed over the eggs to provide water circulation and supply oxygen. Methylene blue or malachite green are sometimes added to the water to prevent fungi or bacteria from growing on the eggs.
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