How to breed Pterophyllum Scalare, the Freshwater Angelfish

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

A pair of Angelfish
A decent size aquarium (ideally 30 gallons or more
Good quality food for the fish
The equipment normally needed for keeping freshwater fish such as filter, heater, etc.
Patience

Step 1

Make sure you have a pair of Angelfish. Most books suggest that you obtain 6-8 juvenile Angels and raise them together. As they mature, they will often "pair off" and start defending territories. In my experience, this is, indeed, the best way to obtain a pair of Angelfish. It may take a year before the Angels grow to maturity and pair off, depending on how big they are to start with. The good news is that the fish do all the work. It is your job to provide them with good conditions that are conducive to breeding.
Step 2

Condition the pair of Angelfish. The goal is to get the Angels in top condition so they will be ready to breed. To do this, give them plenty of room, a variety of quality food, including some live food, and a good, healthy environment. Make sure the water quality is excellent, and provide frequent, partial water changes. I often keep a few guppies and, or some other live bearers in the tank with the Angels. The live bearers provide an ongoing source of live food.
Step 3

Isolate the pair. When you have a good, strong pair of Angels that are in great condition, either move them to their own tank, or remove the other inhabitants of the tank they are in.
Step 4

Angelfish eggs on an undergravel filter stem in the tank.

Provide a site for the pair to lay their eggs. Angelfish aren't really too picky about where they lay their eggs. In nature they lay their eggs on a broad leaf of an underwater plant. Sometimes they lay them on the glass of the tank, or on a filter stem. Many breeders provide a piece of slate in the tank. Angels often choose the slate as the breeding site. Breeders like this, because it is easy to remove the slate to another tank used as a "hatching tank" if desired.
Step 5

Decide whether to leave the eggs with the parents, or remove them to their own tank. Breeders with the goal of rearing the maximum number of Angels often choose to remove the eggs and hatch them separately from the parents. One reason is that the parents will usually lay another batch of eggs 7-10 days after they eggs are removed, whereas if the parents are caring for the eggs and / or young, they usually don't spawn for a while. Another reason some remove the eggs is that they can put them in a small hatching tank where they can control the environment, keep it clean easier, and more readily observe the development of the eggs and fry. Finally, some choose to remove them because they are worried about the parents eating the eggs and / or fry. Keep in mind that sometimes young Angels will eat their eggs or fry the first several times they spawn. They will usually get the hang of things after a few spawns and take care of them. Some adults never do grow out of eating them. In that case, it is important to remove the eggs after spawning if you hope to raise some of the offspring.
Step 6

Angelfish eggs on a filter stem after several hours have passed. The three bright white eggs are fungused, probably due to not being fertilized.

Keep the eggs aerated and clean. At this point, you may decide to leave the eggs in the tank to let the parents raise them, or to remove the eggs to a tank of their own. If they remain with the parents, the adult fish will fan the eggs to keep the water moving over the eggs. This helps provide water that is rich in oxygen flowing over them, and prevents particle matter from settling on the eggs. If you are hatching the eggs away from the parents, place an airstone with a mild flow near the eggs to keep the water flowing over them.
Step 7

Fry hanging onto plants and glass before they become free swimming

Watch for the eggs to hatch. In my experience, Angel eggs kept at ~80 degrees F. hatch in about 3-4 days. If the water is cooler, it takes longer for them to hatch. When the eggs start to hatch, they will look like a small sliver attached to an egg. Over the next few days, they will start to look more like fish, and less like eggs as they consume their "yolk sac". During this time, the fry stay attached to the spawning site. The parents will often take them into their mouth and spit them back out onto the site.
Step 8

Watch for the fry to begin swimming. After a few days, the fry will begin to take very short swims and come back to rest on the spawning site, or on some other surface (which could be the bottom of the tank). After a short while, they will learn to swim, and begin to swim as their normal behavior.
Step 9

Feed the fry. The fry should not be fed until they are free swimming. Before they are swimming, they feed on their own yolk sac and don't need additional food. Once the fry become free swimming it is time to start feeding them. They can usually handle newly hatched brine shrimp as a first food, as well as microworms, and powdered flake food.
Step 10

The fry start to head out on their own

Enjoy taking care of the fry and watching them grow. If you left them with the parents, you can observe the fascinating behavior of the parents as they take care of the fry. One of the most interesting behaviors is that the parents gather the fry into a cloud that they keep between them with each parent watching a different direction to keep an eye out for predators or any other danger to the fry. Rearing the fry is beyond the scope of this article, and is covered in a separate article.

Comments

aguy said

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on 8/29/2009 Yeah sometimes they do eat the spawn. Especially their first time. Some pairs never do learn and always eat them. Most, though, get better after 2 or 3 spawns and don't eat them.

1960texan said

on 8/28/2009 Great article! I tried this years ago, but wasn't fully prepared. I used a piece of slate, and moments after the spawning one of the young parents made a meal of the eggs! If I'd had this article I would have know to set up an extra tank. Great job and enjoyed the photos. 5*s and a recommend.