Angel babies!

[JennM]

I had a customer trade in 3 large veil angels a few weeks ago. Seems that 2 were beating up on one... we figured two had paired off, so we put the 2 lovebirds together, and the third wheel in another tank. Last week I noticed eggs A few days after that, the eggs were gone - I figured they had been eaten or died, as we had used Cupramine to treat the system for a lingering problem with anchor worms - we had cycled the system with comets some weeks earlier...

Anyway, last night just before I went home, I glanced in the tank -- those two are still very aggressive and even standing before their tank prompts them to rush the glass - I looked again and I saw BABIES!

All the times I had angels when I was a FW hobbyist, I never got them to breed - this time, in a brand new (troubled) system and without even trying... poof there they are!

I got a blurry picture of them this morning...

Any tips for these guys? I presume they have been in there about a week since the eggs vanished about this time last week - I started adding some liquid fry food to their tank - a well-timed free sample sent from Wardley... I haven't seen them eat it... should I be rattling around with brine pots?

The parents seem rather protective so I'm not going to interfere with that... but any suggestions are welcome.

Cheers,
Jenn

[jesspaul]

They will eat baby brine shrimp. Ours paired off and laid eggs during our honeymoon. My best guess on the timing is that I did a big water change before I left and fed them extra. Kind like the start of the rainy season in the jungle. Its been ten years ago but I remember feeding them brine shrimp and leaveing them with the parents, we were poor when we maried. About a dozen made it to adulthood.

[JennM]

I counted a dozen babies last night. They were feeding off mom's slime coat (eewww) I tried some of the Wardley fry food that I coincidentally received as a comp the week before... and they are eating that now Keeping mom and dad well fed so they don't eyeball their babies as a meal. I have no idea if any will survive - I was not prepared to become a mom But it's sure neat to observe them!

Jenn

[jesspaul]

AngelFish are my fav Fresh water fish. They are so much smarter than lots of other fish.

[Stang69]

Congrats.When mine bred some years back I thought the mom was eating them but lo and behold she would suck them in her mouth and PHEWWWWW then in a ball. The do make great parents.



Jeff

[tabwyo]

Angles will protect thier fry for a while. But you are correct in keeping moms and pops fed up. Survival is #1 if their klid are all that stand between them and hunger it's chow time. Big water changes trigger a mate in many cases as with a drop in ph. If you feed baby brines just gut load em first as per usual. Tossing in a java fern for cover wouldn't be a bad plan either, just in case mom and pop decide to run the kids off. Regular old flake ground up real fine will work well as a staple food. I have even used mushed up hard boiled egg yolks.

[JennM]

Well I now have just one baby left. I don't know whether they became lunch, or if they died of natural causes... no bodies of course, so small.

The one is growing and beginning to get a shape beyond "tadpole".

In the tank below them, convicts had babies about 10 days ago.... must be something in the water!

Jenn

[tabwyo]

Angles, though in the cichlid family, do not take as good of care of their offspring as say Africans. But they at least stick around for a while. Parental predation is my bet if you cant find the wee corpses. Did you do a big water change after you medicated? Or did the medication affect the PH significantly? You may have your "why are they doin the jiggy?" question nailed right there. You can remove the wee guy to a safer place. They only need Ma and Pa for protection. They can fed for themselves food wise. I have seen babies feed on the slime coat of the mother like with Discus but that's only in the first few days.