Angelfish laid eggs but hungry fish try to eat them!

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I got my first angelfish about a week ago and they've been laying eggs today! However this is a community tank and I have a lot of hungry fish that would want to eat their eggs. I can set up a 100l tank with water and filter media from the big aquarium. I really don't want to disrupt it all tho, but I'm sure the eggs will be eaten if I don't do something. Can I please get some advice? Also I'm new to both angelfishes and breeding.
 
At this stage, I would leave things as is and prepare for the next spawning (assume you want to hatch some of the eggs and raise them). Several things are at play here.

First, any moving of the eggs and parents will certainly result in their eating the eggs. Once they are guarding a clutch of eggs, the parents should not be "spooked" in any way. They may manage to save some, or not, but if not, they will inevitably spawn again. [I am assuming you have a male/female pair; it is common for females without a male present to lay eggs but they will be infertile obviously.]

Second point is that angelfish generally eat the first few spawns themselves, regardless. This occurs with commercially-raised angelfish but not wild caught angelfish. So unless you acquired wild caught fish from an importer, it may take a few go's before things work out.

Angelfish can be very protective parents (once they have settled down as described above) but any fish in the tank will recognize eggs and make every attempt to eat them. During the night is when they are most vulnerable, as the angels sleep/rest being diurnal fish, but nocturnally-active fish like most catfish including cories will easily get the eggs, or the fry later if they did manage to hatch. So for the future, you might want to set up a spawning tank for the pair.
 
Thanks for your response. There's a male and female yes and they are currently guarding the eggs. They won't last long tho, and a ravenous hoplosternum managed to eat about half of them already =( I only have one extra tank, which is about 100l. Is this too small to work with?
 
Thanks for your response. There's a male and female yes and they are currently guarding the eggs. They won't last long tho, and a ravenous hoplosternum managed to eat about half of them already =( I only have one extra tank, which is about 100l. Is this too small to work with?

Depends upon the size of the angelfish.
 
I'd say they're both around 13cm long

That is close to mature size. They will need sufficient space to swim, including vertical height for their fin span.
 
Try feeding the fish more, 3-5 times per day. And give the catfish a good feed at night just before lights out.

Monitor the water quality and do more water changes to compensate for the extra food.

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The following link has some information about preparing food for baby fish.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/back-to-basics-when-breeding-fish.448304/
 
I fed them a lot, but the catfish saw the eggs as a buffet! The 100l seems to be good according to my research, and it is fairly deep. Right now I set up an internal filter with media from my old filter. It has a bare bottom and I was planning on throwing in some plants to hopefully get success next time they want to lay eggs. Do you think the aquarium would cycle in two weeks time? I'll also try to get into artemia hatching.
 
I fed them a lot, but the catfish saw the eggs as a buffet! The 100l seems to be good according to my research, and it is fairly deep. Right now I set up an internal filter with media from my old filter. It has a bare bottom and I was planning on throwing in some plants to hopefully get success next time they want to lay eggs. Do you think the aquarium would cycle in two weeks time? I'll also try to get into artemia hatching.

It will cycle immediately with bacteria and live plants. Floating plants are best here, both because of the light shading (good for angelfish, and the eggs hatching) and for their ability to take up ammonia/ammonium rapidly.
 
Ok. So my plan is to move the pair into the breeding tank in about 10 days, so a bit before they potentially lay eggs. Would small daily waterchanges be good or don't I have to do it that often? I also bought brine shrimp eggs and will set up a DIY bottle system. When should I start the brine shrimp hatching? A bit after angelfish hatch? Sorry for asking a lot of questions :X Anything else I should know?
 
Ok. So my plan is to move the pair into the breeding tank in about 10 days, so a bit before they potentially lay eggs. Would small daily waterchanges be good or don't I have to do it that often? I also bought brine shrimp eggs and will set up a DIY bottle system. When should I start the brine shrimp hatching? A bit after angelfish hatch? Sorry for asking a lot of questions :X Anything else I should know?

It has been decades since I last hatched brine shrimp eggs for fry (1986 or so) but if memory serves me they hatch in 24-36 hours. I believe I added new eggs on alternate days to have a continual supply, but follow whose-ever instructions on this.

Infusoria is very beneficial, and while there are methods (Colin's link explains them) I prefer dried leaves as these never pollute the water unlike any egg/lettuce preparation though these will work. Studies have shown that any fry that have dried leaves do grow faster. Oak, maple, beech will work, or almond leaves available in some fish stores. It takes a few days for the infusoria to appear so stick a few dried leaves in the tank as soon as it is set up, and add them periodically.

I would move the angelfish over to the tank as soon as they are finished with the present spawn, meaning when the eggs/fry are gone. Get them settled into their new home.
 
Ok, so I can go outside and just get some dry leaves and put them in the breeding tank? Right now it's completely empty apart from a small piece of driftwood with a bit of anubias on it, won't this bother the fish?
 
Ok, so I can go outside and just get some dry leaves and put them in the breeding tank? Right now it's completely empty apart from a small piece of driftwood with a bit of anubias on it, won't this bother the fish?

Collect dead leaves from the ground, never from off a tree as these might not be completely dry. Collect in a safe area, away from all road traffic, pesticides, fertilizers, toxins, etc. Rinse them off but do not boil them as that will defeat the purpose here. Make sure none of any bird droppings on them. When you add the leaves, they will float for a couple days until they are water logged and then they will sink.

Colin is right, you need a substrate of sand or fine gravel to provide a biological "bed" for the tank. It is much easier to maintain healthy water and with less stress on the fish.
 

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