Male Angel Wont Fertilize Female's Eggs...why?

[LolaLouie]

Yesterday and the day before my 2 angelfish both had their breeding tubes out and were cleaning an amazon sword together. My female spend all morning today laying eggs and she's finished now but my male won't fertilize them.

Any idea why this could be??

 

[beany_bot]

Yesterday and the day before my 2 angelfish both had their breeding tubes out and were cleaning an amazon sword together. My female spend all morning today laying eggs and she's finished now but my male won't fertilize them.

Any idea why this could be??

Gay

 

[LolaLouie]

Yesterday and the day before my 2 angelfish both had their breeding tubes out and were cleaning an amazon sword together. My female spend all morning today laying eggs and she's finished now but my male won't fertilize them.

Any idea why this could be??

Gay

Oh ok... didn't think of that...

 

[emmsy]

A crude answer Conditions may not be right for the male. Water quality - temperature - wrong aquascape or indeed he could be gay. Can I see a pic of the setup plse?


Emma

 

[Helen G]

Yesterday and the day before my 2 angelfish both had their breeding tubes out and were cleaning an amazon sword together. My female spend all morning today laying eggs and she's finished now but my male won't fertilize them.

Any idea why this could be??

Gay

 

[LolaLouie]

I don't have a camera at the moment as I lent it to a friend.

My set up is a South American biotope...

It is a 50 gallon tank with blackwater (from peat)

Heavily planted at the back and sides mostly with amazon sword and vallisneria with open water for swimming at the front.

There are 4 large pieces of bogwood and pleanty of hidey holes and caves.

Substrate is sand.

pH is 7.4, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate around 20-30 (40 in tap), gH 12, temp 27 C

Tankmates= Dwarf SA cichlids, plecos & tetras

Pretty much a perfect tank for angelfish!!

Any ideas??

 

[rocknurworld2006]

could possibly be tank mates
ph is high for angels

 

[LolaLouie]

They are not wild caught angels and came from a shop of pH 8 so the pH shuldn't be a problem, especially as the female is laying eggs. Also the tank mates i don't think are the problem either because the female has laid her eggs and none of the tank mates have touched them, also the angels are my only top dwellers and they have laid their eggs at the top of a 2 ft amazon sword so have no competition.

 

[rocknurworld2006]

alot of the time the eggs will just fungus because it is in high ph"

 

[LolaLouie]

alot of the time the eggs will just fungus because it is in high ph"

But 7.4 isn't particularly high is it?!? I've heard people say they've bred angels in 8

 

[Tolak]

New angel pairs are not very experienced at this spawning thing, it may take the male a few spawns to get the idea of what he is supposed to do. I've had pairs where the male, tube out, would follow directly behind the female eating eggs. Generally after a few spawns they show a more coordinated effort.

alot of the time the eggs will just fungus because it is in high ph"

I breed angels in 7.7, water quality has more of an effect on fungus than pH for me. From what I've experienced keeping the spawning site clean, as well as keeping water quality up has more of an effect. I use pvc pipes in breeding tanks, and rinse them twice weekly under tap water. If I let them sit for a week or more I will experience more fungal problems than if they have been recently cleaned.

Fungus is believed to be secondary to bacteria where spawning is concerned, I believe this was documented in James Quarles' book on breeding discus. Bacteria grow at a quicker rate, killing the eggs, this is impossible to see with the naked eye. The fungus is secondary, and easy to see, so is assumed to be the problem.

 

[LolaLouie]

Thanks for that Tolak, well the eggs are gone this morning so I guess she decided that if he's not gonna do his job and fertalize them she might as well make a midnight snack out of them!

I just hope he gets the hang of it, he kept swimming over to the eggs and looking at them but clearly didn't have a clue what to do.

Guess I'll have to wait and hope the next spawn is more successful.

Thanks for replies!