Unexpected Angel Spawning... Classic "whodunnit"..

minikarter

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Hi, I've recently set up a 10 gallon tank.. cloned using some media from a much larger 4ft long tank.. installed plants blah blah.. I've checked the water and nitrates are a little high at 40ppm after test, ph at 7.8, ammonia and nitrites are at zero.. SO i added a fish from the larger tank as well, an Angel.. just to keep the tank liveable until i get some more permanent habitants. 12 hours later.. i get home from work and the aquaball filter i use is covered in eggs! the problem now is.. i really wouldnt mind seeing if i could get them to hatch.. but i have no idea which.. if ANY male from the big tank would be suitable.. almost forgetting the minor problem of not actually knowing how to tell which are males and which arent! could anybody offer any ideas? .. luckily it's the weekend so if i need anything i can rush to the store tomorrow morning to get anything i might need.. would this fish be one of a breeding pair in order to lay the eggs? .. If so i have no idea which fish was it's partner at all!

Help! :blink:

p.s: i know it's impossible for this fish to get "knocked up".. but it just feels comical to try and point the finger at some randy male from the big tank!!
 
Send a PM to Tolak as he is the resident expert on this matter.

I personally have 7 angels and have a breeding pair which has spawned.

I am no expert buy I am expression my view on this.

If I understand correctly you just have one angel in the 10 gal tank. If thats the case then it is very unlikely that you will get it to hatch as you will need a male to fertilise it. Normally a male angel will follow the female angel as she is laying eggs and fertilise them.

If you are lucky and can pick a male from your main tank it is very unlikely that he will fertilise the egg. Most probably he will eat them. You can still try and see what happens. I dont think you will have anything to loose.

When angels form a pair they tend to stay together chasing other tank mates away. So if you have noticed any angel from your main tank pairing up/staying close with the female in the 10g tank then he is the most probable choice.

If you get the right partner then even if you are not successful this time it will spawn again in 10-15 days.

Good Luck
 
Thanks regimail, We actually did a bit of an experiment.. knowing the eggs would have been fertilised as you say as they were being laid we thought there would be nothing to lose in putting the angel back into the large tank to just see which fish it paired with. We're 90% sure we know the right fish, because sure enough.. even though the eggs weren't present in that particular tank, it was obvious it was the only fish not being chased! and they seemed to kind of hang around each other a lot.. so now we've moved both fish into the 10 gallon. the female has resumed taking interest in looking after the eggs.. but i guess as expected the male doesnt seem interested :(

oh well.. we shall see what happens in 2 weeks time! until then.. is there anything i could do to better prepare the 10 gallon to take on a new lease of life? atm there's black sand, and a few plants.. that's about it!..
I've noticed the female does like to hide away a bit sometimes, would she benefit from some kind of cave like many other type of cichlid?
 
If you have got the mate for the female then thats great news. Once you put the 2 fish in 10g does the female chase away the other fish from the eggs. If not then most likely you have got her mate.

I myself am very new to this. I currently have 4th angel spawn. You can view my post here. http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=263932

I have left the tank bare bottom. No gravel, no plants nothing. Just a filter, heater and some tall terracotta pots from B&Q. You can see pictures in my previous post. Something similar to this. http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/nav.jsp?...p;isSearch=true

Ideally you should have a sponge filter running in this tank. (I have got one now). You dont need any hiding place for the female as the spawning process is very peaceful. They will normally spend lot of time together cleaning the spawning site.

Some angel parents take care of the eggs and the fry and most dont. My angels eat the eggs normally on day 3.

Good luck with you pair. Do let us know their progress.
 

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