Getting angelfish to spawn?

[Blue Ring Sting]

Hi,

As the title says, how do you get them to spawn? I have 2 Flagfin Angelfish in one of my tanks at the moment.

First thing that I would like to find out is how do you determine the sex of them? From what I have read is that the males are larger than the females? Are there any other ways of determining sex?

I would like to set the mood for them and see what happens...:love2:

 

[dmh41532]

I do not believe angels are dimorphic, I understand that many are pelagic which also creates some issues for spawning. good luck keep us updated.

 

[fla2341]

Questions:
How big are they now/how big when you got them
How do they react/interact / chase
How long have you had them
How tall/big is your tank
Whats the population of the tank
What kid of rock work ( maybe a pic)

My Flame Angelfish would spawn right around lights out. They would rise together. Then flash/splash and they were done. My tank was set up with one side darker then the other (only ambient light). They would rise off the highest cave/rock which was mid tank on an 19" tall, 6' long tank. The only other occupants were clean up critters, 2 bangaii and 2 royal gramma's. Sometimes they would "false spawn" where they would rise several times but not spawn or rise several times and then finally spawn. Lots/any motion outside of the tank would make them stop until the coast was clear. When the royal grammas got too close they would break off and chase them then get back to it.

1st spawns would yeild only 10-20 eggs. At their Best 1800+/night. Ave was 800+/night.

Males are generally larger then females unless you have 2 of the same sex. Then if female/female the larger, more dominate one, typically turns male. If male/male or male/intermediate male in some cases the smaller, less dominate one can revert to female. In most cases of male/male one chases the other too much, often resulting in death by starvation, assult/damage or carpet of the "other" male.

 

[breederforlife]

They will normaly spawn after lights out if you have a male/female pair. But keep in mind that if you want fertile eggs the best height for a tank is around 80 cm.
To sex them, the size is a good indication, the bigger one is male but females tend to also have rounder anal fin.

 

[Blue Ring Sting]

Answers:
How big are they now/how big when you got them: About 18 cm and 15 cm
How do they react/interact / chase: They swim around normally and sometimes chase each other.
How long have you had them: About 2 weeks
How tall/big is your tank: Tank is 200cm x 600cm x 600cm. May need to go bigger.
Whats the population of the tank: Just the 2 angels
What kid of rock work ( maybe a pic): No rock work, just pieces of PVC

That is great so irrelevant to what sex the angels are, they will be able to change sex? 2 males and the more dominant 1 will stay male and the other will change to a female and vice-versa.

I was thinking of changing to a portapool or a koi pond and customize it. A lot of water volume and the height will be about 100 - 120cm.

Do I need to do anything specific with my water parameters? Lighting? Temperature?

 

[fla2341]

Standard lighting is ok - nothing special is needed just duration/timing. The flames I kept spawned after 2-3 months of "getting to know" each other. They did what your's are doing. Zipping in and out of rock work chasing each other, etc.. Of interesting note was that the female was the one who instigated spawning more the the male in my pair, IIRC.
With the larger angelfish I would expect that everything would need to be up sized from what I delt with for spawning but the larval stages/needs are similar.

If you are interested there are several forums you can search for here on Reef Central which will show what has been done/tried. I would recomend that you take a look and see what others have tried with Angelfish, dwarf or otherwise.

If you are interested here is mine: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2162845&highlight=flame+angel+breeding
In the forum I cover light, temp and etc. I did a lot of research before I set things in motion.

You might also want to look at: http://risingtideconservation.blogspot.com/
They have breed large angelfish - successfully - and are associated with Karen B. who has been working with Bandit Angelfish (Apolemichthys arcuatus) in Hawaii

Don't be afraid to try something new or different as long as it wont negatively effect the health of your pair.

I don't have experience with the larger angelfish so I can't speak to weather or not your's will form a pair or if/what the sex was and at what size. I started out with the smallest I could find, assuming that the smaller they were, the better the chance of me starting out with 2 females. Watch them closely. You may have to separate them and try again by swapping out one of your larger ones for a smaller one.