Mountain View Angels - Breeding Angelfish

Breeding of Angelfish is not very difficult as some people claim. All you need is some patience, a lot of tank space, and some knowledge. This section will help guide you through the breeding process as well as provide some additional information.

Breeding Angels in a community tank successfully is near impossible and is not recommended by the author of this web site.

This page and the following pages will be broken down into sections to help walk you through the general process.

If you have any questions about any of these steps or feel I have left something out, feel free to contact me.

Acquiring a Breeding Pair

There are three ways you can acquire a breeding pair.

Method One:
The first method, and probably the most effective method, would be to buy 6 to 10 juvenile angels of only the highest quality. Here are the chances of acquiring one breeding pair from a group of 6.

Chances of a pair are:

2 fish 50%
3 fish 75%
4 fish 87.5%
5 fish 93.75%
6 fish 96.875 %

Never breed any fish that have any obvious deformities. I will cover deformities in the Culling section of this article. Be sure you have plenty of tank space for them to grow and places for them to hide when necessary (10 gallons per fish is a minimum). As these angels grow they will pair off. Usually when they are 8 to 12 months of age they will begin to pair off and spawn. You will generally know when two Angels have paired off. The two Angels in question will seem to have dominated the tank and protect an area they have chosen to spawn on. The rest of the Angels will be hiding from these two. When you notice a pair forming you should remove these two Angels and place them in their own bare bottom (no gravel) 20gal tank minimum, a 29 or 30 gallon tank would be better. Make sure you put some sort of slate, piece of 2" PVC pipe, or broad leafed plant such as an Amazon Sword plant with them to spawn on. Of course, Angels spawn where they want and will occasionally spawn on undesirable places such as a heater, filter intake tube, or on the tank walls.

Method Two:
The second method is to buy a known breeding pair. This can be expensive as most breeding pairs sell for at least $80 and as much as $300 or more. Be very careful buying breeding pairs. Sometimes you can get a pair that is too old and may not breed effectively. Angels generally only breed effectively for about two years. Also, keep in mind that just because a pair bred for one person does not guarantee that they will breed for you, so be very cautious when purchasing breeding pairs.

Method Three:
The third method is pretty simple. You take a known male, put him with a known female, give it some time. Simple as that, you have a pair.

Sexing Angelfish

   No matter what you have heard, read, or been told about sexing Angels there are is only two absolutely positive ways it can be done.
   The first method is through dissection which is not possible if you want to keep the fish alive so we can rule that out.
   The second method is to observe the Angels papilla (or breeding tube) just before and during the spawning process. The papilla is a small pinkish protrusion located between the ventral fins and anal fin. A females papilla is larger than a males and more blunt. It is close to the shape of a dull pencil. A female will also become gravid or swollen with eggs a few days before spawning. See the picture below of a female by clicking on it.

A males papilla is not as visible and much thinner than a females. It looks more like the tip of a thumb tack. Males will also expose their papilla to establish territory if in a tank with a gravid female and multiple males. It's best to remove the female and her choice of a mate to their own tank to prevent any aggression. Here's a picture of a males papilla.

Next Page >>>