How do I get rid of 50-200 young Angels every week?
MAKE FRIENDS with the retail dealers in your area. Many, except the large chain stores, will give you $1 each, for dime (18mm) to nickel (21mm) size fry, and may give you a breeder's discount on purchases. Small shops usually welcome local tank breeders: many remember the Great Discus and Angelfish Plague of 1986 that wiped out the stock at most stores and commercial hatcheries.
I have been asked: Can you make money breeding Angels? Perhaps.
If you're interested in breeding Angels at all, do join The Angelfish Society to meet others who do it. Their link is at www.aquaworldnet.org/tas/.
It is best to get your fish ONLY from other Angelfish Breeders who will USUALLY provide you with healthy fish. BUT... everytime you add fish to your current setup, you are adding all the bugs from one more source. Learn why and how to quarantine here.
If you like breeding Angels, it's a nice hobby. With a few tanks, you might eventually recover part of your expenses. Local pet stores generally like breeders, since they provide healthy fish... about 15 years ago, something called 'Angelfish Plague' wiped out just about all the fish farms. But local pet stores have been closing, and you will not be able to sell to the xxxMarts, who deal only with wholesalers. Most all stores will want to pay 50 cents or a $1.50 dollar per fish and sell them for $5 to $10. A hobbyist might also sell his better fish by air, or to local hobbyists.
Let's consider commercial operations.
Fish Farms
These operations specialize in supplying the xxxMarts and other pet stores. Operations in southern Florida might use big fiberglass tanks, no heaters, continuous dripping of water, possibly without any pre-treatment. Add water, clean up a bit, harvest fish. Bingo.Breeder's Suppliers
Have a look at one serious breeder's setup Stuart Chale's fish room. These breeders will start by supplying local pet stores, but eventually raise fish MOSTLY for shipping to serious hobbyists. Dime-size fish sell for $3-$10, depending on appearance and how hard they are to raise. Breeding pairs sell for $100 to $250. Shipping by U.S. mail or air might cost $30-$60.
If you want quick help from the experts, please go to The Angelfish Forum!
Topic: It's YOUR turn to contribute here!
Author: Bill Dawes
Email: wmdawes@email.com
Date: 6/11/99
Time: 6:35:18 PM
Comments
I've added this 'guest book' feature to allow YOU to improve on the FAQ immediately! Please share your experiences with our other guests.
Thanks!
Topic: Up against all odds Survival
Author:
Email: EMWCO@AOL.com
Remote User:
Date: 10 Jan 2000
Time: 01:06:36
Comments
I have a new tank well equipped. Two mature Angels and recently they spawned for the first time. The male ate most of them and the rest turned fuzzy. I took all the eggs out of the tank, after 3 weeks I didn't think anything was going to happen.
The second time around I put the eggs in a breeder tank, the kind that stays in the same tank as the parents. All the eggs turned fuzzy again. Now, where the male was picking and tore her fins she has a white spot at each tear. I treated for "ick" and "fin rot" I'm trying to help them as best as I can but, I'm new at this. Please help me to help them survive each other and at being good parents!!!! Tonya.
If the surviving eggs turn fuzzy, they were not fertilized. Your male isn't catching on yet... and perhaps he never will. In nature, the female could get totally away, but alas, in a tank, she can't. I put up a partition to let the female recover, and let her back in to see him after a week or two. My German Blue Blusher male was tearing up his mate after a dozen good spawns... three times I put them back together, and he kept tearing her up. She rushes over to nuzzle him, and he tears her up. Last week, I put four 6 month old fry (his own kids, but culls I could afford to lose) in with him, and let him chase one after the other, for a few hours. Finally I took out the partition: this time he accepted her, and they spawned today! I took out the culls, they're a happy couple again.
I never use medications, except for methylene blue ... and only when I'm raising fry away from the parents. Ick, and many other ailments can be cured by keeping the temperature above 85F. Some Ick medicines are NaCl... sodium chloride ... table salt! The treatments that usually work for me are 92-95F water and 1/4 volume (say, 5 gallons of a 20g tank) water changes daily, to reduce bacteria load and nitrogen wastes.
Keep me posted! And if your male learns some social graces, and you really really want to raise Angels, read the WHOLE ABFAQ:
NO gravel -- bare bottom.
NO filters except for sponge filters.
NO other fish in the breeding tank.
Siphon off waste and change 1/4 volume of the water DAILY.
Water temp = 83-88F.
pH 6-7.5.
dh 80 or less.
etc. etc. etc.
Topic: adding older fry
Author: Anne
Email: atrainor@sympatico.ca
Remote User:
Date: 08 Mar 2000
Time: 09:37:40
Comments
I only have about 20-9 day old fry left. I would like to add these to my 25-gal. tank. I have one pair of marble angels with 2-day old eggs in this tank. I have desided to leave the adults in the tank to raise the babies instead of putting them back in my community tank. Is it possible to add the older spawn and when?
They may become LUNCH. Angels... and fish, really... will eat any other fish that they can fit in their mouths... except GOOD parents, or, the species would never have evolved.