Spawning: how to stop it.
Controlling spawning by
changing temperatures, changing feeding, possible
stress and diseases.
Henry asks
how to stop angels from breeding.
The two
steps that immediately come to mind are the one you
mentioned, lower the temperature, and in addition,
lower the feeding.
You can
safely lower the temperature to 70 degrees, and this
will definitely inhibit spawning, and will not harm
your fish if you do it very slowly. If you are using
a tank heater, turn it down slightly and let it
stabilize at the new, lower, temperature for at least
4 hours before turning it down another notch. Try to
limit the drop to no more than 4 degrees in 24 hours.
Watch for Ich. The thinking is that the protozoa are
always present, but only does damage when fish are
stressed. Lower temperatures apparently causes Ich to
multiply faster. If you see signs of it, immediately
raise the temperature back to at least 80 degrees (85
is better) and wait until symptoms disappear before
trying again.
At a lower
temperature, the metabolism of all the fish will
slow, so feeding should be reduced. Do not be afraid
of reducing the feeding too much. It is highly
unlikely you will damage your fish by feeding too
little. It is better to cut back and feed too little,
and then slightly increase the amount of feed, than
it is to feed too much for the lower temperature.
These steps should result in a break in the breeding
cycle. However, spawning will not be eliminated
entirely and it might take another 2-3 spawnings
before the cycle break occurs.
Lloyd Spear
Dec 4, 1998
