Angelfish are a favorite amongst freshwater aquarium owners. Their flat triangular bodies, stylish long fins, and stripped patterns make them a wonderful addition to your fish tank.
Originally from the Amazon Basin, the angelfish has adapted well to aquariums all over the world. It is quite easy to keep them, as long as you maintain proper conditions.
As an added bonus, it is also very easy to breed angelfish. One commonly asked question when it comes to angelfish breeding is this: how long does it take for angelfish eggs to hatch?
We’ll answer that question in this post, and also look at how to breed angelfish.
Let’s get started!
What Do Angelfish Eggs Look Like?
Before you get all excited, it is important to confirm whether there are viable angelfish eggs in your aquarium.
Healthy fertilized angelfish eggs will be translucent and gray in color. If it is white and opaque, it is not going to hatch.
Another way to identify angelfish eggs is to observe the behavior of the parents. If an angelfish pair is sticking to one area and chasing the other fish away, you should search for eggs in that area – angelfish are naturally protective of their young.
Also, angelfish lay eggs after they have successfully formed a pair, which may even last a lifetime. So if you observe two of your angelfish spending a lot of time together, they are probably ready to lay eggs when the time comes.
When they are ready to lay eggs, they start by cleaning the spawning area of debris and algae – another indicator of angelfish breeding.
Angelfish eggs are adhesive and the parents may move it around, so don’t be alarmed if the eggs are missing when you wake up.
Angelfish can lay anywhere between 100 to 1000 eggs in one sitting. Even if a fraction of them make it to adulthood, you’re going to have a really crowded tank.
How Long Does It Take For Angelfish Eggs to Hatch?
If you think you have fertilized angelfish eggs in your tank, then congratulations.
All you have to do now is provide proper conditions for them and wait for them to hatch.
Typically, it takes 2-4 days for angelfish eggs to hatch. The temperature has an impact on how long angelfish eggs take to hatch. At 80° F, they usually hatch after 60 hours.
Even though the angelfish eggs hatch time is less at higher temperatures, you should resist the temptation to raise the temperature too much, as you run the risk of making it too hot and killing the embryos.
The whole hatching process can be divided into three stages, as outlined below.
· Fertilization – After the eggs are laid by the female, they need to be fertilized by the male. The female lays a line of eggs, which are brushed by the male to fertilize them. This process is repeated as the female lays many lines of eggs.
· Embryonic Development – Eggs that have been successfully fertilized will have an embryo developing inside. If you see a small spot inside the translucent egg, then that egg has an embryo and will hatch.
· Hatching – This is the moment you have been waiting for: the eggs hatch and small angelfish fry emerges. Even after hatching the fry will be attached to the spawning surface though. You will see a yolk sac attached to their bodies, which is their source of food during this period. The fry will detach and become free in about 1 week.
How to Breed Angelfish?
A female angelfish reaches sexual maturity in 6 to 12 months. After reaching sexual maturity, angelfish can lay eggs every 1-2 weeks.
Of course, the female needs to pair up with a male before it can start laying eggs, something that you have little control over, other than putting them in the same tank.
After the eggs are laid by the female, the male angelfish will fertilize them.
It is not enough to just wait for the angelfish eggs to hatch, you should also do the needful, otherwise they may not hatch.
That means maintaining proper conditions for hatching angelfish eggs, as described below.
· Ideal Temperature – Angelfish is a tropical fish. As such, they require a temperature of 78-82 ° F. If the temperature is too low it will take longer to hatch, and if it is too high it may destroy the eggs.
· Tank Size – You need at least a 20-gallon tank in order to breed angelfish; bigger is always better.
· Ideal pH – The pH of the water should be between 6 and 8. Try to go for the lower end as angelfish prefers slightly acidic water.
· Ample Oxygenation and Circulation – Like the adults, the eggs too need to breathe. Make sure you oxygenate the water using air pumps. Proper circulation ensures that the oxygenated water reaches the eggs; since the eggs are immobile, you have to bring the oxygen to them.
· Spawning Area – The angelfish need an area to lay their eggs. Usually, they use the leaf of an aquarium plant, aquarium décor, filter, or even the tank surface. If you want to avoid this, you can get an angelfish breeding slate (or a breeding cone or mop). This makes it easy to transfer the eggs to another tank if required.
Angelfish have a reputation that they eat their young. When faced with stress, they may indeed feast on their eggs. So it may be a good idea to transfer the eggs to another tank once they have laid the eggs – remember, the eggs are fair game to other fish in the tank too.
You really don’t need the parents to see through angelfish eggs hatching, as long as you keep the conditions optimal.
Also, not all eggs will be fertilized and you should remove the ones that aren’t to prevent fungal infection and decomposition. Eggs that are white or yellow should be removed.
You can prevent a fungal outbreak by using an effective anti-fungal such as methylene blue or API Melafix
Once the eggs hatch, the larvae will emerge but will still be attached to their spawning surface. They will have a yolk sac attached, which will be their source of nutrition. That means you don’t need to feed them at this time.
In about 5 days, the larvae will detach and become free-swimming fry, at which point you have to feed them. You can feed them small foods such as brine shrimp , infusoria or Aqueon Tropical Flakes
After some time, the angelfish fry will grow into a juvenile, then a young adult, and finally into a fully mature angelfish.
Conclusion
Now that you know how long it takes for angelfish eggs to hatch, you’ll know when it is time to welcome your tiny angelfish fry into the world. It will be a proud moment for you as an aquarium owner.
You shouldn’t stand idle while waiting though, as you need to keep the conditions optimal for angelfish breeding and eliminate threats to the eggs, such as infection, hypoxia, and even the parent angelfish.
If you do everything right, the angelfish eggs will hatch and your tank will be filled to the brim with wriggling angelfish fry, turning your aquarium into a nursery.
Thanks for reading.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pterophyllum
https://www.wikihow.com/Breed-Angelfish
https://theaquariumguide.com/articles/angelfish-eggs
https://www.fishkeepingwisdom.com/how-to-tell-if-angelfish-eggs-are-fertilized/
