The life cycle of an angelfish from egg to adult.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 มี.ค. 2017
- Hello! This is a video explaining the various stages of life for angelfish. It all begins with a angelfish pair laying eggs. Once the eggs are laid, it takes about 2 to 3 days for the eyes to be visible inside the egg, and the eggs will hatch and start wiggling back and forth. At this stage, the the fry are called "wigglers". For 3 to 4 days after that, the eggs will stay in one spot, usually sticking to surfaces in your tank, feeding off of the egg yolk sac in the egg. Then once the egg yolk is no longer available, the fry will become free swimming in search of food. At this stage, you will want to feed them baby brine shrimp, or if algae is present in the tank, they can feed off of that. Which ever you prefer. Although baby brine shrimp is the #1 choice preferred food for fry for aquatic hobbyists. From that point on the fry will grow and around 1 month of age, the fry will start to develop their upper fin, which is the most recognizable physical trait on angelfish. Some slight coloration will also be seen, but the true colors will not be visible until 3 months of age. are 3 months of age is usually when angelfish start to look like angelfish and can be sold if you are planning on selling them. Please help support this channel by subscribing and liking this video. It only takes a second. Also let me know if you have any questions. I will be more then happy to answer and assist. Thank you for viewing this video.
hey everyone! i made a better version of this video. you can check it out here!
th-cam.com/video/Q1wjfTLdDfc/w-d-xo.html
MasterAquatics what type anglefish are thows
Interesting video about your Angelfish life cycle Thanks
Nice video! What do you think of hang on back filters? Not too happy with the Top Fin hang on back filter for my new 50 gal . Water still cloudy. Checking my water intake housing to make sure it’s working properly.
Do you still need to keep the air stone on once they are wigglers?
I purchased 3 angel fish when they were in the 3-4 month old stage in 08/23. Fast forward to now, the smallest kept running one off to a corner. Then last week it got really aggressive with it, so I intervened and pulled out the bullied fish (Put it in a different tank…currently it’s roommates with my male betta and they get along just fine). No sooner than I did that, by that evening there was major commotion in my tank with the 2 angel fish. I thought they were fighting, they were locking mouths and flipping tails at each other and the larger one was biting the smaller one’s tail. I rushed to TH-cam to investigate what was happening. Turns out they paired up. Here is where I insert that the fish I removed from the tank was purchased with the female…they were in the same tank at the fish store. But she paired up with the other male that came from a different store (a Dalmatian) and he is the smaller of the 2 others. Over the course of the next couple of days both their breeding tubes showed. The commotion in the tank only happened that night and it didn’t go on for longer than about 15 minutes. She appears to have a belly that’s starting to hold eggs, so I am trying to set the right conditions, considering they share a 55gal with a bristlenose pleco, 3 corys and 1 black skirt tetra. I have a 10 gallon I am prepping for a nursery and the 35 gallon is homing the golden angel fish and male betta.
I love your videos! I just set up my first fry tank today following your suggestions and fingers crossed I'll get to see them mature to full size. You took all the scariness away from attempting this! Thank you!
I love you're angel fish. Thanks for showing them !
your*
This is really helpful. I just bought three new angels last week. They’re only about two inches tall but they seem pretty happy.
Awesome I listen to your video and I’m happy to say my fry I move them because I wanted them not to get eaten by the parents. Simply amazing. I’m happy to say I succeeded, just praying they keep on growing. Thanks so very much. This is why I love TH-cam . Blessings to you for all you do! Wow I’m so excited I can’t denied it!! 💕🙏🏼💯😂😂💯🙏🏼💕
I love watching your videos. I just got started this hobby. So my tank is not great yet. I've lost 5 fish. Me not happy. I love Angels so I will not be getting any until I get my tank settled in. Love how you raised them from eggs to adults. Great job.
Love your videos, because you explain everything step by step. Thanks for all you do I truly appreciate it. Now thanks to you I know what to do! Blessings too you and yours. I pray you start feeling better! 👏💕🙏🏼💯
Thank you for this. Hope you have a good weekend.
Awesome, just had my Angel lay her first eggs so thx for posting this vid!
Two males? That’s not good.
Thank you for your video. Till now, I had no idea what I was doing nor knew how to properly care the Fry. Thanks again.
Dude said “Three to four months years old.” 😂 7:07
hahaha
so i got up in the morning and went to feed my angelfish...........eggs,,eggs,,,EGGS!!! yep i kinda panicked was NOT expecting that at all seeing as they were sold as two females.
drinking my coffee i started to look online as to what if any action to take and came across your channel. i'm fine with it all now ,listened to what you had experienced and your calm approach to the situation made it all ok. thank you for your info,keep up the good work and yes i subscribed and told my friends about you.
Good luck. Females can lay eggs next to each other(they get confused sometimes too), males can do that, but if you get a pair, still be prepared for some early game losses.
Your angelfish were spitting the eggs out it was kind of funny 🤣
Hi, just want to Thankyou for your videos, they've been so helpful for me. I'm currently at the 'wiggler' stage with my angelfish..it's a fun lil journey so far😊
I got comet goldfish and they are still in the eggs
How are they? Good luck, all. I’m working with ~300 maybe ConvictxBlood Parrot hybrid eggs. They’re the 4th batch, they hatch on Sunday(January 11, I believe.)
Thank you for all the information. It has been more informative than anything I've seen.
I have a variety of fish in my 75 gallon.A lot of albino korys as they survived on there own in the 40 gallon and my super extra large Pleco is like grandpa. Since I got the 75 gallon the angel fish are always right there to gobble up the eggs as well as 2 plates,and 3 danios that came with the tank. I bought these 2 angel fish since the move killed the 2 within the first few days. I've had these 2 angels for about 4 months and they have payed eggs on the pick up tube twice now. After 2 days I noticed a white cotton ball look to the last survivors. I am hoping that out of all those eggs, 1 or 2 will survive on their own like the kory Kat's have. This video was much more informative and it's obvious how much you love them. I love my fish like my cat or Dog. My extra large Pleco is like my dog. His name is George and he is my salon mascot @ A Heavenly Hair & Nail Salon LLC on Facebook. Thanks Again!!🤗Valarie Pilling
Good luck.
wow! you are super with all the information, it was really a big help, pls keep up the good work....:-)
I love your top 10 fish that get to extremely big videos
This was your best upload to date, at least for me. I've utterly failed at angelfish breeding in the past, and you've made it painfully obvious why. Well, since I have no shortage of angels in my fish room, hopefully, I'll be blessed with a breeding pair soon and eventually resume my experiment. Currently, my favorite angels are the double dark variety and gold albino.
hey thank you so much for your kind words. hopefully you get a breeding pair going. my pair so far have stopped laying eggs so no babies for now. but im going to be patient and see of they lay eggs in the future.
Thank you so much for making these videos they have been such a huge help to me the last three days. I now have wigglers, although I have had to take the majority of the eggs away from my first time angel parents in genuinely concerned I have upset my fish, I took the eggs away today because they started eating the moving eggs and not spitting them back out, thanks x
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I sort of grew up with my mom having Discus and Altums. Had some Angelfish over the years and even a hatch or two, but wasn't serious about breeding. I have gotten back into it, due to other circumstances. And really enjoy the Blue Philippinos, Red Shoulder Manacapuru and Bulgarian Seal Points. I have a really young pair of RS Manacapuru's that surprised me with eggs. And a day later the Blue Philippinos as well. They are about a year and so far didn't get them to hatch. But have both of them hatch and are about 24 hour old wiggles. They are in a breeder tank, but one has a Hillstream loach I will have to remove. And the other 3 Otos. I will just see and let them try to figure it out. While I do have hobby store owners interested, I am in no rush and just want to learn and enjoy this. I may set up another 20 gallon, just for the babies, as I have for my fancy guppy babies. Thank you so much for the tips and especially for showing what the stages look like. It has been a whole for me😄👍🐟
Thank you for that informative video. I breed angels and this was extremely helpful. 👍
Thanks,so helpful.
Beautiful Angels.
I wish you well.
Yesterday I found free swimmers, i knew mine laid eggs, but was so surprised they actually developed. Hopefully they will grow into beautiful creature
How do u feed them?
being a new hobbyist thanks a lot for the video👍👍
Good luck, amigo.
Thank you for posting this video. I JUST found wigglers in my community tank. I did move MOST of them to a nursery. (The ones I could get) I hope that they make it. They are starting to get eyes. :-D
loved the video!
Great effort mate .
Excellent video!
Thanks! I just had a pair spawn and I've got wrigglers born from what I, and the store/ my friends all thought were 2 males. Oops. Anyhow, I havent intentionally bred them for 15 years and your video was a really nicely done example video of how to raise them. Thanks
Pfft.
I made that mistake too. I bring home two random parrot cichlids, next hour has them pump out over 1000 eggs(I counted with a calculator.). None of them were fertile but blood was pumping through my veins, I was literally going ‘WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUC-SHEITS’ the entire time. If anybody doubts, parrot hybrids do actually lay around 600-2000 eggs, although most don’t hatch or survive.
awesome video i just got a pair after 2 years ive been breeding other species but now i have another pair i got at my LFS and i am excited to get them to breed and you gave me so much help by the way my first pair was from walmart didn't know i picked a pair but that they were staying together needless to say they breed and had over 50 fry that turned into mini angels they layed the eggs on a amazon sword leaf them moved them around the tank at the end i was left with 17 that i gave away then they died so i was surprised because i didn't try but discouraged. So im doing all my research i can i have them in a sweet setup anywho thanks for the video and letting me rant on
Thanks for this it will really help out my fish
love it, thank you
Thank you sooo much for this video it was spot on for what I needed to know. I just last nite noticed the eggs and tonight They started wiggling. So I guess they laid the eggs earlier than I thought. I was considering removing the eggs and the breeding pair from the other fish in the tank, but decided to leave them so as not to upset them as this is their first time. And I wasn’t sure if they were eating the eggs or spitting them out. Which I see from your video that they are just doing what their supposed to. Thank you again now I know what to expect. I’ll watch the other version of the video tonite. 😘
My angelfish have recently laid their 2nd batch of fertilized eggs. 1st batch doing well but due to lack of experience have lost a lot but still have a handful left. I wasn't prepared for the 1st lot so I'm learning as I go. Was more prepared for the 2nd batch which are still wrigglers and no fungal growth on them unlike the 1st batch which I lost a third of the eggs due to fungal growth and dying after free swimming. Have separated both batches into seperate tanks. 1st batch I was feeding them boiled egg yolk for about 3 days because I couldn't get fry food as I can't get brine shrimp where I live. Now I feed them egg yolk mixed with fry powder food. Gradually weaning them off egg yolk to the powder stuff. But they are thriving.
Watching this as my pair have just laid their eggs in a 75 gallon community tank. I’m getting our 39 gallon bow front set up for them today :) Got them as part of the tank along with lots of other fish and I know this first batch is probably gonna be fish food.. I’m actually treating the tank for ich right now so I’m surprised that they decided now was the time for eggs.
This was neat to watch
Had a pair of blue marble angelfish...hope they will successfully breed soon..!
Great video bro❤️❤️
Awesome it will help us a lot thank you
So cool 💖💖💖
Wow I wish my platy and molly cared about their babes just like this 😂😍
Livebearers have about 1-300 fry per spawn(every month or two). Their fry are born ready to survive, the parents don’t need to care. Also, the parents need to eat, and too many fry means that overpopulation is a thing. They need to remove the weak to allow the strong to have adequate resources to grow up and pass on superior genes.
Tl,dr: they don’t need to care, unlike these specific types of broody fish.
Wow they are keeping their babies safe
My angel fish just put out the same amount of eggs. I'm honestly so excited to see how they come. It's gonna be cute haha 🙏♥️
Did they hatch??
@@g12iranrehanna72 nope I have no clue why
Paired angels? It might be the angelfish just being inexperienced, or it could be one of the parents’ problems.
@@Nemesis0513 Well whatever it is‚ the next day the eggs weren't there. And there weren't any babies either. I am so worried but maybe it's a nature thing where the parent protects the eggs somehow?
@@san-qy5vs
I had a similar situation where there were eggs, and some were white, some translucent, but they disappeared at some point.
I actually thought the first time it was some kind of parasite and was starting to wipe them off the heater, until I decided I should look it up, and realized they were eggs.😉
I read that it could actually be two females I had, so they would never get fertilized, so I was wondering about that being a possibility, until probably a few batches later, when I saw a cloud of free swimmers. At first I was wondering what they were, as I thought they would look like tiny angelfish rather than translucent sperm with eyes.
I guess it just takes a few tries for them to get the knack off it.
Very useful keep going ❤️
Excellent.
i LOVE THIS
Very nice.
thanks reggie
Thank you for this video, it was very helpful. I have eggs that are starting the wiggler stage, which is are 3rd attempt...we'll see if they are healthy in a few more days. Thank you again
Ty I'm starting my first brood of angelfish
:)) Very Cool !! TFS.
I've kept fish for years and recently bought a green here in Singapore. So beautiful. I've never had luck keeping them in multiples. Tried buying six babies, they just attacked each other all the time...
Hay thanks for the great video my Angeles just laid😀 is covering the tank a good idea
I am on my 1st try, my fry are at the wiggler stage. tanks for your videos , wish me luck, thanks again Mel
Mine are wriggling as well. Scared to pull them out, scared to leave them.
Good luck, you two. Wriggler stage only lasts a week, after which they start swimming and your job is slightly easier(or harder, dunno). You can leave them with the parents for up to a month and a half after hatching, when the parents need to lay again and chase the fry off. Try to get them out by the 3 week mark.
Thanks for that
This video was super helpful cause my angel fish I had them for a long time finally they made eggs 😄
Congratulations
Made or laid? I must know.
I hope you don't mind me asking questions but I feel like you're an expert on angel fish so you're the best person to ask, I don't have any plant-based deco in my tank for the angel fish it's mostly just ornaments do you suggest that I get plants for them?
Thanks for a very informative video. Finally gave my breeding pair their own 29 gallon tank. Hopefully I will be a Dad again!!!! When do you recommend starting a brine shrimp culture? Do the fry foods also work?
hi there. thank you for the support. i usually start my baby brine on the 4th or 5th day after the angels lay eggs.
At what age do they start breeding? Gorgeous fish. Thank you, I can’t wait for my 1st angels!
Angler Fish : NOT MY EGG WHY ARE THEY FALLING?!
I got little frys rn, almost free swimming !
Thanks for the info !! Very helpful How often do pairs lay eggs ?
Nice videos. Please comment more about how and how often to do water changes AND how much and often to feed. This is in regards to fry. Thanks.
Weekly change or twice a month, 10-25% water change. Try to keep the temperature even during that. Feeding is daily, just enough so that you can see every angelfish going at the food. Food should be either a squirt of live microfood or fine powder like food, which includes flakes, soft pellets, and egg yolk.
oh that angel fish life cycle is interesting
True
Almost all broody fish (fish that raise their young) go something like that. Mouthbrooders do the same, except they have bigger, tougher eggs that they keep in their mouth all during the egg- wriggler stage.
Great video, so much helpful information. I have a massive tank and two of my angels started breeding forcing me to move all there friends to another set up. Separated there forst lot and now have a good 50+ month old babies who are going great and finally looking like angelfish. So excited
mum and dad on there 3rd round but second successful set of babies. Will they stop laying eggs of you keep them with there fresh fry?
Hi orange angels wow now seeing the adults with wigglers di they eat some or looks like spitting them back in place. Can you show us your close up females vs your males im still having trouble with that. Excellent vidio
Great video, brother! I think that you've turned me onto trying to raise Angel Fish now.
One thing, you didn't explain why, when they're newborns, the adults seem to either eat them or suck then into their mouths and spit them back out.
Also, on a smaller, sort of humorous note, at approx 7:08 in this video, it sounded like you may have said, "these fish are about 3 to 4 months years old". Otherwise, awesome video, man. And, thanks.
Our eggs are only two days old. Left most in the community tank and thier Mom ate them all. I left most eggs with parents because I was afraid they would become discouraged and not lay eggs again. Lol ,I'm learning.
Thats so cute how the parents helped their babies, i thought they'd eat them.
Some do, some don’t. Depends on the parents. Mine are okay parents until it’s the first feeding time, then shit hits the fan.
Love you buddy your gonna be okay
thanks
Looking for some advice QUICK! my two largest angels have just paired off but the problem is the have laid they're first batch of eggs on the side of my internal filter. I've removed the unfertilised eggs as they are due to hatch soon would it be best for me to put the fish in a hatchery once they become free swimming???
I just found wigglers today in my tank....we love our fish so much and this helped. I hope they live....Do you think that removing the eggs will socially harm the parents. I thought they were eating them, so I removed them. I hope they are okay.....thanks for uploading this...was great to watch!!
Oh babies are safe in their own tank....let you know if they live.
Hi. It will stress them out a little bit, but they will be fine. They will forget they laid the eggs a few minutes after and lay eggs again a week later.
It will not harm the parents, because they breed every half a month. If you raise the fry with the parents, the fry will become more adept at raising their own fry, apparently. So yes, the fry get socially influenced by the presence of a parent fish.
Mine won't stop laying egg's and I always have a ton of fry, and it was completely accidental, . Super Cool though !!!
I just today have Angel eggs for the first time. Your video was very helpful. My tank is at 76° but you said it needs to be at 80°. Also, I have other Angels and gouramis. What are the chances of any of mine surviving?
Hi, I have angel fry that are about 1 week or below I just noticed it today since I had removed my 2 adult angel from that tank and I was surprised to see so many fry today so happy and excited at the same time... This tank where the fry are is 1500 liters so I'm not sure how to change the water 🌊 to keep it clean? Any suggestions please?
I had surgery just over a month ago so my tank hasn't been cleaned since just before that and last night my angel fish paired up and laid and fertilized eggs! I'm so excited, but I have other types of fish in my tank. I'm going to get a divider but my question is, once they start swimming on their own do I need to separate them from their parents as well as the other fish so they aren't eaten or will their parents not eat them?
I used to breed these and once they get going, you better find some extra tanks 😅
How long does it take them to take their final color my babies are about 3 months old they have black stripes one is kinda silver looking and the other has yellow and pink tints to it. Mum is blue and dad is black do they take after the parents or could they just be random colors ?I also have a second brood of them and they are turning out the same . I have some that are only a quarter of the size of the same cluster of eggs can fish make runts are they likely to survive? They are 1 1/2 months old they still eat and stuff but don't seam to be growing at the same rate as the others
I have my first successful fry batch. Took them from the parents as freshly laid eggs n kept em in a fry net in the tank til wiggler stage. They are now in a small 1.5 gallon tank alone n have been eating for almost 2 1/2 weeks now. They are getting big quick. Been feeding hikari first bites with powdered freeze dried daphnia n blood worms mixture i make myself... Seems to be working great. Daily cleanings n water changes are a must.... Cant slack on any one thing or it could be disasterous. Any tips woyld be appreciated. Ive got a 5 gallon n a 10 gallon cycled n waiting.
I keep my angel at 70 degrees and he or she is doing realy good
That’s fine. Angelfish survived winters in the wild, they can take that.
I just love your angels that's how I want my 75 gallon to look like and I have a good question for you on a 75 gallon fish tank that has a few plants in it they're not sharp or pokey plants except for one little tiny one I have how many angelfish can I keep in that tank if I had six Patty sunburst fishes
Thanks for the advice and Can I ask how many of the babies survived as I am getting some angles and want ta breed them
You usually get a 90-0% survival rate, but I’m assuming he got around 150 out of 300. That’s a 50%, although he could have sold off the rest.
I have a community tank and they layed it on the wall they randomly got pregnant
Great video thank you! God's creation is awesome!
thank you
Thank you so much for this video. I noticed some eggs on my tank the other day and had no idea what was going on. I found your video after I thought my fish eggs were dead. Good to know they are still alive. What can I do with the hundreds of fish after they hatch? I’m not a fish breeder just have a tank I love to watch.
The parents eventually eat the fry to breed again, but you could sell them for a bit of cash to a store.
@@Nemesis0513 is that always the case or is it dependent on the parent's characteristics? The ones I have are morsel sized now, so if they eat them I would think they would have already.
@@wingerrrrrrrrr I’ve seen some cichlid parents care for their fry upward of two months, but domesticated fish usually aren’t as good at parenting due to separation from their parents. While some parents may be good to their young, others will tear them apart. Mine were shitty parents, I’ve seen lots of shitty parenting from cichlids, but I’ve currently got a pair of convict... hybrids, I guess? sitting on some fry, they herd them around the tank and chase of other fish. So... some are good parents. Others, not so much.
i have bought 4 angels from a fish store. i would say they were about 3-4 months (quarter size) from looking at the ones you had. i put them in my 75 gallon tank with my other adult angel. anyways, all 4 of them died... and idk why.. it was like literally one after the other. my adult angel did not seem to be aggressive with them. actually quite the opposite. my water conditions are perfect according to the test strip from the store. my water temp is 79 degrees... i am not sure what i am doing wrong? I really want to raise an angel fish tank. if you dont mind giving me advice?
Another Q? Just had another spawning. A few white eggs became many many more. Were these fungused, or just not fertilized? Last batch had a few wigglers, so I know that there are a M and F. Your thoughts?
Steve Finestone white eggs are caused by many things. could be water quality. could be unfertilized. a lot of factors come into play. i would try hatching them on my own.
MY ANGELFISH LAID EGGS LAST NIGHT AND I'M FREAKING OUT.
Good luck
@@seanb3027 she ate them. Phew.
Thank you for the info We are going to try and raise them when do you take the pair out And when can she start relaying again
If you want a more social fry batch, remove the parents when they start to develop a rudimentary color scheme(around 3 weeks to 5 weeks), but artificial is after about 30 hours to ensure that the eggs are viable. She will lay again after 1 1/2 to 5 weeks depending on the situation.
Hey should I move them to a different tank? I have other fish in there with my angels in their wiggle half egg size?
Great info, we have two angel fish but not sure if they are male or female. Also I wonder if angelfish had a growth spurt where one eats more than the other
Their growth spurt is usually during the quarter size, or about 2 months of age. They’ll put on size quicker during that time. But yes, food and dominance affects growth.
So I have a 75 gallon how much water change should I do a week an also is flaky food crashed up ok for them instead of brim?
Thanks for the video. My pair of angel fish is hatching their eggs for the third round now. The first round was in late March 2017; their fry swam freely for 3 days then all disappeared. Six weeks later, a new batch of fry swam freely for 2 days, then most of them disappeared except 12 survived, the day after they were all gone. Then 2 weeks later (May 31, 2017) I saw many many eggs again. Today (June 03) they are wigglers. I am sure they will soon become free-swimming fry. But I am afraid they will all disappear just like the previous two times. I already did everything I learned from the internet: keep the parents and fry separate from other fish by using the tank divider and fed the fry with baby brine shrimp. I didn't try to change water every day as suggested in one of the comments of this video (because I thought I should not change the environment when babies are in the making). Is it the only thing I should do differently this time (changing water)? My tank is 50 gal and currently there are only 7 fish + hundreds of wigglers. Any advice would greatly appreciated. *Honestly sometimes I thought I should just by some adult angel fish because it's cheaper than buying brine shrimp, the tank divider, and some other accessories for the fry. But I really wish to have some survivors this time to satisfy my hobby. Thanks for reading.
Thu Do as
If you want to get serious, Hager them their own tank, see if the fry disappear. If not, then it was the other fish. If they still disappear, it’s the parents and the water quality.
Subscribed ! I just found your video because I realized my angel fish had babies. They're swimmers right now. The angel fish was sucking them into her mouth, I thought you was eating them, but then she would cruise over to a plant and spit them out in the plant. Also, I've never seen this before but the last couple times I used my magnet to clean the glass, two of my angels went ballistic and started attacking the magnet. now I think they were doing it because they were protecting their young. ?
That's exactly what I'm seeing, down to the magnet attacking. I'm trying to find out just what's going on with that. I'm thinking it's a cleaning process at this point.
The first batch they had, I unfortunately thought she was eating them, and I went and removed all the babies to another tank, but without the proper cleaning maintenance, they got trapped in algae and all 67 expired. 😕
I know now to leave them alone, as mother knows best.
Should I put them on a incubator/tumbler?
hello, can you leave the fish fry in the same tank as the parents? the eggs laid were very un-expected and I was not prepared with another tank.
I setup tank and went tour I'm surprised by seeing fry after returning from tour
6:15 best sunnies
I have a pair of Koi Orange Head Angelfish that are fairly large. After about 1.5 months in a community tank - they laid eggs...I wasn't expecting it...but now, I am raising them. I have "wigglers" and they are about 4 days hatched. My question is, will I automatically get the same color angelfish, seeing both parents were the same kind, or do angelfish have other genes that could change the babies into mixed types?
I have a tank with two angelfish parents and free swimming fry, and I was trying to find out about this parental behavior I'm seeing-
The parents, mostly the mother, snaps up the babies all swimming around, 5 or 6 at a time, and takes them back to the leaf where they originally laid the eggs, and releases them there, apparently unharmed, and in the same number, I assume. Can't tell for sure as it's hard to count how many she snapped up and how many get released.
She did this before when they were eggs, and it was interesting to see how they just stick back on, like they were Velcro. What allows the eggs to immediately stick back on the leaves?
Anyway, the free swimming fry don't stick, and they just swim off again, so it seems like a futile effort if it's supposed to corral then and keep them safe, if it were in a tank with other fish looking for a meal.
The babies have no sense of self preservation, it seems- they just swim fully out in the open at the top with no attempt to hide. Maybe they know they're safe from the two big fish, because they recognize mom and dad, but it's very different from baby guppies, who avoid bigger fish getting too near.
Is this a cleaning action that the parents are doing, or do I just have an odd pair of angelfish that like the sport of catch and release?