# Angelfish eggs do not stick on vertical surface



## dmaobc (Apr 24, 2010)

My angelfish spawned several time. The female laid eggs on pumphead or plant leaves. However, the eggs can not stick on the surface. They falled by themselves or when the male tried to fertilize them. The eggs eventually ended in gravel or were eaten by parents or other fish in the tank. Is there anything that I can do to help them ? Any suggestions are highly appreciated.


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

I have seen people with angels who use a flat horizontal area to lay, but without the sticky part , as u say, the fertilization part would be hard. what do you feed them? could something in their diet be lacking? is this a young pair? maybe laying but reproduction system not quite finished developing? i've had several breeding pairs and not run into this. good luck. will follow thread to hear feed back. interesting to see if others have had the same experience


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## dmaobc (Apr 24, 2010)

Thank you for your comments, onefishtwofish. I raise the pair from small ones (1-1.5"). They grow to 2.5-3' in a year. I usually feed them flake food with weekly or biweekly bloodworm or brine shrimp treats. Maybe the reproduction system is not ready yet as you said. I will make flat horizontal surface and see what happen. Any other thoughts are welcomed.


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## Master wilkins (Dec 10, 2012)

I agree, they are still young, give them time to figure it out and eventually it will happen.


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## shady280 (Oct 17, 2011)

try a clay pot, its surface is better than plant leaves. gives them many angles to try. you can also make a pvc one too.


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## dmaobc (Apr 24, 2010)

The female spawned again on surface of a vertical plastic tube. Some eggs sticked on the surface. Some falled. The female spawned from bottom up and did not realize that all eggs were eaten by the following male. Because the male was below the female in position, the female did not know all eggs were gone but found nothing on the tube. This occurred all the times during the spawning. The male seems have no intention to fertilize the eggs. What happen to the pair ? Has anyone had similar experience ?


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## Reptiles&Fish (Apr 22, 2012)

Sounds like they may just be hungry? If you are only feeding weekly that could be it as they are growing pretty slowly. My angels had the same growth rate of yours and a bit bigger in less then three months instead of a year, but I feed mine daily. Also when mine have laid the others never eat up the eggs as they are always full I"m sure.

Same with african cichlids, I've had them where I fed them less and eggs would last a day, fed them more and had fry in no time.

Also do you ever notice any aggression between them lately? Maybe fin nipping? Chasing?


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## dmaobc (Apr 24, 2010)

Thanks for the comments. I feed them daily. They used to chase another female which I relocated to another tank. They are quite peaceful and have not shown aggression between them. Maybe I should feed and change water more frequently.


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

nice fresh water changes a full tummy some privacy will make for good breeding environment, also it is not unheard of for 2 females to bond and try and breed.


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## dmaobc (Apr 24, 2010)

Both are female. The one "fertilizing" eggs is not chased by the female. The faked female actually also laid eggs while "fertilizing". Thank onefishtwofish's reminding. Mystery solved.


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## gabriel_bc (Dec 1, 2012)

I have a mature angel that I know is male - if you're interested in swapping him one for one of your females let me know. He's marble/half black.


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## dmaobc (Apr 24, 2010)

PM just sent. Please check.


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