An angelfish pair have been spawning frequently in my community tank but
seem to be learning as they go. I got them both as small juveniles
but had a hunch they were a male/female - I'm no expert but they just
seemed slightly different so I went with that - and I now have proof
several times over ;-)

This time around I left for the weekend away with loads of wrigglers on
the leaf. Today I got home and I have a cloud of baby angelfish
swimming around one end of the tank, protected by the parents. I now
suspect the parents are the culprits behind the plants being uprooted at
that end, to give less hiding places for the other inhabitants to sneak
up on the babies.

I've a batch of brine shrimp I've put in, but the babies show no
interest in them at all (the other fish adore them). I guess I might
have 30-40+ in there, which will present me with a problem later when it
comes to finding homes for them. The tank isn't big enough to house
more than one pair in a community set-up, nor two pairs in
dedicated-to-angels-mode. That's the reason they're still in the
community tank taking their chances, I know if I get my q-tank up and
running and put them in there, they'll a) soon outgrow it, and b) not be
subject to some vague sort of natural selection to limit the numbers.

If there's anyone in the Surrey area (UK) that might like to take them
off my hands (free) post a reply here, and I'll post once they're a bit
bigger (if they make it) with colour/patterns etc.

It's really very exciting! I can't wait to see what the offspring look
like - one parent is a silver/black marbledish sort-of-veil-tail, and
the other is a silver with deep golden tint over the top/tail, fading as
it gets lower, and light iridescent blue on his long trailing fins (I
can't remember the technical names right now, sorry).

Velvet