Growing Angels

I've come to the conclusion that angelfish lay eggs every two to three weeks and lay around 300 eggs because very few of the eggs will actually result in angelfish that grow to adulthood.

But with the last two batches (both in the same honeymoon suite) I tried an experiment. Rather than change the water when the fish were less than two weeks old, I let it go. The result is that I have more angel babies surviving to the ripe old age (so far) of three weeks old.



So this weekend I will change the water - around 25% - because there is algae growing in the tank now. Algae is not harmful to fish unless it begins to completely take over the tank. However, it is unsightly.

Part of the reason for the algae outbreak is the fact that I feed the babies brine shrimp at least twice a day. The brine shrimp pollutes the water. However, because brine shrimp must hatch in saltwater, I am constantly adding that water to the tank - and the salt is also helpful in growing strong angelfish.

One reason Lindsay Buckingfish and Stevie Fishnick may have laid more eggs when they already had babies to care for is the plethora of brine shrimp in the tank. When food is plentiful, they are more likely to lay eggs.