Monday, December 3, 2012

How an Angel Begins

This week, I'll give you a quick series about how angelfish are born and how they develop. It's pretty fascinating!

Freshwater angelfish are egg-bearing. They lay their eggs on a vertical surface, such as an amazon leaf (which is why I have amazon plants in each of my tanks) or a piece of slate laid against the glass, or even on the glass itself.

I've had several couples lay eggs on the filter intake. It seems to be a popular place!

They can lay eggs every two weeks or so. They lay anywhere from 300 to 500 at a time. I've come to learn that the reason so many are laid in such rapid intervals is very few survive.

The female lays the eggs and then the male follows behind and fertilizes them.

Tomorrow: what happens when they hatch.