Dwarf Angels? Viable for Hobbyists?

[Jacked Reefer]

I have seen some aquacultured dwarf (and large, just maily interested in dwarf atm) angelfish species and was wondering the viability of a regular old hobbyist wanting to breed these splendid fish. As far as im understanding getting them to spawn is fairly simple but collecting and raising the fry is the difficult part. As I understand their eggs float so wouldn't a surface mesh with a smaller micron than the eggs (or even just a weir blocking the surface of the water) Make it possible to collect the eggs? Also I have heard some success of using smaller copepods to feed the fry for the first few weeks of their life cycle. Is the lack of breeding efforts just the effect of the lack or caring, trying, or knowledge? or is it really too difficult for the every day joe to attempt.
Thanks for the feedback and advice.

Kayden

 

[Gareth elliott]

I have seen some aquacultured dwarf (and large, just maily interested in dwarf atm) angelfish species and was wondering the viability of a regular old hobbyist wanting to breed these splendid fish. As far as im understanding getting them to spawn is fairly simple but collecting and raising the fry is the difficult part. As I understand their eggs float so wouldn't a surface mesh with a smaller micron than the eggs (or even just a weir blocking the surface of the water) Make it possible to collect the eggs? Also I have heard some success of using smaller copepods to feed the fry for the first few weeks of their life cycle. Is the lack of breeding efforts just the effect of the lack or caring, trying, or knowledge? or is it really too difficult for the every day joe to attempt.
Thanks for the feedback and advice.

Kayden

A large factor in breeding at a hobbyist level is going to be the lack of outward signs of gender. Add the fact these fish are incredibly aggressive to conspecifics. As an example i have a pygmy yellow tail in my tank right now. Known to be aggressive to almost any fish that is similar, and can kill even a tang it doesnt take a liking too.

If you were to attempt this i would start with either a truly bonded pair to start or flame angels that have at least some sexual dimorphism. There are some links on doing this.

 

[sabeypets]

"Is the lack of breeding efforts just the effect of the lack or caring, trying, or knowledge? or is it really too difficult for the every day joe to attempt. "
all 4... they are difficult, there are only a handful of us hobbyists working with species other than clownfish. Knowledge has been lacking in the past. Copepods used for first foods were inaccessible to hobbyists. That has all recently changed. information is now readily available, proper copepods are accessible, hobbyists just need to make it happen now. Kathy Leahy is a hobbyist and was the first to raise the coral beauty (and the only hobbyist to date to raise marine angelfish). She has spoke at the MBI and Also MACNA. You can find more information on the Marine Breeders Initiative (MBI) web page.

 

[Jacked Reefer]

A large factor in breeding at a hobbyist level is going to be the lack of outward signs of gender. Add the fact these fish are incredibly aggressive to conspecifics. As an example i have a pygmy yellow tail in my tank right now. Known to be aggressive to almost any fish that is similar, and can kill even a tang it doesnt take a liking too.

If you were to attempt this i would start with either a truly bonded pair to start or flame angels that have at least some sexual dimorphism. There are some links on doing this.

Yes I have heard it can be difficult. But it does happen fairly often. I have seen multiple threads on here where people have multiple of the same species of angel in their DT's. And some have even seen them breeding. But I have yet to date seen anyone attempting to collect or raise the fry. I may be considering doing this in the very near future (after i get my DT up) and am actually plotting out a game plan. I would probably start with flames as you said (they are actually one of my favorite fish too). If there is any interest in posting my idea let me know.

"Is the lack of breeding efforts just the effect of the lack or caring, trying, or knowledge? or is it really too difficult for the every day joe to attempt. "
all 4... they are difficult, there are only a handful of us hobbyists working with species other than clownfish. Knowledge has been lacking in the past. Copepods used for first foods were inaccessible to hobbyists. That has all recently changed. information is now readily available, proper copepods are accessible, hobbyists just need to make it happen now. Kathy Leahy is a hobbyist and was the first to raise the coral beauty (and the only hobbyist to date to raise marine angelfish). She has spoke at the MBI and Also MACNA. You can find more information on the Marine Breeders Initiative (MBI) web page.

I did read some old scientific papers where they use copepod nauplii to raise fry for even pygmy species. And some retailers have these for sale now instead of the difficult culture process. And Im really surprised that only one hobbyist has successfully raised angels, I was thinking in the more 5-6 range with all the new tech we have. I may possibly just jump in and try this in the near future so i'll go take a look at the MBI page

 

[sabeypets]

There are several hobbyists working on angelfish including myself, Chad Vossen of Vossen Aquatics is one of them and one you can follow on Facebook (he occasionally posts here). Your right, the days of intensive live foods culturing are fading fast. I always recommend supporting local retailers but live foods can also be bought directly from Reef Nutrition and Algen.

 

[Jacked Reefer]

There are several hobbyists working on angelfish including myself, Chad Vossen of Vossen Aquatics is one of them and one you can follow on Facebook (he occasionally posts here). Your right, the days of intensive live foods culturing are fading fast. I always recommend supporting local retailers but live foods can also be bought directly from Reef Nutrition and Algen.

Thanks! Do you minds sharing the process you are using to breed them? (Whether it be on this thread or over pm) I really do hope more hobbies take on species that are more difficult to raise because of the availability of food sources, maybe one day the marine hobbiest captive breeeding scene can be as big as the freshwater side