Starting to breed angels

[dataz722]

Hi, I am going to be getting a 55 gallon tank and i want to breed angels in it. Ive done some reading about it and it seems like it would be ok for that size but i have some more questions that i couldnt find any where. 1) How many angels would i be able to keep in a tank that size and would they all have to be the same kind or can you breed different kinds in the same tank? 2) Do angels eat their fry? I havnt read anything that say that they do but i havnt read anything that says that they dont either. 3) Would i need a seperate breeding tank for the fry or would they be alright in the same tank? 4) What other fish would be best to keep in there that would be able to get along with the angels and their fry? 5) What kind of filtration would i need? Would a good empire power filter be enough or do i need a canister or a wet-dry? 6) What else would need to be in the tank as far as plant or rocks or anything else? 7) And finaly what should the water chemistry be like as far as temp and ph?

Thanks for any help!!!!:FS

[aquak]

Before you do anything else, you will need to have your tank good and cycled. That will most likely take 6 weeks or more. You can keep one angelfish for every 10 gallons, but if you want to breed them you will only want one pair because they will otherwise fight over territory and may eat each others eggs. In my tank, the eggs were abandoned whenever the lights went out. I only had success when I left the lights on until after I'd removed the eggs, which I did when they started to wiggle. (I don't recommend this, but it's what I did.) The only fish you can probably safely include with them are corydoras, but even these might "vacuum" the fry up from the bottom of the tank. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't eat the eggs. The parents take good care of the eggs and fry, but probably should be separated after the fry are free swimming because you need to have different conditions for the fry than you will likely want to have in a 55 gallon. The bottom needs to be bare because the fry get stuck in gravel, and the best filtration is a sponge filter so they don't get sucked up. This means cleaning the bottom of the tank once or twice a day with a syringe. This is quite a job, even in a small tank. Small snails are good additions. They eat up leftover fry food and dead fry. You need a canister filter rated for at least 75 gallons for a 55 gallon tank. (That is, one that is rated for at least one and a half times the actual size of the tank.) Angelfish do not discriminate by color and any male and female will breed if conditions are right. They like a neutral (7.0) ph and plants. If you have a broad leaf plant, such as anubias, they will lay their eggs on one of the leaves after carfully cleaning it. You can also just let them breed in the 55 community and let nature take it's course, which is what I'm going to do if I ever have a pair breeding again. It's a lot of time-consuming work otherwise. Most smaller fish won't bother the eggs, but might eat the fry if they get a chance. The parents can usually fend off any but the larger fish, such as a large pleco.