Getting rid of angelfish fry

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 2.5
• PO4: 2
• Iron:
• Dosing: 20 mL Excel, 10 mL Flourish, 0.6 ppm PO4, 7.5 ppm NO3 (3.75 ppm NO3 yesterday)
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 71.25:4.8 = 14.8

Notes:
Finally rounded up most of the angelfish fry and got rid of them at a LFS. At least two of them are still in the tank, too quick for me to catch. I finally noticed yesterday that the CO2 levels had run down to little over 500 psi, so that that too much CO2 was bubbling into the tank because the pressure had changed. I had been wondering why the fish had been gasping, but I thought it had something to do with all the angelfish fry crowding the tank. I don't know how long the CO2 had been running out, probably at least for a week, and now I'm not sure if the extra CO2 had anything to do with the abnormal nitrate usage, versus all the extra ammonia/fish waste from the angelfish fry.

The tank is a mess, with scraggly plants and green algae growing all over the place. Yesterday, while rounding up the fry, I uprooted half the plants so that I could get at the fry, which caused a green water outbreak for a day. But it seems to have cleared up, probably due to the Excel. It will probably take several weeks to get the tank to recover. Well, I had fun raising the angelfish fry, but I'm definitely glad to get rid of them!

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 15 mL Excel, 7.5 ppm NO3 (yesterday), 7.5 ppm NO3, 1 ppm PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 60:4.2 = 14.3

Notes:

Nitrates being sucked up

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:6
• GH: 11
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 0
• PO4: 2
• Iron:
• Dosing: 15 mL Excel, 10 mL Flourish, 15 ppm NO3, 0.8 ppm PO4 morning, 15 ppm NO3 evening.
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 45:3.2 = 14
  

Notes:
This morning, there were more brown patches on the java fern, and the baby tears looked browner. Checked nitrates, it was zero already! I don't know why the nitrates are being used so quickly. I added 15 ppm NO3. This evening, I tested again: 2.5 ppm. Added another 15 ppm NO3. Perhaps it has something to do with all the extra angelfish fry in the tank. The plants have been looking greener (less red) lately as well.

Brown patches probably due to nitrogen shortage

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 25 ml Excel, 15 ppm NO3, 2.5 ppm PO4, 1 tsp MgSO4, 2 tsp CaSO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 15:2.4 = 6.25

Notes:
The angelfish fry weren't growing as fast as I liked, so I released them into the main tank, where I hope they'll hurry up and get large enough for me to get rid of them to a local fish store. With all the extra fish, it's becoming harder to keep the green alge from growing. The angelfish pair laid eggs yesterday.

During the water change, I noticed that there were black patches on the leaves of the java fern, so it seems like there was a shortage of nitrogen, rather than potassium, and that also caused the brown patches in the stargrass and baby tears. Unfortunately, I didn't bother to measure the nitrates this week to verify this is the case. I tore out the stargrass and replanted the green cuttings. On the other hand, the R. indica seems to enjoy the lower nitrate levels and grew quickly this week.

50% water change:
20 mL Amquel+
2.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp MgSO4
2 tsp CaSO4
15 ppm NO3
2.4 ppm PO4
25 mL Excel

Cleaned AquaClear filter today.

Brown patches in stargrass and baby tears

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 25 mL Excel, 10 mL Flourish, 7.5 ppm NO3, 0.8 ppm PO4, 5 ppm Flourish K, (3.75 ppm NO3 yesterday, approx 2.4 ppm K)
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 30:3.6 = 8.3

Notes:
Starting yesterday, I noticed brown patches on the stargrass and baby tear leaves. It's amazing how quickly a defiency can show up. I had dosed less N/P during the water change, but there were no brown patches on the java fern that develop with too low N, so perhaps there is a shortage of potassium. Yesterday, I added extra KNO3 (3.75 ppm NO3), and today, I added 5 ppm Flourish K (along with the usual scheduled KNO3) to see if that helps.

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 25 mL Excel, 10 mL Flourish, 7.5 ppm NO3, 1 ppm PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 18.75:2.8 = 6.7

Notes:

Tops of A. senegalensis recovering

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 25 mL Excel, 11.25 ppm NO3, 1.8 ppm PO4, 1 tsp MgSO4, 2 tsp CaSO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 11.25:1.8 = 6.25

Notes:
50% water change:
25 mL Amquel+
25 mL Excel
2.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp MgSO4
2 tsp CaSO4
11.25 ppm NO3
1.8 ppm PO4

The tops of the A. senegalensis have stopped dwarfing/burning this past week. Perhaps there was too much Mg being added? The two little angelfish fry that I accidentally had let escape are doing well in the main tank. They seem to be scrounging successfully for food, whatever it is. The other angelfish have reluctantly been weaned onto crumbled fish flakes, today is the last brine shrimp feeding. No more hatching new batches of brine shrimp, yeah! This batch of fry have not been growing as quickly as the last batch, probably because there are so many more fry crowded in the fry cages.

Shrimp poo

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3: 2.5
• PO4: 2
• Iron:
• Dosing: 25 mL Excel, 10 mL Flourish, 7.5 ppm NO3, 0.8 ppm PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 30:3.6 = 8.3

Notes:
Slowly, the number of fry for the latest angelfish spawning had decreased until they disappeared this afternoon (day 4). It seems that the mother is inexperienced at taking care of the fry, and often would cause the fry to fly off the leaf when she would aggressively chase the male off. The juvenile angelfish seemed to enjoy eating the fry, though.

When I vaccuumed the gravel during water changes, I would often notice a bunch of this uniform, short brown pieces about the size and shape of a "-" getting vaccuumed up. I finally figured out what it was today when I saw a shrimp exrete some poo: it was that same brown piece!

Angelfish fry notes

• pH:
• Temp: 80
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 10 mL Flourish, 25 mL Excel, 7.5 ppm NO3, 1 ppm PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 22.5:2.8 = 8

Notes:
Day two of the angelfish's spawning, and eggs have sprouted wriggling tails. The female angelfish moved the wrigglers to another leaf, but only after she would try to spit the eggs onto the walls of the fry cages, over and over and over again. After watching her try this 20 or so times, I moved the cage away from her so she would use another target, another amazon leaf in this case.

In the beginning the angelfish pair would eat their eggs, and the eggs which wouldn't last more than 2 days, but with each spawning, they are getting better and better. This is the farthest they have gotten so far in terms of caring for their eggs.

I have two small fry that I accidentally let loose into the main tank several days ago, and they pop into view every so often. They're too quick, though, for me to net them. It's still early, but I'm surprised that they're still alive, I'm not sure if they are feeding on something in the tank.

Juvenile angelfish decimating ostracods

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 25 mL Excel, 10 mL Flourish
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio:

Notes:

You can see the four fry tanks floating on top. The angelfishes' eggs can be seen on the right most leaf of the kleiner bar sword plant. You can even spot a couple of the juvenile angelfish in the bottom left of the tank.

The juvenile angelfish have done a great job in decimating the ostracod population. I can barely see any of them swimming around anymore. They are mostly hiding in the gravel and deep in the hairgrass.

Weaning the angelfish fry

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 25 mL Excel, 12.5 ppm NO3, 1.8 ppm PO4, 1 tsp MgSO4, 2 tsp CaSO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 12.5:1.8 = 6.9

Notes:
50% water change:
25 mL Amquel+
25 mL Excel
2.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp MgSO4
2 tsp CaSO4
12.5 ppm NO3
1.8 ppm PO4

I bought a couple more of the breeding cages and split the quickly growing angelfish fry into the four breeding cages. Yesterday, I began weaning them off the brine shrimp, introducing finely crumbled fish flakes and feeding them brine shrimp only once a day, instead of the usual twice a day. It looks like they are slowly eating the flakes. The angelfish pair spawned today after the water change.

Although there is a lot less green dust algae building up on the tank walls, there is some sort of green dust like algae growing on the plant leaves, possibly due to the increased fish waste output from the many fry. I'll probably up the Excel dosage for a while until I get rid of the fish fry. I'll also keep the ratio of phosphates to nitrates dosing higher to try to suppress the green algae.

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH: 13
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 15 mL Excel, 10 mL Flourish, 5 ppm NO3, 0.8 ppm PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 27.5:3.6 = 7.6

Notes:
GH is a little higher than I was expecting. The tops of some of the A. senegalensis are curling a bit.

Angelfish baby pics

Day 0

The angelfish pair will select a flat surface, e.g. a sword plant leaf, or the filter intake tube, or the tank wall, and clean it in preparation for the spawning. They will drive away any other fish in the tank from this area. You will see the papilla, or the breeding tubes emerge from both fish in front of their anal fins. The female's papilla will be larger and more blunt. The male's papilla will be smaller and pointier. When satisfied that the flat surface is ready, the female will brush against the flat surface with her papilla, laying her eggs in rows. The male will follow her, fertilizing the eggs. This will usually take a couple hours.

The following schedule of development occurs at 80-84 degrees. At lower temperatures, the rate of development will be slower.

The eggs are transluscent with a yellowish tint. On Day 1, you will see some eggs turn white. These are infertile or dead eggs. Both angelfish will tend to the eggs, keeping them clean of fungus and removing dead eggs if possible.

Day 2

On day 2, the eggs will sprout wriggling tails. At this point, my angelfish usually will try to move the wrigglers to another leaf. The wrigglers usually will stick to the flat surface, but many times, they wriggle so energetically that they fall off, and the angelfish will comically try to pick up the eggs and spit them over and over and over again back on to the surface until they finally stay put. I usually siphon off the wrigglers with a turkey baster into a separate container. I like to let the angelfish pair tend to the eggs until this point, since they do a good job of keeping the eggs clean of fungus. Dead eggs quickly encourage the growth of white, fuzzy fungus, which may endanger the other eggs. Once the eggs become wrigglers, though, they are usually safe from a fungus attack.

I usually put the wrigglers into a plastic cup and put the cup into a plastic breeding cage that floats in the community tank. I use a breeding cage because I am too lazy to set up and maintain a separate tank. Using the community tank, I don't have to worry about daily water changes, and my heavily planted tank soaks up the extra generated fish waste. I put the wrigglers into a cup so that when I perform my weekly water change, I can easily lift all the eggs out of the tank.

Day 4

On Day 4, I usually see eyes develop in the fry. On day 5, the eyes will become more well developed.

Day 7

On Day 6, some of the fry may become free swimming. On day 7, all the fry should become free swimming. It is on this day that you should start feeding them newly hatched brine shrimp. Don't feed them until they are all free swimming. The early free swimming fry will be fine, and until the fry use up their yolk sac, they will wil not begin feeding.

Day 14

I usually feed the fry twice a day, as much as they can eat in about 20 minutes. In the beginning, though, feed them very sparingly, only enough for all the fry to get several brine shrimp. You can tell that they have fed when their bellies turn pink. Over the course of several days, slowly ramp up the quantity of shrimp. Do not overfeed in the beginning, as this seems to result in the death of some fry. I usually siphon out any fish waste out of the bottom of the breeding cage daily with my turkey baster to keep the cage clean.

Day 17

You will be amazed at how steadily the fry's appetites grow until they seem voracious with bulging pink bellies as big as their heads. Watching them physically develop is also fascinating.

Day 23

At around day 23, the fry are starting to take on the characteristic appearance of angelfish and are about the size of a pea. At this point, depending on how fast the fry have developed, I will start to wean them off the brine shrimp and onto finely crumbled flake food. The fry should be ready to start weaning by 4 weeks. Over the next several days, I will only feed them brine shrimp once a day, and feed them a small quantity of crumbled flakes as the second feeding. In the beginning, they will mouth the flakes and quickly spit them out, but as you decrease the brine shrimp fed to them, they will gradually accept the flakes. After several days, you should stop feeding them brine shrimp entirely and replace it with the crumbled flakes only.

Day 39

At this point, their bodies are about the size of a dime, and they look like your characteristic angelfish!

Juvenile angelfish eating small ostracods

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 10 mL Flourish, 15 mL Excel, 7.5 ppm NO3, 1 ppm PO4
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 22.5:2.8 = 8

Notes:
I noticed that the recently released juvenile angelfish were eating the very small ostracods. Yeah!

Tank observations

• pH:
• Temp:
• KH:
• GH:
• NH4:
• NO2:
• NO3:
• PO4:
• Iron:
• Dosing: 25 mL Excel, 1.5 tsp MgSO4, 3 tsp CaSO4, 1 tsp CaCl2
• NO3:PO4 Cumulative Dosing Ratio: 15:1.8 = 8.3

Notes:
50% water change:
25 mL Amquel+
25 mL Excel
2.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp MgSO4
3 tsp CaSO4
1 tsp CaCl2

I increased the MgSO4 dosing a quarter teaspoon (+0.7 ppm) this week, since I could still see a little bit of yellowing in the lower leaves of the L. repens. I also substituted 1 tsp of CaCl2 for CaSO4 to see if the mix would show better improvement. The R. indica looks better, but there is still some stunting of some of the stems.

The stargrass is growing in dense and lush. The dwarf hairgrass is doing well, too. With the reduction in Excel, it seems, the yellowing of the grass has gone away, and the grass blades are growing in very long, at least 50% longer than before.

There is still green dust/spot algae growing on the slower growing plants, which I am guessing is due to the extra fish/food waste coming from the 80-90 or so fry in the tank.

After completely weaning them off the brine shrimp for the past week, I also released the 4 juvenile angelfish into the main tank. I put half of the fry into the breeding cage vacated by the juveniles.

For some reason, some of the green eye rasboras are missing (I could only see 12 instead of 15), but I don't see their bodies anywhere. I also haven't seen the anorexic SAE for the past couple weeks, though the fat SAE is out and about.