This is just the way it goes with cichlids in a community tank. If you end up with a pair, you end up with the situation you're in. If it were me, I would test the waters selling them or trading them as a mated pair. If you don't want to deal with shipping them, you can list them on Aquabid as a Pickup only sale. There are local clubs that may be another avenue for finding a buyer. If you can't find a taker, splitting them would be my second choice, knowing that one or both have the potential for becoming tank bullies. Just about any LFS will take them off your hands and sell them as a pair, but don't expect much, if anything, in return.
An Angelfish W.W.Y.D.
I have a proven pair of angelfish, in a 29 gallon community tank (tetras, cories, unpaired 1m/1f apisto). The angelfish are constantly breeding. For example, had free swimming babies yesterday, by the evening the babies were gone and this morning they were going through the start of their spawning rituals again already.
This is fine and dandy but all this mating and courtship hurts their fins and doesn't allow time for them to heal. On top of that when they have eggs and fry they harass the other fish, which hasn't been too much of a problem but I have recently noticed the all the chasing is finally starting to catch up to them especially the cories who I have noticed are getting torn/nipped fins. Tetras and apistos are still doing ok. I don't have the option of setting up a third tank so the angels can have one to themselves, plus I have no intentions or time to ever be a breeder or raise fry. I have two options I can think of. Split the pair and put one in my 40 gal and leave the other in the 29 gal OR sell the pair. What would you do?
This is fine and dandy but all this mating and courtship hurts their fins and doesn't allow time for them to heal. On top of that when they have eggs and fry they harass the other fish, which hasn't been too much of a problem but I have recently noticed the all the chasing is finally starting to catch up to them especially the cories who I have noticed are getting torn/nipped fins. Tetras and apistos are still doing ok. I don't have the option of setting up a third tank so the angels can have one to themselves, plus I have no intentions or time to ever be a breeder or raise fry. I have two options I can think of. Split the pair and put one in my 40 gal and leave the other in the 29 gal OR sell the pair. What would you do?
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Yeh pretty sure I could find someone local to buy them, we have a couple active clubs around here. I do hate to part with them though, I'm especially found of my male. But it might be for the best of all the fish involved to sell them off to someone interested in breeding.This is just the way it goes with cichlids in a community tank. If you end up with a pair, you end up with the situation you're in. If it were me, I would test the waters selling them or trading them as a mated pair. If you don't want to deal with shipping them, you can list them on Aquabid as a Pickup only sale. There are local clubs that may be another avenue for finding a buyer. If you can't find a taker, splitting them would be my second choice, knowing that one or both have the potential for becoming tank bullies. Just about any LFS will take them off your hands and sell them as a pair, but don't expect much, if anything, in return.
That or get them a larger tank
Love to, but no space.That or get them a larger tank
Turn your heater down or buffer the Ph slightly over a period of time, just feed them flakes (no meaty foods)..... do the reverse of what someone would do if they wanted to breed the fish ;-)
Something I would do would be take the eggs out right after they lay them and try to hatch them yourself if you want some fry, so then they wont have to protect them and will have time to heal until they go at it again. Thats what I did when I had a pair in my 29 with some neons and they would be stressed for a day but nothing more than that until 2 weeks later when they spawmed again.
I think I'm going to try this for a while and see how it goes, except not try to hatch the fry, but feed the eggs to fish in other tanks.Something I would do would be take the eggs out right after they lay them and try to hatch them yourself if you want some fry, so then they wont have to protect them and will have time to heal until they go at it again. Thats what I did when I had a pair in my 29 with some neons and they would be stressed for a day but nothing more than that until 2 weeks later when they spawmed again.
Hope everything goes well!
What's in the 40 gal? Could you move the other fish to the 40 and leave the 29 for the angels?
cherry barbs, harlequin rasboras, zebra loaches.What's in the 40 gal? Could you move the other fish to the 40 and leave the 29 for the angels?
basically I have a SA setup in the 29 and an asian setup in the 40.
so yeh I could move all of the other fish to the 40, but I really don't want to.
i put the piece of clay pot hanging next to the plant leaf they have been spawning on, see if that works and then remove it. if that plan fails, then I will sell or split them up.
So the angelfish ended up not using the clay pot piece to lay eggs on but they did end up moving the wigglers to it. I removed the wigglers (let my krib fry and shrimp eat them)
Waited a day or two to see if the angelfish aggression went down. It didn't really so I made a shrimp trap and caught as many shrimp out of my 40 and transferred them to one of my bowls. Then transferred the female angelfish to the 40, she's not asian but I don't care at least now both tanks are peaceful.
I haven't noticed her eating the remaining shrimp, but I have two other nano bowl/tanks I'm working on getting setup so I will be catching more shrimp soon to put in those.
Waited a day or two to see if the angelfish aggression went down. It didn't really so I made a shrimp trap and caught as many shrimp out of my 40 and transferred them to one of my bowls. Then transferred the female angelfish to the 40, she's not asian but I don't care at least now both tanks are peaceful.
I haven't noticed her eating the remaining shrimp, but I have two other nano bowl/tanks I'm working on getting setup so I will be catching more shrimp soon to put in those.
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