LA
Here's the original angelfish from which derived all the others.
 

They've Come a Long Way Baby:  For some strange reason this guy is called a "silver."  This is what angelfish looked like for decades -- a striking aquarium inhabitant indeed.  Even non-fishkeepers recognize the angelfish.  Many assorted colors, fin, and scale types have hit the market since angelfish first appeared.  They all spawn together because they're all the same fish  Color has nothing to do with mate selection.  However, selective breeding has resulted in a rainbow of angelfish colors.  I still remember when "golds" first hit the market.  Most didn't turn gold until they were about a year old.  They also had a tendency to spin over backwards when their lights first came on -- very weird behavior.

Silver Variations.  Within the silver barred variety, you may find zebras, blues, and greens.  All look pretty good.

KP

Early Colors:  One of the earlier "colors" was the marble angelfish.  This color was (and is) one of the hardiest.  The blush of red/yellow/orange on the forehead indicates the male in most of the color varieties.  You'll also see a red blotch/spots on the foreheads of the original "wild caught "silvers.
 

KP

Post-Golds:  Solid gold angelfish appeared early.  Then they were crossed with marbles to yield gold marbles.  Note that red blush on his head.  This head coloration varies a great deal.  Some breeders worked to increase the red coloration.  Like the solid blacks, the reddest babies appear to be weaker.  The original albinos were also weaker.  They are much improved these days   All these color variations can pop up in veil (a long finned variety) and pearl (a scale variation).  Then there's blushers and kois and who knows what else by now?  Now let's get into angelfish breeding.
 

KP
Products of a "mixed marriage."

Start Slow:  If you have more time than money, buy six or more young angelfish.  You raise them up for a year and let them pair off on their own.  The more costly method involves starting with a proven pair -- a bit more costly and not always reliable method.  Some refer to them as "mated pairs."  Professional breeders just put a male and a female together and find they pair off rapidly when fed well.  This also makes their progeny more likely to come out looking the same as their parents.     

KP
Two males sparring for the attention of a comely female.

Pre-Pairs Argue:  Some would say that angelfish fight among themselves during the pairing off process.  Some do, but not as seriously as the larger cichlids.  Fighting or arguing probably assures the "survival of the fittest" as Darwin would say.  (Which explains why so many winners in the Ultimate Fighting Arena have such large families.)

KP
The guy in front lost and has a few bruises around the mouth.  He'll have to find another likely female.

Arguments Usually Minor:  Spawning adult angelfish rarely die from their pre-spawning tiffs.  And a failure at breeding with the first female sheds no illumination plus or minus on the success of future couplings.

KP
Females are not real picky about spawning sites.

Your Female Breeds Whether You're Ready or Not:  Filter tubes, heater tubes, and the glass sides of their aquarium are all potential spawning sites -- not the best -- just potential.  Female angelfish actually prefer a different option.

KP
Males will protect the egg site while she's "at work."

Males Also Participate:  Males follow right behind the female after she lays them.  Not all males are equal at this stage.  It usually takes about three spawns for the male to get his technique down pat.  And, it's worth mentioning here that two females will spawn together.  You get lots of eggs with little time in between batches of eggs.

KP
Both sexes care for the eggs.

Males and Females Both Work:  Your parents both care for the eggs.  They fan the eggs to aerate them and to remove any particulate matter that settles on them.  They also protect their eggs from other tank mates.  They cannot protect their eggs from algae eaters or snails.  Both of these egg eaters work the night shift while the parents snooze.  All species of algae eaters and snails love angelfish eggs.  Both the male and female angelfish continually inspect the eggs and remove infertile (white) and deceased eggs.

KP
Amazon sword plant leaf -- spawning site of choice for most angelfish.

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Couple of fry from a previous spawn.

Spawning Sites:  Angelfish "return to their roots" when possible.  They love to lay their eggs on Amazon sword plant leaves, even the plastic version.  Usually their site cleaning efforts result in more damage to the leaf than this.

LA Pros prefer a very simple breeding set up.

The Professional Breeder Site:  Breeders that crank out voluminous quantities set up their breeding quarters on the sparse site -- usually a 10-gallon tank with a filter plus a  piece of slate at a 30 degree angle.  (In case you wondered whatever happened to all those blackboards you used to see in the schools.  The only blackboards you see these days are the one Bart Simpson writes on.)  Anyway, the pros set up 30 0r 50 of these in a row and put one pair of angelfish in each aquarium.

LA
Add some anti-fungal juice.

Yanking the Eggs:  Serious breeders yank that piece of slate once the parents lay and fertilize them.  They put the eggs in a gallon jar with a moderate airstone and add methylene blue to discourage fungus.  When the eggs are left with the parents, they will remove fungused eggs before the spreading saprolegnia filaments spread to the healthy eggs.  The pros add enough methykene blue that they can barely see the eggs.

KP
Infertile eggs can cause problems in the spawn.

Egg Fungus Tends to Spread:  Egg fungus can wipe out the whole batch.  You can't add methylene blue to a large breeding tank, and you probably don't need to.  But you can inoculate the one-gallon incubation jars and you probably need to.  Fungus spreads more rapidly in crowded quarters.

KP
Almost newly hatched angelfish eggs fall to the bottom

Newly Hatched Eggs:  When first hatched, angelfish eggs adhere to the spawning site by a sticky "thread."  At first they're little more than blobs with a wiggling tail.  They are not fish or fry.  They are larvae in their developmental stage.  They gradually absorb their yolk sac, get better tails, lose their sticky threads, and start resembling a fish (a little bit).  They just lie on the bottom totally helpless.  In natural spawnings, their parents would move them from site to site to protect them from hungry predators.

KP
Little further along in the maturation process.

Do Not Feed Yet:  The last organs angelfish develop are their mouths and digestive processes -- about the same time they start figuring out how to swim.  When they become free-swimming, they are ready to eat -- but not just any food.  Newly free-swimming angelfish are very particular in the choice for a first food.  First, it has to wiggle.  Second, it has to fit in their mouths.  

LA
Food of first choice -- newly hatched brine shrimp.  Actually, these are two days old.

KP
Six week old angelfish still eagerly eat brine shrimp nauplii.

Newly Hatched Artemia Salinas Rate Very High:  This is the stage at which most people lose their baby angelfish or the vast bulk of them.  Newly swimming baby angelfish do best on newly hatched brine shrimp.  You need to hatch fresh shrimp every day.  If you try to feed the shrimp you hatched today just 24 hours later, they've doubled in size.  They're too large for the newly swimming fry to eat.  Another plus for Artemia: they're phototropic (attracted to the light) as are the baby angelfish.  The Artemia will survive for hours in fresh water.  Learn how to hatch the eggs at Brine Shrimp I  Start hatching them very early in the process to make sure your methods work.  Then hatch them every day for up to four to six weeks.

LA
Microworms are your second choice.

KP
Baby angelfish eating microworms.  Their little bellies turn white.

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Newly swimming fry eating microworms

Microworms Rate Fairly High:  Your second choice for fry food:  Microworms.  Serve them as a first food or a second food.  They make an excellent addition to a mono-diet of brine shrimp nauplii.  Their main fault is their tendency to fall to the bottom.  A strong airstone can keep them in the water column.

LA
Mini vacuum cleaner for your fry tank.

Remove Excess Food:  You don't want to overfeed, but you will.  Add a mystery snail to clean up any excess food on the bottom.  Also remove any unwanted debris.

LA
Change your fry tank water with this little gadget.

Change Your Water:  The smaller your fry-rearing tank, the oftener (is that a word?) you need to make water changes.  This little gadget works very slowly.  So just drain your tank into a nearby container and go do something else.  Come back when it's done.  Then refill with aged water.

KP
When angels get their wings, you can start feeding ground up flake food.

Time to Get off the Baby Food:  Once your angels get their wings (you can hear the little bell), you can start adding frozen baby brine shrimp, shredded frozen adult brine shrimp (slice it with a razor blade), powdered fry food, or pulverized flake food.  Feed them a variety for best results.

KP
Angelfish keep eating baby brine shrimp way past their baby stage.
 

KP
Juvie angelfish go nuts every time you feed them.

Angelfish Love to Eat:  Every time you wave your hand over their tank, your angelfish immediately rush to the top looking for food.  They are not picky eaters after they grow past the dime size.

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Lots of variety in their litters.

Beau Coup Color Varieties Now Available:  You won't see all the angelfish varieties on a single day. There's just too many of them.  But over a couple months' span, you'll get some idea of what's available.

LA

LA
Jet blacks are the hardest to find.  There's some lethal genes in their genetic code.

KP
Some of Kathy's angels avoiding the gravel vacuum cleaner.

Next to Last Words:  When we think of color varieties, we usually think of platys or bettas.  However, don't ignore the color varieties available in the angelfish family tree.  And when you get right down to it, the regular silver is still a striking fish.  Thanks Kathy for letting me use your excellent photos.  I had to use some of mine for the color varieties.  LA

Questions from Kathy Potts.   Once I wrote this page, I sent it to Kathy for her approval.  Well, she came up with several questions (good questions) well worth including.  So, here's her Qs and my As.  LA

A:  Usually one year plus or minus two months.  Of course, you don't always know how old they are when you acquire them -- about silver dollar size.

A:  Sometimes earlier it starts coming out gradually.

A:  I've never seen that happen, but probably.

A:  Somewhere between 70 and 80 F.  They develop slower at lower temps and are more susceptible to fungus.  Too warm lowers the oxygen level and thus stresses the eggs.

A:  If you leave the eggs with their parents, they do all the work.  When practicing artificial incubation, use a piece of airline tubing with a piece of hard plastic tubing.  Use it as a mini-vacuum.

A:  If you move quickly enough, brief exposure to the air does not hurt them.

A:  True -- much easier to clean.

A:  Gallon glass jars are getting harder to come by.  You fill the jar with water from the breeding tank.  Add methylene blue, an airstone. and a heater if needed.  If you are dexterous you can add the eggs at this point without exposing the eggs to the atmosphere.

A:  If you need one to keep the water around 75 degrees F.

A:  Probably.  Clip each bag to the aquarium lip with a clothespin (do you still see these) or a potato chip bag clip. 

A:  Absolutely at least once per day.  Four or five small feedings per day yield the fastest growth.  Don't forget your water changes.

A:  Or just rinse your brine shrimp net into their tank (the laziest method).

A:  Just make sure you feed your fry the live nauplii their first two to four weeks.

A:  Once again, feed live shrimps at first.

A:  Or a couple mystery snails.  Pros raise their baby corys in with their angelfish fry.

A:  Depending upon feeding schedule, food type, temperature, size of the litter, water changes, and tank size, you can raise them to nickel size in two to four months.

A:  It also encourages the fry to eat more often.

A:  24 hour lighting will keep them eating more.  I doubt it stresses the fry.

A:  Great pictures.  I'm adding most of them.  Selective breeding just means you pick the parents rather than letting them pair off on their own..  Line breeding mates the male or female with their off spring or brothers with sisters.  This will usually set a strain in two generations.  Some people consider this inbreeding.  If the breeding stock has defects, they will likely pass it to their offspring.  Ditto with good traits.  Non-related breeding stock results in hybrid vigor.  Inbreeding is illegal in humans but livestock and plant researchers do all the above all the time. 

A:  Bigger the better, of course.  The pros I knew made their own tanks out of refrigerator liners.  They'd saw out a square in the front and silicon seal a piece of glass on the inside.  Put pieces of glass plus sealer on the other miscellaneous holes -- ugly but econo large tanks.

A10:  It's easier to put a male and a female in their own tank rather than offering other angels to choose from.
No prob on the extra Qs.  Just remember that these are my As and not to be regarded as highly as the 10As that Moses brought down from the mountain.  LA

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