Raising Quality Angelfish

There is a list of the important points that an angelfish breeder must consider to produce high-quality angelfish.

1. Beauty

The most important aspect of potential breeding stock is that they are show quality angelfish. Beauty is the reason we keep angelfish. People buy them because of how they look. There is no such thing as breeder quality angelfish stock that was not a show angelfish shortly before pairing up. Angelfish Bodies should be round as possible or slightly higher than long. Long-bodied angelfish are considered inferior looking by most people. The Head should be smooth with no humps. A notch on the predorsal is acceptable as it would appear in Pterophyllum scalare. Consequently, a pre-dorsal profile without a notch is acceptable as it would also appear in other wild angelfish that have been used to create the domestic ones.

Angelfish Fins should be straight without kinks or twists. We should breed angelfish that have no curves in the dorsal, anal, or caudal fins. Even with a super veil, your goal should be to have an angelfish that comes closest to this criteria as possible. A longer fin is acceptable, providing that the fins remain as straight as possible.

Angelfish Color: A Koi angelfish without good orange color is not a breeder quality angelfish. In the same way, a Halfback angelfish or a Pearlscale angelfish that does not express the trait should not be bred. Angelfish color is greatly affected by the environment and by genetics. Since you won't know exactly the primary reason for an angelfish's color, you should only breed angelfish that have the color (or traits) you desire its Broods to have.

Angelfish Size: It should be appropriate for the age of the angelfish. Big is beautiful. The larger angelfish is generally more desirable. This could not be judged on juvenile angelfish unless the angelfish were in your possession from the point of free-swimming.

2. Behaviour

Few angelfish breeders even think of this, but negative behavior can cause more problems for keepers or breeders of angelfish than you might imagine. Aggressive mates cause angelfish pair problems. An inhibited mate may stop breeding or, worse, may become weakened to the point of dying. Strains such as Double Dark Black angelfish tend to be very aggressive. Consequently, you see very few angelfish breeders offering this fish for sale. We need to breed for angelfish who exhibit good parental care and are not aggressive towards their mates. This cannot be reliably judged in juvenile angelfish, so you must be willing to only breed angelfish pairs that exhibit the proper behavior.

3. Fecundity

This is another trait that must be taken into consideration. Your angelfish should breed readily and produce large numbers of eggs. The egg should be large and produce vigorous angelfish fry that is easy to raise. This is an area that cannot be judged from angelfish that have not been bred. Most people will not stop breeding an angelfish pair that meets all other expectations but fails in this area. This is tremendously harmful to our angelfish. A pair that has fecundity problems should not be bred. The problem here is deciding if there is a genetic factor or a problem with your breeding technique. Example: Some wild cross angelfish will inherit the tendency to mature later and require better care to produce as they should. One aquarist may be widely successful with them, while another who lacks the proper angelfish husbandry techniques will find them difficult.

Selectively breeding angelfish for fecundity is very important, and you will really love to have angelfish that breed regularly and produces large spawns.

Part of these texts are taken from http://www.angelsplus.com/Quality.htm, and all credits go to them.