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Hi everyone,

We've all heard that Angelfish mate for life and that if one dies the other does soon after. In fact I had this happen with one pair even though they were only paired a few days and I know one other person that had that happen with a pair that had been together for some time.

My Question is have any of you had an Angel pair with another after a partner died or was removed?

I tried it once and it worked. I bought 4 leopard veil Angels and grew them until a pair formed. They spawned but I liked the looks of one of the others that I hoped was a male. So I seperated the female and this other fish that I hoped was a male and it was and a pair formed.

So how about the rest of you, have you ever made a pair using a fish from a broken pair?

Let's hear the other way too. Have you ever tried to make a pair using a fish from a broken pair and it didn't work?

Let's talk, Mike

If one dies, the remaining angel can be paired with another mate. I, like you, have experienced this exact scenario. Mother nature would be pretty inefficient if the death of a spouse caused the corresponding mate to drop dead as well.

[span class="edited"][Edited by Klee 2004-09-04 00:09][/span]

Let's add one more possibility to the mix.

Though I have never had it happen and have never heard of it happening, has anyone had a pair break on its own and one or both members pair again?

This would obviously have to happen in a large tank with atleast 3 Angels in the tank.

Now we're talkin, Mike

I have a book somewhere that covers all cichlds. Granted, cichlids in general are a very diverse group, but some of the information was very generalized.

Now, according to the author, there are no cichlids that will mate for life or form pair bonds like you are talking about. Basically, what happens is that a male and female will pair up and will basically continue to spawn so long as conditions remain constant. If something changes in the tank, the pair bond could break and the male and female may no longer spawn together. For instance, if you move a proven pair from one tank to another, there is no guaruntee that they will pair up again. Also, if a new tankmate is added after a while the pair may decide they don't want to spawn anymore. Granted, some cichlids form stronger pair bonds than others, but there is not a single species that will mate for life and refuse to bond with another mate if its original mate was removed.

Jason

ps. this is all according to the author, whom I could identify for you if I had the book in front of me. I will also say that I agree with what the author has said about this.

nope, don't mate for life. Any situation that would cause stress can split up a pair.

Dreamweaver8891 had a similar situation to what you describe:

http://www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/thread.asp?id=47474

Two females and a male in a 55. A pair formed, and the owner moved the pair to a 20 to spawn. For unrelated reasons, the pair had to be moved back to the 55, at which point the pair broke it off, and the male paired up with the other female. No fish died in this scenario, but the rejected female kept laying eggs anyway.

That was a recent thread, I'm surprised you didn't see it.

[span class="edited"][Edited by Silverlight 2004-09-09 09:16][/span]

I saw it, this thread was started before that one. Dreamweavers Angels were the first ones I'd heard of doing that though.

Mike