scared breeding pair of angels.

i have a piar that spawned once then ate the whole lot and im waiting for them to spawn again. its been 2 weeks since the last spawn and for the past week they seem really scared. everytime i walk into the room they dart into the corner of the tank and just sit there... dont seem to be feeding all that well and no signs of spawning again. i was told when i bought the pair they spawn every 2 weeks.

i have coverd 75% of the front glass with a black bag to try and settle them down. did i do the right thing?

also i was wondering how often people do water changes when just running a sponge filter in a breeding set up. i had a 4 foot tank that i split into 3 cubes and added 3 songe filters 3 heaters in there. there is nothing in the tank to take away the un eaten food fish wate ect so it sits on the bottom. at the moment i try and do a water change every other day or sometimes every day. it annoys me to see crap sitting at the bottom of the tank... how often do you guys suck the waste out the bottom?

thanks.

Can they see any other fish in other tanks? Being able to see others safe would help them to feel a little safer. Also make sure the tank is not somewhere that has loads of traffic coming & going so as to scare them too much, you could try puttin some decorations or plants in the tank to help them feel that there is somewhere safe to go when danger aproches.
Anouther trick is to give small treats of live food when ever you come near as time goes by they will be begging for food every time they see you.
I personaly syphon out every day for breeding & growing stock, I do a 20% water change evry day on breeders & larger water changes on growing stock but I like to leave any algea to grow on the sides & back of tanks as it is good for water & fry to feed on.
Try different feeds until you find what they enjoy if they aren't eating well, I find mine love Sac feeds & Tetra Pro crisps but mine don't seem to like Prima or New eara feeds.
Lisa

hi lisa,

i have blacked out each side of the tank so they cant see whats on the other side, i have a pair of discus on their right hand side and some 2 month old angels on the left hand side which im growing on for future breeding. ill try taking the dividers away although they havnt long been in there. the reason i put them in there was because they were always smashing into the glass defending there space from the other angels they werent to botherd about the discus to their right.

thanks for the help!

jay

Hi Jay
Dont know if you can do this, but i have found in my fish room that angels (well most fish actually) in breeding tanks always prefer to look down on you so to speek. If you could put them in an ellivated position i think they would be much happier.
Dave