When can angelfish fry be transported?

[fuzzysocks]

There must be something in the water in my new apartment, as I'm currently seriously overrun with angelfish fry. I have about 90 of them in an 80 gallon community tank (they're in MacGuyvered pens so that they don't get eaten), and another 150-200 in a 30 gallon. As they are all three to four weeks past the wriggler stage, my attrition rate from here on is likely to be low. While I'm doing water changes galore, this is clearly not a very sustainable situation for me, the fish and my wallet.

At what point can fry safely be sold and transported? I'm thinking of waiting till their bodies are fully rounded and slightly below dime size, which should happen about three to four weeks after they start eating flake food. Any thoughts?

[raeven]

From what I've been told, most places won't accept them unless their bodies are about the size of a dime or bigger. I suppose the general rule of thumb: If it can fit in a fish's mouth, it's dinner.

[monkE]

i was told at IPU that they should be quarter size, but i'm sure that it would vary from store to store.

[fuzzysocks]

Is that quarter sized bodies, or quarter sized with fins?

And trust me, with all my adult angels roaming about, I've learned the "if it can fit in their mouth, they eat it" rule!

[monkE]

haha, i'm impressed that you've been that successful in the community! I actually never got into details whether the size included the fins or not, i assume complete body size but that's total assumption on my part.

[fuzzysocks]

Two liter pop bottles with their tops and bottoms cut off, women's knee high stockings, magnets and air hosing work wonders for making pens for fry! I'll try to post pictures at some point--it's a truly sketchy setup, but it works for a community tank.