Thanks Becky, but I think they are okay! I think maybe my fry are just behaving differently now that they are older, and I probably was overly preoccupied with the weird detritus at the bottom. I am NOT going to try the powdered micropellets again - I think those were part of the problem.
If I am missing any fry, it is maybe one or two. Now they don't school, they all run (swim) around independently and it's very hard for me to estimate the numbers! I am still just feeding them the bbs; tomorrow I will have a wee bit of time to buy some flake food that I can powder and introduce with the live bbs to these fry.
Meanwhile, what to do with my four beauties in my community tank . . . . .
Becky, I don't know if angelfish females lay 'phantom' eggs - lots of other fish do, I believe. But it sounds like you didn't get fertilized eggs to begin with, and also, it sounds like you pulled the eggs into another container before the possible angel parents either got a chance to fully fertilize the eggs, and also for the eggs to develop a bit more fully with the help of the parents blowing and fanning them, and also picking off fungus with their mouths, which would, I now understand, be totally natural behaviour for the angel parents. For my first, unplanned, but sorta successful fry hatching, I actually waited until the eggs started wiggling, then moved the whole leaf they were on into another container with water from the community tank and then into the hatching 5g.
Maybe yours will start with the really intense spawning behavior again, and you can get it on your webcam!!!
Cheers,
Laura