Breeding Advise PLEASE

Good evening, I need some advice as I am fedup now. We've bred a few fish before-no spesific problems. 2nd time breeding our Flowerhorns and the same thing is starting to happen. The female lays eggs, male fertilises them. Everything is perfect. But as soon as the eggs start wriggling after about 36 hours they start turning white after a while. I know the eggs are fertilised because I can see the black spots inside and they start moving about with the tails clearly visible. The 1st time we left the female with them and this time we took her out. Why is this happening?

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hmm I thought when they turn white that they have not hatch ...

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/...-flowerhorn-eggs-first-time-i-need-help.6357/

and a few other post seem to indicate the same.

Later Ferdie

 

Esp since development is done after 72 hours ?

http://flowerhornlove.com/easy-steps-breeding-flowerhorn/

so 12 - 24 for white no white then, black spots 36 hours fertilization, tails at 48 and all done by 72 ...

 

My time was a bit out. She laid and he fertilized the eggs not last night, but the night before that. This morning there were dark spots inside and at about 5 this evening they had tails and started wriggling. So ofcourse it means they are fertilized. But again they just start wriggling then suddenly turn white. So they die, but why? We remove most of the white, unfertilized eggs because they turn slimy and effects the healthy eggs. Water temp constant with good aeration.

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Could it be that your pH is to low ... or the temp has big fluctuations ... I assume you do not do any WC while you have eggs.?

 

Ph 100%, temp constant the whole time and no WC until they are about 2 weeks old.

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No plants in the tank ? So no fertz right ..

What are they laying the eggs on, ceramic, plastic or a rock ?

 

Ceramic tiles. No plants or anything. Our Flowerhorn tanks are completely bare except for 2 tiles.

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This makes it hard - if water parameters are fine - no fungus etc growing either. No toxins are being introduced. The environment is stable then I suppose it only leaves two options, bad genes (very surprised your male is not sterile ) or the quality of the food. I assume they are fattened up before and after laying the eggs.

Lets see if other member have some tricks they have tried like adding rooibos or something to the tank.

Later Ferdie

 

I had the same problem a while back with my eggs and wrigglers. Wrigglers turned white and died just after hatching. I remedied the problem by keeping everything very clean.

The period while my fish has eggs I wipe the glass and rinse any sponges daily. There must be no white buildup anywhere. After doing this all my fungus problems went away. I know I hammer on tank hygiene a lot but it is very important especially while breeding. By keeping it clean you are keeping the bacteria, pollution and fungus levels low, ensuring a good environment for the eggs to hatch and the fry to thrive and develop.

People don't want to work on tanks with eggs out of fear that the parents will eat the eggs( I was too ). So far what I've seen, If they do they would have done it anyway later. They do the opposite actually and defend the eggs and will even attack you if you come to close. If fish ate their eggs every time they sensed trouble they wouldn't have been so successful as a species and would be extinct. Just go slow and steady as not to spook them.

Also do you spawn the fish in short intervals? Giving them a rest period of a month or so between spawns gives good results.

Last question, is this a young pair? If so they could take a while to get it right. By the sound of it they are on the right track.

 

Thank you very much for the advise! I am also afraid to do anything in the tank while there are eggs. So I skip on cleaning the tank. But I will defnitely take more care next time. Both the fish are grown out and not so young, but it is only the 2nd time know they have bred.

There is a lot of died wrigglers again in the tank with the other wrigglers. I don't know if and how I should remove them. The parents have already been placed in a different tank.

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You can suck the dead ones up with airline tube.

 

As far as I remember, breeding parrots was particularly bothersome for a few reasons: firstly, as parrots are hybrids, many specimens you come across have fertility issues, so even if your fish are laying eggs, many (if not all the eggs) would be infertile. Infertile eggs are among the first to take on fungus. Normally, this wouldn't be a big issue with cichlids as parents, since the parents would move away infertile/fungus-ridden eggs to save the fertile ones. But the parrots (and their unfortunately deformed mouths) are unable to effectively pick up and move the bad eggs; the 'good' eggs are therefore prone to having the fungus spread onto them.

You'll have to take on the role of the effective parent in this case. Pay close attention to your batch, and try to identify the unfertilized/fungus eggs as early as possible.

 

Thank you for all the advice. The eggs were laid on a ceramic tile. So we removed all the white eggs as soon as we could. Then when they became wrigglers they came a bit loose from the tile and I carefully helped them off. So all that was left on the tile was the white eggs and fungus so I took the tile out. At the moment the wrigglers are scattered all over the tank which I think is better as the ones that die can't effect the others so quickly and it's easier to suck them up with the airline tube. The wrigglers have eyes now and are starting to look a bit more like fish. They are still feeding from their yolks.

My other pair of flowerhorns also laid eggs last night for the first time so I am really hoping my male is fertile. There were a few white eggs which the female ate and then she started eating the other eggs aswell. She's been removed from the tank. Will see by tomorrow morning if my male is fertile. Fingers crossed. The problem I have in this tank-which I saw now for the first time-is VERY small worms. Can hardly see them but there are quite a few amongst the eggs. They look like those harmless worms you sometimes get in your sump filter, but will they be harmless to the eggs aswell?

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I did, thanks!

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If it's detritus worms it's ok, they won't do anything.

 

This is their first spawns? Leaving them alone to do their thing for the first few spawns also helps, they learn to shoot straight after a while.

I've paired 3 females with my one male the past year. There first 3-5 spawns is normally a write off and then boom, they have a good one.

You can try and keep the flow in the breeding tank low while spawning too. A current will wash the sperm away.

Are you ready with food for the wrigglers once they come off the yolk?

 

Im not sure what type of worms they are. They are very tiny. And there is a lot-especially at the eggs.

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It was the second spawning for the one pair of Flowerhorns. The fry are a few days old now-they already have eyes and look like little fishies. I think they will be free swimming soon. I have Hikari first bites, will give them some egg yolk and then some brine shrimp. I will also be moving them to a smaller tank when they become free swimmers. This breeding was a bit more successful than the last one. Quite happy about that. The other pair who had there first breeding wasn't so good. Its the one with all the small worms around the eggs. Seems like all the eggs are dead. So either the worms did something there, or my male is still too young or my male is infertile. But I will leave them alone for the next few spawnings and see what happens. Do you breed flowerhorns @BoelderBeestie?


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