How to stop fungus on eggs

[roger]

Hello Everyone

I have a pair of fish that have been laying eggs like clockwork, just about at 5-6. In the past I have left the fish in 55 with the rest of the tank mates and I start getting fungus on the eggs around 24 hours and then by then end of 48 most if not all of them are fungused and after 72 the eggs usually get eaten. pH 8.4 gH 14 kH 5

I moved the pair over to 29 gal tank and started lowering the TDS by adding RO. TDS was at 200 for this spawn. This time around the entire batch of eggs was covered at 36 hours.

Planning for the next spawn Ill be lowering TDS using RO water with a goal of 100 or so. What can I add to the tank to halt the fungus that wont stain the silicone? I would like to be able to atleast control the fungus for 48 hours after which Im pretty certain that the eggs wont hatch anyways.

Peace,
Roger

[joanr]

Hi Roger,

You can try Maroxy, it works very well, is colorless and doesn't appear to harm the eggs. Dose about 1hr after eggs are fertilized. I only use the initial dose.

HTH
Joan

[roger]

Hello Joan,

Ill give it a shot, since it cant do anything but give the eggs a chance.

Thanks
Roger

[larry lob]

Rodger,

Just to throw another angle on things, are you sure they are a pair( male AND female)?
or even an imature male could be the problem. have you ever seen wrigglers? lowering the ph can also stop eggs getting fungus, whats your temp? 82 - 88 is broad enough to be ok.
2 Feamles can lay eggs.

However my first instinct was, not a true pair.

Hope i haven't offended just my oppinion on the info given.

Larry

[roger]

Hello ll

Your right they could be a pair of girls or a male that is to young.

I think I did have wrigglers but the fish keep laying the eggs at all the wrong angles so I cant see it well. That night when I went to bed it looked promising. When I got up in the morning they where all gone.

This is only the 2nd spawning in the 29g tank for these two. Im just trying to eliminate all the possible problems to see if was just late night exhaustion or if the wrigglers where real.

The pH I havent checked in a bit, it started out at 8.4 but its been slowly dropping as I add RO. Ill be doing another water change tonight and Ill see what the parameters are when I get done. The temp is usually 84.

These are young fish which just makes things tough :) But thats half the fun of it all.

[larry lob]

Hi,

I know what it is like not knowing if they are true pairs.
Once confirmed you are willing to give them all the time they need, but till that point it gets frustrating as soon as your sure you got fertile eggs and a true pair you get more relaxed knowing if it's not this time it will be next.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Larry

[roger]

If it does turn out to be a pair of girls or the stud is shooting blanks then the female will be headed into the wild tank.

She is a brown base with red spots, a very striking fish. So hopefully one of the wild studs will pick up on her, since I would like to get some babys that have her color patern. Her shape sucks so Ill be culling for shape then praying I get the red spots and other colors.

Peace,
Roger

[hunterbeav]

I use Maroxy right after there done spawing and use it again in a couple weeks latter. I also use Formalin once a week for 4 weeks. I've had good results like this, good luck to you and congrats on the spawn!! :) I would try the temp at 80 - 82 and get the ph down to 7 or lower. When my water perimiters are conductivity 80, PH 6.4 and temp 81 to 82 I get around a 97 to 99% hatch rate. Jim&Diane

[roger]

I just got done with the water change and this it what things look like.

TDS 142
pH 6.92
Temp 84-95

Ill be doing 2 or 3 more water changes between now and the next spawn so the pH should drop just a little more and the TDS will drop a bit as well.

Hunterbeav - I would settle for getting wrigglers at this point, just so that I know its an actual pair :) But back to the question, what is the formalin used for? To make sure there arent any parasites in there ??

[Wolf]

I just wanted to tell you about my recent success. I've had a few spawns but 85%-90% of my eggs would fungus over after two days. My pair had been getting low hatch rates and only succefully raised one batch of 30 fry out of about 8 spawns. I suspected the eggs weren't getting fertilized or my male was too young but I adjusted my ph from 7ph to 6ph last week and turned my heater down from 86f to 83f and I have a huge batch of eggs now. After two days I only have one or two fungused eggs out of about 300. I'm not sure what worked or if it's a combination of the two things I changed but it looks like I'm going to have my hands full soon. Thanks to the great tips on this board, I think I will have my first big batch of wigglers by tomorrow. ;D

[roger]

Wolf

I think Im jealous :)

The problem I will have if I end up with fry is where will I put them all. My tanks are full to the brim with qt fish. Though I think by the time the 3 weeks is over Ill have 3 of my qt tanks back so I think I could live with 300 babies ;D

Peace,
Roger

[Wolf]

I'm having the same problem you are right now. You'll get those eggs soon enough. I think patience and a little experimenting and you'll be looking for tank space like me right now. I have no clue what I will do with all these fry but they haven't hatched yet so I'm counting my eggs a little early but everything is looking the best it has so far.