10th failed attempt - eggs turning white and then full of fungus after 48hrs+

[ipace]

Hi all,

I have a blue diamond pair.... The male is proven and the female is obviously a female as its laying eggs male was proven at the previous owner but I trust him on that.

They have spawned 10 times already! The first 7 times they where in an 80L tank and then I moved them to a 320L just in case, however every time eggs fungus after 48hrs and start turning whitish after 24hrs+. Water parameters below:

Tds:90
Ph:6.5
Gh: 4
No2: 0
Ammonia: 0
No3: 0-5

Using Ali test kit for all tests apart from gh which is sera.

Water is 100% ro with minerals added to get tds up to 80-90

Have also bowed meth blue an hour after spawning


Any idea what might be wrong? As to be honest I ran out of ideas now.

[Akili]

Perhaps you have too much turbulence in the tank, sperm is washing away.

[DonMD]

The water parameters seem perfect to me. How old is the female? Maybe she is still not mature? Or she may be infertile, even though she's laying, I honestly don't know. Of course you mention you trust the previous owner, but there's always a possibility if you did not actually see him produce fry. I wish I had some advice for you, but I don't. I've had pairs that spawned and had the same result as you, and I finally got rid of them, although I did not ever claim they were proven. I had another pair that I just about gave up on when after 5 spawns they produced a few wigglers. Now they've got about 100 2 week old fry. Maybe just keep being patient? Good luck, I hope they turn it around.

[ipace]

Perhaps you have too much turbulence in the tank, sperm is washing away.

In all honesty I highly doubt it as its a meter long tank..... But to be sure the last time round I turned off all filters and left the air stone at its bare minimum a couple of minutes before they started spawning.

[ipace]

The water parameters seem perfect to me. How old is the female? Maybe she is still not mature? Or she may be infertile, even though she's laying, I honestly don't know. Of course you mention you trust the previous owner, but there's always a possibility if you did not actually see him produce fry. I wish I had some advice for you, but I don't. I've had pairs that spawned and had the same result as you, and I finally got rid of them, although I did not ever claim they were proven. I had another pair that I just about gave up on when after 5 spawns they produced a few wigglers. Now they've got about 100 2 week old fry. Maybe just keep being patient? Good luck, I hope they turn it around.

I wish I can answer how old the female is but I don't know..... It's definitely over a year and a half old as it was at the previous owner for a over a year and been at me since August.

They spawn exactly after 5 days and always at around 6pm :s not that it makes a difference but any addition info might help

What I also forgot to mention is that I also do a 50% water change daily.

[alcastro]

Does the male look ok earring well

[Akili]

In all honesty I highly doubt it as its a meter long tank..... But to be sure the last time round I turned off all filters and left the air stone at its bare minimum a couple of minutes before they started spawning.

It was thought because it has happened in many cases.

[ipace]

Does the male look ok earring well

Looks like it..... Last time round I spent 45 mins just looking at them spawn and he seems to give multiple passes over the eggs

[John_Nicholson]

Ok lets look at it this way.....It is about the following things.......water, health, a functioning male and female.........That is it. First rule healthy animals want to reproduce. From reading this you water sounds fine but I did not see where you stated the temp. If it is not 82 move it to there. I have had some older females that i got from other folks that would lay "bad" eggs. I normally correct this by simply improving their health. Daily water changes and my beef heart mix twice a day. After improved care for 60 to 90 days the problem normally corrects itself. I am assuming that you have watched them spawn and have verified that the male is making runs? If the water is right and everyone at least looks like they are doing their part then the only normal issue left is the health of one or both of the fish.

-john

[nc0gnet0]

Drop your tds to 50-60 and see if you get any hatch

[mollyb]

Just a thought, but you say the pair lay eggs every 5 days, seems a bit often for one female as they usually take 7 - 10 days between spawns, my experience more like 10 days. Is it possible there is a mistaken identity here and you have 2 females? are you watching the same female spawn every 5 days? .

[nc0gnet0]

5 days is well within the realm of possibility, seen it many times with a young female.

[ipace]

Ill try and drop the tds further as suggested.

I am 100% sure they are male and female as i have seen them spawn multiple times. She lays the eggs and he does several runs. Last time round, i spent 45 mins staring at them just to be sure

John now that you mention temperature...... i keep mine at 85 so you think that might be an issue?

[Second Hand Pat]

Have you observed their breeding tubes? The females is larger with a squared off end and the male is smaller with a pointy end. 82 is your best temp.
Pat

[John_Nicholson]

85 is not that bad but anytime you go above 82 you are messing up...LOL. At some point you will decrease the fertility of the male. I cannot tell you the exact point but for grins I would drop it to 82 and try going in 100% RO water for a couple of weeks.

-john