Eggs look like cue ball

[rdub]

It was suggested that I post this here rather than in General Discussion.

I have a pigeon blood pair that has been laying weekly for some time. 99% of the eggs would fungus and die. It was suggested on this forum to apply Methylene Blue to the eggs about an hour after the pair was finished. I did that this time and at about 48 hours the eggs looked like a cue ball with a growing black dot in the center. No fuzz/hair on the eggs though this time.

I have had a few wrigglers before so this pair is at least partly fertile.

Would love to get a batch of eggs to hatch. Any other suggestions?

[PP_GBR]

In the meantime, here are the videos for you to watch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osjj2UFf6lk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xarlybWecbs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6_zWIePZ4o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHtHIC9s4cI

Enjoy

[Trier20]

seems they are doing well then

[MGKelly]

seems they are doing well then

Yes that is good, I recently had three spawns from three different pairs but no cue balls with black dots! shucks!

J

[Brokenrack]

Your water is most likely to hard. Cured with a RO unit.

[zimmjeff]

Also to much water movement can mess up the fertilization. Good luck Jeff.

[rdub]

Trying to figure out how/where to install ro unit. If I install in water heater closet there is no drain for waste water. Kind of a dilema

[PP_GBR]

Any progress?

[rdub]

No progress. Placed a net over the eggs this time as well as applying Blue. The eggs looked better but only a small portion hatched and as soon as I remove the "net" the adults ate everything. I'm moving this week and am looking for instructions/diagrams as to how to set up the ro unit and storage. In an apartment so don't know yet what to do with the "waste" water.

Still working on everything.

[DiscusDrew]

FYI I've found little to no evidence that water movement effects fertilization rates. I'm pretty sure that's a rumor a ridiculous discus person started and then everyone started repeating even though they never bothered to check the results. Just saying. What's the TDS at? It's really a relatively simple equation. Fixable in most cases.

[rdub]

Water is very hard. Don't remember the exact number. I can check later when I get a chance but quite hard.

[DiscusDrew]

Even beyond your TDS reading, what mineral content is actually making your water hard seems to matter as well. In my case my water is actually only around 150-160 TDS but its almost ALL calcium content, making the water almost completely unbreedable. Like one in 150 wrigglers. Its time to get an RO unit, its kinda the only solution. Do you have an apartment with a second shower? Window you can hang a 1/4" line out of? Trust me its doable, granted I have a 1600 sq foot condo but still, its what I run my business out of and it works. You just have to have good knowledge of basic engineering. You dont want to screw up, especially if your not on a first floor.

[DiscusDrew]

Fungus wouldnt be the problem either btw, screw the meth blue. Even if you DO get fungus it rarely actually causes any problems, with the fish or the hatch rate....

As a med its worth using.... in breeding instances, I think its almost pointless and does more harm by increasing nitrites/ammonia/nitrate from killing of nitrifying bacteria than it does good by beating back fungus. Just my opinion, but hey, I have hard water, get good hatch rates, and raise more babies than Id actually prefer to have from a single batch lol.

[rdub]

Thanks guys. Will be looking to buy an RO unit next week and figuring out how to set it up. I know I'll need something to store the water in and some type of auto shut off.

[DiscusDrew]

Simple float valve will do.

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[PP_GBR]

R:

Congrats. Now you get help from D. Don't give up. Keep trying. You will get it right. Write every thing down in a journal.

[chemjab]

Fungus wouldnt be the problem either btw, screw the meth blue. Even if you DO get fungus it rarely actually causes any problems, with the fish or the hatch rate....

As a med its worth using.... in breeding instances, I think its almost pointless and does more harm by increasing nitrites/ammonia/nitrate from killing of nitrifying bacteria than it does good by beating back fungus. Just my opinion, but hey, I have hard water, get good hatch rates, and raise more babies than Id actually prefer to have from a single batch lol.

Hi Drew,
Are you able hatch in the hard water? Or, after using an RO unit?
Thanks,
James

[DiscusDrew]

I CAN hatch in my water, which is not excessively hard but certainly not soft. Problem comes into play with hatch rates, hatch in my water without RO and of a batch of 300 eggs you'll get 40-50 wrigglers and a good batch of 35 or so. Now use the RO unit and that all changes, 300 eggs gets me to 200+ wrigglers and easily a good batch of around 175.... Now at the point they are wrigglers I begin moving them back to aged tap progressively over a week. For most people.... Do you even have the room to raise 200+ discus every week? Things to think about.

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[chemjab]

I CAN hatch in my water, which is not excessively hard but certainly not soft. Problem comes into play with hatch rates, hatch in my water without RO and of a batch of 300 eggs you'll get 40-50 wrigglers and a good batch of 35 or so. Now use the RO unit and that all changes, 300 eggs gets me to 200+ wrigglers and easily a good batch of around 175.... Now at the point they are wrigglers I begin moving them back to aged tap progressively over a week. For most people.... Do you even have the room to raise 200+ discus every week? Things to think about.

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Thanks for the info.
That is very interesting. I wonder if a line was continued from those that do hatch in your "hardened" water, if following generations could have greater success rates in harder water??

[DiscusDrew]

Highly unlikely

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