Do Young Infertile Males Ever Become Fertile?

[DonMD]

Not too long ago I bought 2 "maybe pairs" of Stendker Tefes from Hans that he had been trying to prove. They hadn't done much for him, so he let me have them for a great price. They were all about 1 year old, I think.

One of the females has been proven, because i paired her up with a proven male RT, and I'm now growing out those fry. But pairing her with any of the other three Tefes only resulted in her laying eggs and then the eggs going white and getting fungus. Two suspected Tefe males each in their turn made all the right moves when paired with her, darkening, passing over the eggs, fanning, etc. But NO SOAP.

So now I've got those four in my main display tank, and can say for certain the I've got two Tefe females. The one that is proven, and the other, unproven, but known female because she produced a batch of eggs.

BUT THOSE TEFE MALES are not doing their job. So my question for the experienced breeders is this: Is there any chance that these Tefe males will become fertile with time? Or is it more likely that they will never shoot live ammo?

Thanks, -Don

[kris2341]

I know John N often got pairs that were considered infertile by their previous owners, then he fattened them up using nothing but his own beefheart mix and they got to producing viable eggs.

If you are already giving them a wholesome BH diet though, I dont know. I think 1 year is considered when they are barely adults and may need a bit more time and fattening up before they become actual viable males

[alcastro]

Don males are usally late blomers, they will make pases and nothing, they get better with more practice, for me they will go from 0 eggs fertilized to 5 to 15 to 80 got to give them time

[DonMD]

Don males are usally late blomers, they will make pases and nothing, they get better with more practice, for me they will go from 0 eggs fertilized to 5 to 15 to 80 got to give them time

Well, that's encouraging. OK, more patience, then. Thanks.