why some eggs not fertilised?

[ks]

hi all,

i have this red melon pair, spawned for about 5 times but none is successful! :'( . i m using a 20gal breeding tank, a air-driven sponge and a tri-angle tile as spawning substrate.

i observed that there are a few problems:-
1. the clutch is usually big, about 150~200 eggs but why only a few are fertilised? the most is five! though they managed to hatch into wrigglers.

2. the pair has no ability to remove those unfertilised eggs. they were often attacked by fungus. i only discover the eggs attacked by fungus later as i add methylene blue in the water and was quite dark.

anyone evr come across this kind of problem?

thanks

ks

[limige]

what dimensions is that 20 gallon breeder? is it a 20high or a 22cube? is the tile proped up in a corner or what? discus tend to lay eggs on a vertical surface such as the tank wall or a pipe or something. also most people consider a 29 gallon tank minimal size for a breeding pair.

aside from that. how old is the pair? most males won't mature for 1-1 1/2 yrs. you may have a good female with a male that still coming to age ;)

[jeep]

The male just may not have his act together quite yet. If this is only the 5th spawn you're lucky. Others can spawn many more times with no results.

Give him time.

You may also want to squirt some Maroxy directly on the eggs after fertilization and see what happens.

Brian

[ks]

hi limige'

it is a 2'x1.5'x1.5' tank, quite a standard size as breeding tank here. the 'spawning cone' is 2 slanting tile sitting on a base tile, form a triangle shape; quite commonly used here too. as for the age, they are abt 18mths.

hi jeep,
i applied methylene blue as cant find maroxy.

ks

[wsw]

hi ks

i agree with what jeep say, my pair of bp spawn for the whole of last 1 1/2 months b4 they get it right.

all u have to do is just on trying..... i mean the pair

rdgs
wsw

[Carol_Roberts]

How hard is your water? Very few eggs hatch at my house in GH 11. When lowered to GH 6 with RO water I get a good hatch rate.

[ks]

my ph is 7.0, i have only sera kh test kit, kh ~ 3dKH. i m looking into the hardness currently, is it alright just to test kH?

[Carol_Roberts]

KH 3 should be perfect to breed discus