Are My Harlequins Spawning?

[pippoodle]

They keep spawning the last few nights
well i think they are they look similar to when the minnows do it but the female harlequin turns upside down and sort of rubs her belly on the leaves then the male (like the minnows) curls nearlly in half with the female
I cant turn the light on to see what colour the eggs are when they have laid so in the morning i dont know what to look for so i could remove them to give them a chance to hatch without the fish eating them first

So does anyone know what colour the eggs are

Thanks Sarah x

 

[pippoodle]

anyone know

 

[Lateral Line]

What you describe is very characteristic of spawning Harlequins. The females lay small colourless eggs on the underside od leaves and the male wraps around her to fertilise them. Fertile eggs remain largely colourless and hatch, after about 24-30 hours. Unless the water is pretty soft, the eggs will not hatch. Infertile eggs or older eggs that are not going to hatch turn white.

 

[Colin_T]

the eggs will b clear or slightly brown in colour, can't remember which for harlequins. They lay their eggs on the underside of plant leaves and you should remove the plant with the eggs attached. Keep the plant under water at all times. If you only have harlequins in the tank you can sometimes leave the eggs to hatch in the tank with the adults. If they are well fed they often ignore the fry, but not always so if you want lots of fry then move them to a seperate tank.

 

[pippoodle]

Thanks for the replies will have to check the leaves when they start again - i cant remove the plant as its attatched to the bogwood (24" ) but i can always tear off the some leaves and put in a net

Will give it a go when they start again

As for the water - i'm in devon and we have soft water
Cheers Sarah xxx