Hey Sue... We Have Eggs!

[ICEEGRL]

It is no inconvenience. I also seem to be growing the same brown fur on a few plants. It is really hard to remove. I don't think it had much to do with your moss. I think it is that I have the wrong kind and amount of light.
It is growing on the moss and not the wood so I think I can pull that part, clean the wood, and start over.
I am finding it very hard to get decent pics of them. I am still trying though.
The two that hatched are trying to swim some. The other 3 still haven't hatched.
My aeneus eggs got fungus, and I lost all of them despite the maroxy. The 3 from yours still look really good. They should be hatching soon.
Do you do water changes each time you add it? If so... How big of a water change do you do?
How often do you add the maroxy?
I have been just adding it once when I add new eggs. I only do water changes every 3 days. I lose more fry when I do more water changes. I have a sponge over my filter intake, and I clean that daily. It keeps it pretty clean doing that. Having the sponge filter over the intake of the hob keeps the fry from being sucked up and allows me to have better/stronger filtration. It works very well.
Thanks

 

[jollysue]

Check the Mardel instructions. I only add it occasionally. When I do a water change and I have a good batch of eggs that I want to insure. If the carbon is more than a week old I only add the maroxy with a water change. And frankly I don't use it all the time.

Yes I need to get some sponges for Hob and AquaClear intakes and some real sponge filters.

I don't know why but I really have had no trouble with fungus on the albinos and never add Maroxy to their tank.

 

[ICEEGRL]

I had very little fungus with the peppers...
No signs of fungus with the ones from you...
The aeneus have fungused everytime to some degree. I have lost at least half of every batch! Twice so far I have lost the whole batch! I don't get it.

 

[jollysue]

Haha
Well, my aeneus are prone to fungus. It is a constant battle with the LF and the lps regular bronze.


Maybe that is why they are so prolific. Or contrarily, they are prolific because they are prone to fungus.

 

[ICEEGRL]

The three eggs left are still unhatched. They are getting darker though.

The aeneus eggs that I just lost were all attached to the worm feeder... I think maybe she was planning on them being food instead of babies. They are spawning again today...
I have to do water changes today. I am not going to try to collect any of these eggs though. I am going to wait until my fry can be moved so I can start with a clean tank to try it again. I am going to just concentrate on growing what I have for now ( unless the long fins decide to give me another egg) I would just have to collect them.
I haven't seen the 2 albino fry since early yesterday. I hope they are just hiding from me. Hopefully I will find them when I do the water change in their tank.

Anything more on the new breeder trap? I would love to see what it looks like... Where are you getting it from? Send me some info please.

Thanks!

 

[jollysue]

JEHMCO
This is the site that was recommended.

Half way down on this page
breeder boxes

Also the sponge filters and I will check with them for other stuff.

I have to call them to make the order. I will call tomorrow

 

[ICEEGRL]

They have an egg tumbler, but it looks very small.
Most of those traps let the eggs/fry fall through the bottom from what I got from the descriptions. Which one were you looking at?

 

[jollysue]

I will call tomorrow. The plec breeder recommended them. Of course plecs keep their eggs and shoo the fry out after they are free swimming.

I will find out what is available. I like the idea of a stiff form that won't hurt the fry.

 

[ICEEGRL]

I like that too. That one had the front and back solid plastic though (I think)
Won't that restrict water flow? It will certainly eliminate being able to set in front of the filter for flow. It would have a solid side facing it, and would block it.
If you get one... you will have to let me know how it goes. If it works well I may see about getting a couple of them.
The other ones didn't work because my eggs and fry got caught under the frame. I lost a lot of them that way. That is why I gave them their own tank, and started just dropping in the ones that wouldn't stick to the glass.


By the way... the 3 eggs hatched today! I haven't seen them in the tank yet though. I'm sure they are hiding in some of the plants like the others did. I will let you know when I spot them.
The parents are no longer flirting. I guess these are all I am going to get for now.
I can't wait to see them. I spend a fair amount of time looking in there trying to find them. I am determined to see what they look like!

 

[jollysue]

Your reservations are the same as mine. I saw them at the breeder, but I will have to research them more. I did not make any calls today. I changed 300 gallons of water and did some major maintenence on the drip, canister and hob filters (5 tanks.) Drip filters are nice and require maintenence less often, but it is major maintenence. I changed 9 Cory tanks yesterday and collected some eggs today. Tomorrow I will finish with major maintenance on 200 gallons/8 tanks, if I can still walk. I really hate that I can't get organized so that everything isn't due at once. But I want to do some comparison shopping before I get the stuff I want--more UV sterilizers, canister filters, sponge filters.

 

[ICEEGRL]

What is a drip filter?

 

[jollysue]

A wet/dry or trickle/drip filter pumps water up to drip through usually bioballs to create a large surface for the good bacteria to colonize with lots of oxygen.

I have two tanks with this sort of filter set up. Here is the link to SeaClear/Casco's System II ad System II

There are different ways to set the concept up. They are an out of sight system under the tank or as with System II w/i but hidden behind the back tank wall. The major maintence is less often, just rinsing out or changing a floss and any chemical media, they can handle large bio loads and are attractive. They easily handle the more effective Bio Chems, etc. The floss is easily changed and washed.


This link has breif discriotions of various filters with links
about filters

This is similar to the one in the 25 usg sorority/Syno pet/Plec tank--only none of it shows--it is a self contained unit and out of sight.
trickle wet/dry filter

By the way give me more in detail information on your egg and fry set up process.

 

[ICEEGRL]

First... I don't do anything special. I have a 10g that only eggs and fry go in. I took a sponge filter and sewed up the hole in the bottom and put over the intake on the filter. I use a regular hob filter that came with the tank kit from wal-mart. I have a bubble bar running on one side of the tank. (away from the filter) I use sand or gravel mixed with sand on the bottom. That depends on what I have. It is sand right now. (changing soon) I have usually have a cave or piece of wood in there for them, and I always stick in some cuttings or a plant or two of some kind. I don't clean the plants unless they get really bad. The corys munch on stuff from them. I feed once or twice a day depending on the size of the fry in there. I clean the bottom with a turkey baster when ever I see something that needs to come out. I usually do water changes about once every 2 weeks unless it needs it before. I clean the sponge on the intake when ever it gets dirty which is about every third day. I just rinse it in the sink and stick it back on.
When I collect eggs I just put them in a cup of water from the fry tank. When I am finished collecting I try to stick them to the glass in the fry tank. The ones that don't stick just go to the bottom and sit there until they hatch. I also will some times stick them in a bag and hang that in there until they hatch. It makes moving them and checking them easier. Then I just let them out when they hatch. I remove anything that gets fungus when ever I see it. I used to add pimafix and melafix when ever I added eggs, but now I just add maroxy if they look like they may need help. I may go back to the other way. I got less fungus before. The only thing that I add to the water is prime. I will add 1/2 dose of trace at water changes though for the plants. The lights come on when I get up and off when I go to bed. (or when ever I think about it if I stay up really late)
I move them to the 29g with the others when they are about 1/2 inch long. That's it.
I took some pics, but the tank is nasty. It is getting a re do tomorrow. Everything is coming out. I FOUND SNAILS IN THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HATE SNAILS!!!!!!!!!!!
I am cleaning up the 29g and moving most of the fish from there to the 55g so the 29g will be a grow up tank for a while. All I am leaving in it is the smaller corys and a few that I may want to breed later. I don't want to have to try to catch them from the 55g. Also the tetras will stay until the other tank matures. I have 4 cardinals that were my daughters. I am going to put the little fry and the eggs in a bowl until I finish the change over. Then I will just stick them back in. I usually keep everything in the fry tank portable, but I may put a little more sand in so I can plant the plants this time. I have some of that grassy stuff that I am going to put in it to see if it will grow. I will stick some stems in there too. I am not sure which ones yet though. The tank is getting bleached though. Those snails have to go!

I saw one big snail and started looking... unless it is just me... there are snails all in the sand. There are bubble shaped spotted ones with a swirl on their butts and some that whole shell is a swirl. Look for them in the pics and see if you see them. You kind of have to look hard. They sort of blend in. Let me know if you see them. (and what kind they are if you know)

Lots of pics on the way. It will take several posts to get them all on...
This is the big snail I found...
View attachment 45593

This is the tank from the side...
View attachment 45594

You can see the reflection of the computer in that one. The tank is at an angle behind me.
This is the front view...
View attachment 45595

 

[ICEEGRL]

This is the filter with the sponge...
View attachment 45596

These are some of the babies in there right now...
View attachment 45597

View attachment 45598

View attachment 45599

 

[ICEEGRL]

I have one that is almost solid black...
View attachment 45600

View attachment 45601
View attachment 45602

View attachment 45603

In this one there is something coming out of the sand in the middle. I have no idea...
View attachment 45604


View attachment 45605

View attachment 45606

View attachment 45607

View attachment 45608

View attachment 45610

View attachment 45611

View attachment 45612



If you look in the cave... you will see tiny white fry...
This one also has one of the snails that the whole shell is a swirl...
View attachment 45613

In the last pic the snail is in the bottom right corner on a root. I see snails of one kind or another in all of the pics! Do you?



There was also an addition to the tank today...
Guess what is in the bag...
View attachment 45614

View attachment 45616