They're Spawning Right Now...

[ezrock]

I had my male and female together for the past 24 hours to treat for ich. I had tried to spawn them last week with no success and they weren't too harmful to eachother so I figured they would be fine with eachother for ich treatment for the short time needed. Well, that was yesterday and I was going to give them 48 hours to ensure the treatment was effective.

Anyways, I looked at them today and they were trying to wrap! I turned off the filter to disturb them less and finished watching the movie I was watching. Well, now, they've been spawning for the past hour or so. Unfortunately, they seem to just be eating the eggs as there's no bubblenest built. They do go back up and I 'think' try to spit some back out but only a few bubbles ever collect.

Does anyone think they may eventually actually bubble some up properly if I just let them continue until she runs out of eggs (she's got quite the belly of eggs so I'm willing to let them keep trying)? I was thinking maybe they're eating them all because they're not experienced yet so he may not be properly fertilizing them so early on in the process.

So, what do people think I should do...either let them continue, or maybe put her in a clear container in the tank to give him a chance to build up a nest (which he is good at based on the last spawning trial I gave them).

-Ian

 

[_cRaCkEr_]

They are not yet ready for breeding, separate them and condition them again.

 

[ezrock]

Thanks! I also came to that conclusion. They've been separated. I managed to save a few eggs which were floating randomly on the surface. I put them in 1/4 inch of water in an inverted styrofoam cup in a diff tank heated to 82F. We'll se ehow they fare over the next 24 hours!

-Ian