apisto eggs turned white

[icecube]

Hi,
i recently got a few apisto cacatuoides, one of them was a orange flash male,
he paired up with the a double red cacatuoides female and they spawned, but all the eggs turned white,
any idea why this happens, other than the male not fertilizing??
does it have to do anything with the water conditions??
this is the first spawn for both of the fish, could this be the reason??
i am feeding them on live tubifex,
they are housed in a 12g tank, i use 75%tap water and 25%RO water, also i added a lot of almond leaves to the tank and the water is dark brown, the ph is arnd 7.2
any suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Tedstank]

As a first spawn it is probable that the male isn't fertile yet, that does happen. Your water parameters sound ok..I personally keep my Ph lower, but these fish can handle that 7.2...not sure about eggs, if problem continues try mixing 50% RO.

You said several cacs??...not all in the 12 gallon?....hopefully just the pair and IMO a 12 gallon is a bit small. if they do succeed and you get a good hatch, there will be problems in the tank. Your male will have to be moved, or both. I use 20L for a pair..or had trio in a 55..worked great. The male had full 4ft. rights to the tank...each female took her 1/2 for territory.

 

[icecube]

i kept all the cacs together,after they paired up i moved the others to a different tank and left the 2ftr for the pair,
the OF male is about 2", do u think its still unfertile?? i mean, it has reached maturity right??

 

[Tedstank]

At 2 inches mine were were fertile....let them have another go at it. I do use RO water only...soft and a Ph at approx 6.4. Temp are around 78 to 80 max.

 

[icecube]

thanks for the reply ted,
BTW i noticed that the female has been flashing in front of the male but the male is just kind of ignoring her and swimming away,
its been about 6 days since the female laid her eggs and about 2 days since she ate the fungused eggs,
any idea about this??

 

[Fingerling]

I have came across an article stating that once in awhile there would be an infertile male/female, is this possible? Or would this be the result of only farmbred fish

 

[icecube]

@fingerling
i donno, never heard of what you say,
anyway will wait till they spawn again n see the result,
wish me luck

 

[Tedstank]

I still think you are ok. Relax and enjoy having them...when they are ready, they will spawn. Mine were at least 2 weeks apart in spawning when I USED to pull the fry. Let the parents raise them!!! Much hardier developed fish will result and a lower mortality rate.

If next spawn has problems I would suggest you might lower the Ph....example: I had a similar problem with Angel fish...8 spawns and no hatch. As I started adding just RO water to my water changes....the 9th spawning was a near total hatch rate!... and Apistos are more sensitive than most commercial angel stock.

As mentioned before he could be possible he is infertile...dont worry just yet!!!

 

[kristina]

IMO - if the eggs are growing a white fungus on them then don't fuss to much at the moment, the parents should learn how to deal with this. You could create more water flow to help. If the eggs are turning a solid white colour then it is one of 2 things, either one of the parents are infertile or the pH is too high. try slowly changing your ratio of tap:RO until the pH is closer to about 6.5(ish) in the tank. If it still happens in those conditions, I would lean more towards infertility and probably in the male.

 

[Tedstank]

spawning?

Icecube, By my experiencess your cacs should be getting ready to spawn again or have. If not start giving them a more varied diet. Been watch this thread hoping to hear you say BINGO...got babies....lol