Aggie D red spawning but no fry

[jhj0112]

Hi All,

First of all! happy new year to members

I have had a pair of aggie D red and they spawned 3 times.. However, every time they spawned, eggs are gone after 2 days.. I assume female ate eggs..

first eggs looked infertile as it was whitish eggs but the last 2 batches of eggs were somewhat pink (pale pink).

My water parameter is PH 6.6 TDS 65 temp 79F.. female is about 1.5 inches and male is over 2 inches.
even though I put 2 clay pot (upside down with small opening). they chose to lay eggs under the driftwood.

Is there anything I can do to have fry on the next batch of eggs? there are pencilfishes and ottos in the tank. maybe my d red male is infertile? is the color of eggs the only way to know if male is fertile or not??

thanks

 

[wethumbs]

Before you blame the fish, you should try different water parameters. My guess is the water parameters are not conducive for the eggs to hatch. Once you have found the right parameters they are very easy. I have 4 batches of fry currently growing in various sizes.

 

[jhj0112]

thanks for the reply wethumbs. should I raise TDS or lower PH more to be conductive?

 

[wethumbs]

definitely lower.

 

[jhj0112]

thank you! i will definitely lower ph

 

[gerald]

For domestic aggasizi strains I think pH 6.6 and TDS 65 mg/L is probably OK, although lower might be better. I've had aggie eggs hatch at pH 7 and TDS around 100 mg/L. Two days is when the eggs should "disappear" (hatch) and the mother may move them somewhere else. Perhaps they are hatching and then dying (or being eaten). It might be a "young mother" problem, that will resolve with age, or a nutrition issue. If she's not getting enough of the right foods to produce good yolk in her eggs, the fry may not hatch, or they hatch but dont have enough nutrition to continue developing for another 5 days until they can feed on their own.

 

[jhj0112]

thanks gerald! I believe mine is domestic strain. I'm feeding my aggies with frozen bloodworm and sinking pallets once a day.

 

[gerald]

Adding some fresh-hatched brine shrimp and live mosquito larvae when you can get them (probably not now in Vancouver) might yield richer egg yolk and stronger fry.

 

[Mike Wise]

It's also possible that the female does not find the breeding cave adequate for survival of the eggs/larvae for some reason. Some fish are very picky.