Eggs going bad

[timebomb]

Hi, folks,

Someone wrote me the other day. She wanted to buy some Killies from me. It's quite unusual to find women in the hobby so to encourage them, I gave her a trio of Aphyosemion australes and some Notho rachovii eggs. Esther's her name but I never got to meet her as she collected the fish and eggs from my wife's shop in Yishun.

Esther messaged me this morning and said she collected some australes eggs but they went bad the next day. I pointed Esther to this forum and I'm hoping she will join. It's so unusual for women in Singapore to be interested in Killies. I don't know why eggs go bad sometimes but if any of you can offer some help, I'm sure Esther will be grateful.

Loh K L

[shortman]

Kwek Leong,

First come to my mind are the temperature, humidity and the peat moss.

The rachovii eggs I received so far in my lab condition none turn bad.
But the lab temperature are kept in constant temperature and humidity.

The peat moss in the plastic bag are very dry, none of the eggs turn bad.

Best Regards

[zmzfam]

A few reasons why eggs turns bad could be:

1) The eggs are not fertilised. Feed them with good quality food - especially live food - and they will soon give viable eggs.

2) How is she picking the eggs? It is best to picked them with a pair of tweezers. I used to picked eggs with my bare fingers, after washing them thoroughly, but took to using the tweezers when subsequent batches fungus easily.

[turaco]

When we are new to killies the excitment of seeing eggs on mop tend to prompt us to pick & save them. I still remember how excited I was collecting 30 plus AUS eggs soon after they've done it. As you can guess, none of the eggs is good after all the handling.
Leaving them on the mop till eyed-up & start picking will give you a much higher chance of eggs survival. Becoming lazy these days, not doing anything to the eggs will produce far better result: You get fry hatched in parents tank :wink: .

[RonWill]

Kho,
It can't be Notho eggs that's going bad. "...said she collected some australes eggs but they went bad the next day" but a hot spell can sure throw lots of fuzz balls.

Zul, if the eggs are fertilized and embryol development is detectable, a light dip into anti-bacterial agent won't hurt.

Esther, if you're reading this, try not to handle the eggs unnecessarily. Do start with clean fingers but IMHE, a tweezer does a better job.

If you're as laid-back as Gan, leave the breeding AUS in a permanent setup and wait for fry or, do what I do. Picking eggs can be fun... when you can see them! My eyesight isn't what it used to, so I water-incubate the whole mop in large take-away containers.

First fry should hatch in 7 days. Resting eggs around 2 months! [yup, some AUS eggs occasionally slip go into 'Rest mode']

[shortman]

Have any one try to dosse Formalin (37% formaldehyde) to water with the egg?

Formalin are for control of parasites and fungus on eggs.

Best Regards

[whuntley]

Have any one try to dosse Formalin (37% formaldehyde) to water with the egg?

Formalin are for control of parasites and fungus on eggs.

Formalin is a powerful "tanning" agent. That means that it cross-links adjacent protein molecules. Toughening the outer chorion of the eggs is not a really good thing, in my experience, so I never use it around eggs. Even much milder tanning materials like analine and other dyes need to be used with caution, or the babies can't get out of the "shell."

Clean water, with a sprig of Java moss to provide some filter-feeding infusoria, like Rotifers and Paramecia are about the finest agents I have found for preventing bacterial attack on eggs. The infusoria eats all the free-swimming bacteria, rather quickly. [Wet peat is a close second.]

Fungus never attacks live eggs, IME, but appears only to clean up any dead matter left after the egg dies or is deposited infertile.

Eggs that go bad right away are almost always infertile, so conditioning and maturing of the breeders is where one should concentrate, usually.

Wright

[Kiccoro]

hi guys thanks for all the wonderful advice. Sorry I haven't posted anything in the forum until today cuz I haven't got my internet connection at home till today, and it wasn't too convenient to do so in my office.

Anyway, the eggs are getting less fungused now, and I have got several fry at last. I am basically very new to Killies so I am super excited with my first batch of fry. Hope everything works out well!

[timebomb]

It's good to see you around, Esther. Women in the hobby are kind of rare in Singapore so you're pretty special. I'm sure the guys here will be glad to be of help if you run into problems.

By the way, how many fry did you get?

Loh K L

[zmzfam]

Hi Esther,

a warm welcome to you. As KL mentioned, it's pretty rare to find women aquatic hobbyist let alone delving into killies.

[whuntley]

Hang in there, guys. It will happen.

We had absolutely zero females in killies when I started way back in the '50s, but now we have many expert breeders and they are increasing all the time.

Cathy Carney is on our AKA Board of Trustees, and the Chairperson of our AKA Judging Committee is Liz Hutchings. Expert breeders include Stephanie Taylor, Sue Bunte, Sue Katz and Ruth Warner. I could go on, but you get the picture. Women have become an essential part of our hobby. It is better for their influence, too.

Wright

[TyroneGenade]

I have long abandoned picky AUS eggs... Simply take out the mop and leave the eggs on it. Put it in a tub with J.moss and hope for the best. Handeling the eggs can damage them or transfer bacteria onto them that will kill the eggs. To echo Wright, I have not known fungus to kill good eggs.

the death of the rachovii eggs can be due to:
---too wet peat meaning too little oxygen killing the eggs
---too wet peat tends to be anaerobic which is the perfect culture conditions for moulds, fungi and harmful bacteria such as Vibrio
---the peat may be too acidic and be burning the eggs

there probably more but I want to go home...

Cheerio

[Kiccoro]

Hihi again!!!

Thanks for the warm welcome!
I don't have that many fry yet.... only maybe 60? But I really need to thank you, Kwek Leong.. you were very kind to give me the 3 killies. I really appreciate it!
I try to collect eggs every other day but sometimes I am too tired after work to do so. I think my mum is getting quite naggy regarding my hobby.. staying up late till 2am every night.. oops I mean morning.. to 'play with my fish' (the way she says it) and putting tanks and tupperware all over the place. At first I set up my brineshrimp hatchery in the kitchen, but she complained that it was an aesthetic hazard to her favorite hangout and so I had to have it moved to my room. Now the eggs I collect hardly go bad. I tried the Malayan Shrimp method as mentioned in killies.com but that didn't work out too well for me. Somehow all my killi fish eggs disappeared. So I decided to stick to the peat moss method. By the way, can I keep my killies together (males and females) in the same tank? Will the males get territorial? How many can I keep in a single tank to the best of their benefit?

[timebomb]

That's very strange How does one change her userid from estherlee to Kicorro? How is it done?

Esther (it's you, isn't it?), 60 fry are a lot of fish. I'm quite surprised you are so successful in hatching the eggs. Having many containers of water around the house is something all Killifish enthusiasts go through; it's like a rites of passage .

It's perfectly alright to keep the males with the females but the latter, being less aggressive, will grow slower. It's best to separate them when they are young.

Loh K L

[zmzfam]

That's very strange How does one change her userid from estherlee to Kicorro? How is it done?

KL, it can be done from the profile page. The username is changeable, not read only after registration.

[Kiccoro]

Hihi it's me, esther!
Yep, basically you can still change the user id in 'Profile'.
Hmm.. so far my fry are still doing okie. Hope they grow up fine and healthy!

[zmzfam]

Hihi it's me, esther!

Esther,
why don't you sign off with your real name - you can put that in the 'Signature', beats having to type that every time - so that friends here will know it's you.

[Kiccoro]

Hi Zulkifli! Thanks for your advice. I have added my real name in my 'signature'. Today I have 15 more fry! *happy*

[nonamethefish]

Involving the ghost shrimp thing, I know of several others who have tried it to simply have the shrimp eat the eggs...odd.

[stormhawk]

I believe that was not a ghost shrimp being used but possibly a small specimen of either a Malayan, Cherry or Black-shell shrimp being used in the shrimp+water incubation method.

Larger shrimps may become opportunistic and decide to feed on the developing eggs.