Breeding Angels- egg fungus

[wesleydnunder]

Hey guys. I've got a pair of Angels that have been spawning like crazy since Hur. Rita killed all but one of my tanks. They've successfully raised three clutches. the last three spawns have been all lost to fungus; eggs turn white then parents eat them. Their home is spotless and 50% water change daily.

ph- 7.0
amm- 0
Nitrite- 0
nitate- <5
dGH- 5
dKH- 2

Prior to last week I had half gravel and half bb and thought the gravel might be housing fungus so removed it monday. Tank is 20 high. Any ideas?

My breeders:

Mark

[Dangerdoll]

Usually if the eggs turn white, it means the eggs are infertile... something went wrong, I don't know if that would be because of a fungus though. Normally if eggs are present, methylene blue should or can be added to help with the fungus.... it seems to slow the spread of it if it does occur.

[mooman]

Fungal spores are always present in all of our tanks. No way to remove it. concentrate on why the eggs are becoming suseptable to the fungus instead. Are all the eggs fungusing (eggs unfertilized, male not doing his job)? are some eggs fungusing first and then spreading to healthy eggs (parents not doing thier job of removing fungused eggs as they appear)? It's unuasual that you would see this after they have already raised spawns sucesfully in the past.

Artificial hatching (I don't like it, because I believe the first week being cared for by parents imprints good parenting behavior on the offspring) procedure is:

Put eggs in a container with tank water and enought meth blue to turn the water pretty blue (instructions should be on bottle). Place an airstone next to, but not in contact with eggs. When eggs hatch, daily partial water changes will remove methyl blue slowly over several days. Transfer free swimming fry to grow out tank.

[josephish]

when i first read your post before i read anyone elses replies i thought those angels are both female and the eggs are not fertilized. so as an experiment if you take those eggs out of the tank like suggested and put them in another tank and the same thing happens that might be the case.ive never seen when ALL the eggs fungus.if you are that determined other suggestions would be to soften the water (use rev ossmo h2o) and run something in your filter to slightly acidify the water. in their natural habitat they spawn during rainy season and the rivers overflow the abundance of rain water softens and the additional vegitation in the water acidifies it. good luck angels are beautiful fish(are you feeding live? mine love crickets)

[Dangerdoll]

they've produced before, joseph but great suggestions. I haven't had angels for a year or so but I never tried to give mine crickets. When I get back into the Angels, I sure will give it a try.

[wesleydnunder]

Thanks for the replies, folks.

mooman: The eggs start out fine and one or two will turn white and the parents eat them. In the next few days more turn white and are eaten. They are good parents and have raised three broods. They just aren't getting the chance to raise any new clutches.

josephish: I thought about changing the water but my whole breeding program has been carried out in this water. These are fifth generation and even though the pictures don't show it well, they were developing a nice chrome green on the front half. When Rita hit I was growing these two out in the only tank to survive.

I've raised eggs/frye artificially before, I guess I can do it again as a last resort. They're such good parents it seems a shame to take their eggs away.

Thanks again, ya'll.

Mark