help! parrots layed eggs!

[jamieandrich]

hello! i turned on the light to feed the fish a few minutes ago and noticed that my parrot fish have layed eggs. Will they actually hatch? i read somewhere that they will be infertile. If they do hatch i will take them and put them in a seperate tank but do they need any special care?

[sumthin fishy]

Since You said parrotfish, which are really a saltwater fish, and the fact that parrot cichlids are not that common, and you said you heard they might not be fertile, I am going on the asumption you mean Blood Parrots(3 different fish there, parrot fish=SW parrot cichlid=pure natural strain, blood parots=hybreds). Hybred fish that do produce offspring often have many genetic deformities, so be prepaired to cull(nice word for kill) any fry that are in poor shape.

Most parrots are infertile. However some can produce offspring. Look for eggs that have turned white, this means they will not hatch. If you have healthy eggs (the odds are against you) It is your choice to let the parents try and raise them(most cichlids will take a try or 2 before they get it right) or remove the eggs to another tank. If you remove them, they will need excelent water quality and good filtration, with something blocking the filter intake, such as a sponge, to keep the fry from being sucked up.

[Jason_S]

if they are both blood parrots then chances are the eggs will not be viable. if they are jellybean parrots then there's a good chance they could be. females of both blood parrots and jellybean parrots can both lay viable eggs, however most male blood parrots are infertile. maybe 1 out of a 100 male blood parrots would be capable of fertilizing the eggs. male jellybean parrots however are much more likely to be fertile. :)

[portabuddy]

maybe a fish that is infertile and cant fertilize eggs shouldnt reproduce?(like retards)

just my $0.02

[kcooley]

try to help the topic with constructive comments please.

jason s is right, but there is a chance. hae you done anything to keep the parents from eating them(wire mesh, divider)? try it to see if you get anything or if they funguss.

[BloodThirsty28]

Yeah my female BP lays eggs about every 6 weeks. Nothing ever comes from them and I assume they eat them up once they don't hatch. A few are left behing by the end of the week and get swept up during gravel vacs.

[jamieandrich]

they havent tried to eat them, they are being VERY protective of them, only one has turn white so far. I wish i could take them out and move them to another tank but the tank is too high to allow me to reach to the bottom. If they do hatch, how long will it take?

[BloodThirsty28]

Dunno, like I said mine have never hatched. I'm going to say you probably have less then a 1% chance of them hatching though. Since most BP's can't reproduce. Mine usually eat the eggs(I'm assuming thats what happens, never actually seen them easting them but they disappear) in about three days.

[portabuddy]

Im sorry your right,.

if you have a in-tank brinshrimp hatchery you can put the eggs in there, if not you can make one in like 10 min if you have a bubbler, 2L pop bottle pantyhose and a funnle. let me show you.

the water is drawn up through the bottle by the air bubbles and out the tiny holes in the side, this way you dont need to change the water in other desinges, I have made one befor and used it in sucess when my neons spawned.

[BloodThirsty28]

nevermind....

[lucky777ca]

Hmmm... That would definitely help me with some cory eggs/frys alot or maybe I could just get the brine shrimp hatchery, use up all the brine shrimp (as a treat) and then use the container in that way.

Thank you for that diagram, portabuddy

[kcooley]

i use a similar contraption with my mouthbrooding cichlids. a female would never survive in my tank otherwise

[jm1212]

around 1% of male blood parrots are able to have offspring, but then all of his offspring are fertile, so the parcentile will increase until it hits 100% (exempting the fish that are infertile from medical problems etc.)

[slowlyburn]

Yea mine dont hatch either...

[portabuddy]

around 1% of male blood parrots are able to have offspring, but then all of his offspring are fertile, so the parcentile will increase until it hits 100% (exempting the fish that are infertile from medical problems etc.)


well that dosn't make much sense to me... if 99% of all BP's are incapible of reprodiction than dosent that mean that 1% of its offspring will be able to reproduse???, due to whatever the genetic deformalitied it has it passes on?, how is it that there are so many that can't, they didnt come up with them yesterday..., again this goes back to my first(offensive) comment where natural selection should play a role in the breeding, I think that its more likley that the persentage would go up exponentualy, like 1%,2%,4%,16%ect... but than agaun i never liked those particular fish, or modified goldfish that cant swim or eat properly. it's like the work of the genetic scientist in southpark(4 assed monkey...)

[jm1212]

1 out of every 100 males is fertile.
if the male is fertile, it passes that "freak" gene (in this case, fertility is a freaktrait) down to its offspring, and since almost all females are able to reproduce with other amle cichlids, most of their offspring will inherit the "freak" gene.

[portabuddy]

Ah...I see. So at one point in time 1 in 10000 was fertile then... and in 10 years 1 in 10 and in 20-30 all bp will be able to reproduce then...

[jm1212]

Ah...I see. So at one point in time 1 in 10000 was fertile then... and in 10 years 1 in 10 and in 20-30 all bp will be able to reproduce then...yup. it might not be in 10 years though. it will probably be in a shorter time period at the rate people are buying them