nejnoj
Thu Oct 07, 2010, 07:20 AM
I have a pair of discus who has been spawning every single week for the last 4 weeks, like clockwork. Needless to say i did not get any successful wrigglers.. every single time the eggs get eaten after the 2 day mark.
I am not sure if the male is actually capable of doing his 'duty'?
The first spawn was the most successful both in number of eggs as well as some eggs turning color to somewhat blackish in color. Is that a safe indication that the male is indeed male and is capable of fertilizing hte eggs? please refer the photo attached. Is that considered fertilized eggs? unfortunately something spooked the female on the last day and she went berserk and ate all the eggs. Subsequent spawn, i was not around, the entire batch never made it past the 2 day. THe next 2 spawns i happen to be around when the female laid the eggs. the male was always closeby, but did not seem to be fertilizing the eggs as suggested by some forum. he was attentive and did the whole nine yards, ie shimmering, cleaning the site, sucking the eggs, blowing at them, fanning and all. BUt nothing close to what looks like fertilizing the eggs. any idea what the window is for teh male to start deposting sperm before the eggs are no good? i could see his oviposter/organ .. so i guess he was interested. Is that due to immaturity? (I inherited the discus so i have no idea how old they are.. but they are pretty decent sized).
So back to my main question, does the first photo, with darkened eggs indicate that the male indeed is capable of fertilizing the eggs, and if so, why would he not do his job the subsequent spawns? any ideas?
Since the eggs disappear the morning after i am not sure if the subsequent batch of eggs turned white to determine if indeed it is due to unfertilized eggs or the eggs were of poor quality
Any thoughts would be appreciated..
First Batch of eggs
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/nejnoj/07092010027.jpg
Most recent Spawn
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/nejnoj/06102010050.jpg
I am not sure if the male is actually capable of doing his 'duty'?
The first spawn was the most successful both in number of eggs as well as some eggs turning color to somewhat blackish in color. Is that a safe indication that the male is indeed male and is capable of fertilizing hte eggs? please refer the photo attached. Is that considered fertilized eggs? unfortunately something spooked the female on the last day and she went berserk and ate all the eggs. Subsequent spawn, i was not around, the entire batch never made it past the 2 day. THe next 2 spawns i happen to be around when the female laid the eggs. the male was always closeby, but did not seem to be fertilizing the eggs as suggested by some forum. he was attentive and did the whole nine yards, ie shimmering, cleaning the site, sucking the eggs, blowing at them, fanning and all. BUt nothing close to what looks like fertilizing the eggs. any idea what the window is for teh male to start deposting sperm before the eggs are no good? i could see his oviposter/organ .. so i guess he was interested. Is that due to immaturity? (I inherited the discus so i have no idea how old they are.. but they are pretty decent sized).
So back to my main question, does the first photo, with darkened eggs indicate that the male indeed is capable of fertilizing the eggs, and if so, why would he not do his job the subsequent spawns? any ideas?
Since the eggs disappear the morning after i am not sure if the subsequent batch of eggs turned white to determine if indeed it is due to unfertilized eggs or the eggs were of poor quality
Any thoughts would be appreciated..
First Batch of eggs
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/nejnoj/07092010027.jpg
Most recent Spawn
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/nejnoj/06102010050.jpg