It was a sign!

[Mikeyfish7620]

We'll it was!!!! They are spawning as i type right now! The female is going over and laying eggs then the male follows and fertilizes them (i think) i dont want to get to close to interfere but there are around 100 eggs so far and they keep going at it! i have a video right now and ill upload it as soon as i can! Im so happy right now! And they're still at it right now! and now! lol

[wickedglass]

It amazes me how you can type with your hands shaking like that ....

congratulations .... early days, but damn you must be excited :)

[Mikeyfish7620]

Its amazing me too lol! They are still going at it! I cant believe how excited i am! It reminds me of my first fry....with my platies...i was so excited...lol. but ive been through spawning a lot of different things i guess im just excited that im able to spawn the king of the aquarium!

[Mikeyfish7620]

Can anyone help me!? Do i turn off the lights on the fish tank during the night time or do i leave them on? Also how many days until they hatch if they are fertile? And do i lower the water level to where the eggs are?

[Nathan]

they usually take around 3 days to hatch, if fertile. some may turn white an hopefully the parents will clean those off, however it sounds like this is the first spawn of this pair?

is so it may take them many many spawns to get the eggs to wigglers, so be patient congratulations buddy!

hope all works out well, but be patient

[samir]

Can anyone help me!? Do i turn off the lights on the fish tank during the night time or do i leave them on? Also how many days until they hatch if they are fertile? And do i lower the water level to where the eggs are?

in around 48 hours they should hatch (more or less) and another 2-3 days to start swimming. dont muck around with water levels and try to leave them alone as much as possible, no water change nothing only gently syphon waste, feed very sparingly, before they start free swimming you can leave a dim light on for a few days. the less you disturb them, the better your chances.

[Mikeyfish7620]

So i leave the light on right now? As they are just layed or is it ok if i turn off the lights? or do i leave the tank light on 24/7?

[Mikeyfish7620]

Here are some pictures!

[Mikeyfish7620]

Sorry for the bad quality i only had my phone on me at the time

[Mikeyfish7620]

Some more!

[Mikeyfish7620]

The Result! ( they may look white but they are really orangish if you look at the other pictures)

[samir]

you can turn the lights off, before they become free swimming leave a small light on at night for the first few days.

[Mikeyfish7620]

Female Fanning

[Mikeyfish7620]

Video of the female fanning
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v409/EclipsE9828/th_MOV00479.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v409/EclipsE9828/?action=view&current=MOV00479.flv)

[Mulisha]

wow very nice what is that they have spwned on?

Thanks looks very nice i want my fish to breed now lol :lol:

[Mikeyfish7620]

Its a piece of red slate i got for $3 at the local fish store. Im so excited but i shouldnt really get my hopes up since this is their first spawn...but they are doing an awesome job for their first time. They havent eaten them yet and they are still fanning the little guys

[Mulisha]

awersome there are pretty good though for the first time around... 8-)

[wickedglass]

some pairs get it so right, straight off the bat ...
I got my fingers crossed for you :)

[Merrilyn]

Congratulations. You've done very well.

I like to leave the lights on 24/7 so the pair can stay in touch with their eggs.

They seem to be so fixated on their eggs and wrigglers, that they seem calmer if they can see them all the time.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

[Mikeyfish7620]

After day one everything is good! Mom still fanning away and dad helping every so often....So far so good!

[Mikeyfish7620]

After 24 hours only 10 eggs turned white and the rest are still good! That means they are fertile right? After 24hrs if they were fertile all would go bad right?