Removing Eggs

[Carol]

My albinos have now laid eggs 3 days in a row. There are eggs everywhere, even on the heater. I didn't really want to set up another fry tank but now i'm tempted. There are so many electrical cords from all the tanks going I'm afraid the place is going to blow up My question is this - When is the best time to remove the eggs? There is a good patch of eggs from 3 days ago and i noticed they're fertilizing them as well today. When you touch them though, they have lost the stickiness and fall to the bottom. The second attempt at hatching eggs didn't work for me. 5 or 6 hatched and within 24 hours they had all croaked so i'm wondering what went wrong. I should have made notes the first time i succeeded but i didn't expect to get any (they are really precious)
Thanks
Carol

[corybreed]

I remove the eggs as soon as I see them. I either remove them with a single edge razor blade or you can use a clump of Java Moss and the eggs will adhere to it. The Java Moss Can then be put into the hatching container.

Mark

[fishnut2]

I usually wait 2-3 hours after spawning...for the egg membrane to harden. If you don't wait, some of the eggs will turn to mush (disintegrate). With albinos, I normally remove the parents...due to the high number of eggs. When I use a razor to scrape them...I keep a net underneath...or a turkey baster nearby, ready to catch the eggs that fall off. There are many different ways to harvest the eggs. That's what I do.
Rich

[Carol]

ok thanks. It's unbelievable how many eggs they produce. I use a credit card but a razor or java moss sounds better. Unfortunately it's a community tank so i can't remove the fish. I'm still trying to figure out how sweather boxes work. I remember reading about people using plastic shoe boxes to hatch killie fish eggs. Must be the same idea but i think killie fish are ok at room temp (not tryin' to steal secrets) i was looking at those livebearer plastic breeding cubes at the LFS but i don't think they would work too well.
Carol

[Fish Demon]

I find it is best not to disturb the eggs at all, but rather to just remove the parents if possible. Of course if the spawning happened in a community tank, the eggs will have to be removed and separated.

[fishnut2]

Carol,
The reason a lot of breeders use shoe boxes, are so they they use a fungicide (usually methylene blue) on the eggs...without treating the whole tank. Methylene blue will stain the silicone...and can be be ugly in a show tank. Another reason for the shoebox...is so they can float the box in a heated tank, to maintain temp. Some breeders with fish rooms, heat the entire room. Those that don't, find it less risky to float the hatching container...as opposed to using another heater. In a small hatching container, temps are harder to maintain with an additional heater. It's too easy to cook the eggs.
I like it for easy water changes too. I pour of the blue water into a small bucket, and simply dip a corner of the hatching container into the water they're floating in. This gives you a fresh supply of cycled water...at the exact same temp. The bucket is in case you pour off any fry. I retreive the fry in the bucket with a turkey baster. One more reason for floating, is that there is usually an air supply nearby (for an airstone). The tank used for floating, probably has an air driven filter in it...so it's easy to run another line for an airstone, to the eggs.
Hope this helps
Rich

[Carol]

thank you for sharing that. Very nice website! but no fair you have a four legged helper. The only help i get from my cats have been a chewed up loach and getting in the way during water changes (they are piston fans ). I have never seen some of the cories that you sell. I like the burgessi and hi fin paleatus. I did see some adolfoi at the LFS not long ago. I'm still kicking myself for not buying a few but $40 each seemed so outrageous at the time. Probably never see any again......i didn't understand the flower pot pictures but the partitioned tank with 5g compartments look like a great idea.
thanks again
Carol