Help ME with Severum breeding

R

roadkingmv

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Apr 21, 2007
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:help: This is a long story but I figure I'll put it all in here so please be patient. I set up a 55 with gold Severums about a year ago hoping that I would get a breeding pair. 2 were about 2.5" inches, 2 were about 2" and one 1 was about 3". They were all bought from differant stores The 3" I thought was a female when I bought her because of her markings, not too many orange lines on her face, just all gold. One of the 2.5" had very distinct coloring on his face so I was guessing he was a male. I know its hard to tell at such a young age but everything turned out just as planned. I put a tin foil in as a dilfer fish to help the pair bond and team up as protective parents, but he grew pretty fast and I think he may be a little quick and strong so he might end up moving to another tank.

During the past year I had a blood parrot that ended up in the tank with them because he was beating on some fish I have in one of my other tanks and figured he would mix better with the gold sevs.

Now the Problem ! This past Saturday I went to feed them and noticed my 3" and 2.5" described above lip locking and dancing. I thought they were either have a turf dipute or getting ready lay some eggs. Well the next day when I went to feed again, sure enough, she laid about 100 orange eggs on a piece of lace rock on one end of the tank. She was staying directly above them and fighting off the Tin foil who would not give up. The male would jump in every once in a while to help but he would also go to the other side and lip lock with the other 2.5 who I believe is a male also. It appeared that the female and two males all had their breeding tubes down.

Well, from reading on the internet many people suggest pulling the rock with the eggs out and putting them in a small tank by themselves with an air stone and water from the tank they came from, this way there is no worry about preditors or parents who also eat their own eggs or fry. So I did just that and had the water at 82 degrees exactly the same as the parants tank.

They were fine for the first day. the second day I noticed that some of the eggs, about 15, turned white which I beleave means dead. Now today, day 3
I came home from work and there is only about 10, if that, that appear to be orange ALMOST ALL WHITE. there is also a white cotton like fuzz on and around most of the eggs.

Any help would be appreciated !!

How long until next spawn would help also.

Thanks Mike
 
white eggs are unfertilized eggs. translucent(yellowish) are usually fertile..but keep an eye on them.

if they are unsuccessful give them a couple more weeks..more than likely they'll be at it again.
 
purchase some methylene blue (an anti-fungal medication) and next time the sevs spawn, put that into the egg-tank water. i am not sure of the exact concentration, but it will prevent live eggs from getting fungus. also, make sure that the air stone is close enough to the eggs so that it makes a current near them, but not close enough so that the air hits them. a slight current mimics the way the parents fan the eggs to make sure they have oxygen.
 
Severums

I wouldn't remove the eggs. In the years that I was breeding severums I never removed the eggs from the parents and I always had 90% + hatch ratio.

Sevs can be quite fierce when guarding eggs and then a brood.

Once they breed once I wouldn't worry about losing a batch of eggs. They will breed again and again and again. Just keep the water parameters in check and you should have no problems.

One way I would get them to breed (quite successfully) was to do a fairly large water change 30%+ and then put in water that was 5 to 10 degrees F warmer in the tank. Then I would feed a large meal of frozen blood worms or plankton and before you know it they would be on their way.

Once the fry are free swimming what I would do is feed them all that wasteful powder you get at the bottom of the dried krill, plankton bottles/packages.

I would make a bit of paste and put it into the water near the brood with a syringe and let them go at it. I would do this 2 times a day until they were big enough to start eating the real food that the rest of the fish were eating. Mixing in some flake power helps as well.

Just make sure not to put too much or your water quality goes to héll really quick. As long as you keep the water quite clean and feed the brood well. They will grow very fast.

At my peak point I was getting a nest every 3 - 6 weeks. As the brood became old enough to fend for themselves the parents would be on their way to making another nest. Especially if I removed the brood and placed them in a new tank.

Hope this helps.
 
I bred a pair of 8" ers once in a 30 gal and they did wonderfully. I had 3 silver dollars as dither fish and never had any problems with them stealing the babies or with the severum not taking care of the eggs. Every hatch went to brood. I would say that you should get rid of the tinfoil and switch it for something smaller, like zebra danios, since your severums aren't that big. If you lose a batch of eggs, don't worry about it, they'll just breed again. And again and again and again.
 
Since the last time I wrote you they laid three batches and all of the egss either died or were eaten ( diappeared ) The first batch I took your advise and let nature have it. The 3rd day the eggs were all gone. The second batch I used a tank divider, 3rd day gone again. the third batch I removed them, placed them in another tank by themselves again, this time with the methaline blue and they all turned white again on the 3rd day.
THEY NEVER MAKE IT PAST DAY THREE!!!! VERY FUSTRATING !!!!!!
Do you think it is possible that the male is stirile or too young?
Any help please
Thanks Mike
 
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