Angelfish Eggs Not Sticking

Hi, I have a pair of angelfish that have laid eggs 36 hours back. One of the eggs didn't stick so my angel picked it up, and spat it back at the slate dislodging 3 other eggs, this continued and now both of them have about 50 eggs loose that aren't sticking back. They are constantly picking them from the bottom and putting them on a leaf or spitting back at the slate pack with more and more dislodged. Looks like a losing battle. Any idea what causes the eggs to fall loose this way? They are live eggs that are loose and the angels have become so busy they have stopped eating the dead white eggs (which they was doing for the first 48 hours).

 

Hello and welcome to Fishlore ! Is this your pairs first clutch ? It sounds like either they didn't fully clean the slate due to inexperience or that they are a little too rough also due to inexperience - what type of tank are they in ? I think she will get it together and start cleaning What type of filter are you running?

 

Hi, running a 106 Litre Ciano with an external filter. The flow is set to minimum on it. 2 natural large leaf plants and a mossball with a clear bottom (no gravel or substrate). Nitrate is at about 8, zero ammonia, ph 7.5. I think you are right on just being too "rough" through inexperience as they are trying to spit them at the slate/leaf rather than a more delicate placement, that could also be as they are trying to perform the task at a zillion miles an hour. It looks like they have got just a few properly on the leaf and stuck. They wworking hard but its like watching someone sprinting on a treadmill.

 

I may be mistaken, but from what i've read, they need soft, low pH water for breeding, b/c hard water and high pH will cause the eggs to get hard.

 

Did you see the mother's breeding tube? Was it dropped for a while before she laid them? Or could you at all tell she held on to the eggs a bit longer?

One of my angels once held on to her eggs too long and when she laid them, they weren't sticky.

Idk what to say about the eggs. If they are not viable, might be best to remove them and do a good water change. But maybe they are viable? The parents would know best I guess...

 

All, an update, she did hold onto the eggs for longer than I'd expect so that could be part of it. I suspect it was mainly inexperience as after about 9 hours of them trying, the eventually managed to get them all balanced on 2 of the leaves. 24 hours on and they are wigglers with a few of them starting to swim upwards and being put back in place. So far so good for them. Thanks all.