Mystery Eggs - UPDATE!!!

I just noticed some tiny white eggs on the glass of my 55 gal. tank.  I got to looking and saw more on the leaves of some live and fake plants.  I don't know who the culprit is.  I have added some fish a few months ago that aren't listed in my profile.  Some of which or 3 little red cherry barbs , two upside-down catfish, and a female betta from my 10 gal. tank.  I know the platy and mollies I have are male, but don't have a clue about the upside-down catfish or barbs.  These eggs weren't there this morning when I got up, so the culprit must have laid them some time today.  I think if may by the cherry barbs, but I'm not sure. 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Re: Mystery Eggs

Although the eggs from corys are white, I think you have cherry barb eggs.. they're tiny and I believe barbs are supposed to be morning spawners. Those eggs will be tasty treats to the other fish probably so you may want to move them to a small tank or container.. I found this online about moving eggs:

I've very little experience with moving eggs, since I usually leave the eggs and move everything else around them. I do know that it's important to keep them underwater when you are moving them and to handle them as little as possible. I've heard of lifting them off with a fingernail or a credit card.

If you do have another tank to move them to, it doesn't have to be cycled. You can just do lots of water changes, which you will have to do anyway with fry.

When you get the eggs to safety, add an airstone to insure good water circulation around the eggs which will decrease the chances of fungus developing. After they hatch, the airstone can be replaced with a sponge filter.

Wish I had more egg info for you, but so far, we've only had fry from our Platy Daisy so haven't had to deal with eggs yet. I hope this helps and I'm sure others will be posting replies to help out. Good luck with them.

 

Re: Mystery Eggs

This may be a stupid question but bare with me as I've never dealt with eggs before either....
Will a female egg-layer lay eggs if there is no male in the tank?
Do the eggs have to be fertilized by the male?

I noticed this morning that a lot of the eggs are gone now, eaten I quess, but there are still a few scattered thru-out the tank on leaves of some plants. What should I do?

 

Re: Mystery Eggs

This may be a stupid question but bare with me as I've never dealt with eggs before either....
Will a female egg-layer lay eggs if there is no male in the tank?
Do the eggs have to be fertilized by the male?

I noticed this morning that a lot of the eggs are gone now, eaten I quess, but there are still a few scattered thru-out the tank on leaves of some plants. What should I do?

I believe that if the eggs are laid, they've been fertilized by the male already during the mating. As far as the eggs go, I'd try moving them to the little tank or container keeping them underwater.. maybe a cup under the water to gently move the eggs into and then empty the eggs out when the cup is underwater in the new home for them.

 

Re: Mystery Eggs

I just collected what eggs I could find, some where clustered on a couple of leaves, and I cut the leaves off and put them into the breeding box I use for my live bearers, all done underwater of course, just like you said. So do you have any idea which fish laid the eggs?
I have a bunch of cory's of different kinds, two small and one very large algae eater, a female betta (but she doesn't ever go to the other end of the tank where some of the eggs were laid, and the three cherry barbs ( that I don't know the sex of).

How long do the eggs take to hatch? And won't they slip thru the slits in the bottom of the breeder box once they hatch? I don't have another tank to put them in.

 

Re: Mystery Eggs

I just collected what eggs I could find, some where clustered on a couple of leaves, and I cut the leaves off and put them into the breeding box I use for my live bearers, all done underwater of course, just like you said. So do you have any idea which fish laid the eggs?
I have a bunch of cory's of different kinds, two small and one very large algae eater, a female betta (but she doesn't ever go to the other end of the tank where some of the eggs were laid, and the three cherry barbs ( that I don't know the sex of).

How long do the eggs take to hatch? And won't they slip thru the slits in the bottom of the breeder box once they hatch? I don't have another tank to put them in.

The fry probably will slip thru the slits in the breeder box & be snacks for the other fish.

I'm not sure how long the eggs will take to hatch since I'm not 100% certain they are barb eggs, but I think they are given the size, color & time you found them I really think they are - I believe eggs can take 3-8 days to hatch. Do you see anything inside the eggs?

If you don't have a tank right now for the fry, we found a 1 gallon portable tank with a lid at walmart for $5 or you could even use a rubbermaid container if need be for the eggs to hatch in. You can either feed the fry that hatch fry food from the pet store or put fish flakes in a sandwich bag and crush them to powder using a rolling pin, then feed a pinch in the am & pm. They'll need a little submersible heater and airstone plus a sponge filter or a small filter.

Or you can get some baby grass at the fish store or java moss if you want to let the fry take their chances in the main tank - this will give them a place to hide and the more places to hide the better for them.

 

Re: Mystery Eggs

could you line the breeder with a very fine net or cloth so that they can't slip throught the holes? I've never had fry so this is purely speculation... it would probably majorly decrease circulation though.

The eggs definitely don't belong to the female betta. There is no male in the tank, and females release eggs only when embraced by the male. The male puts them in a bubble nest and cares for them. I don't know about the barbs or the catfish. I guess you just wait and see... and post pics when you get fry big enough for us to see!

 

Re: Mystery Eggs

I also have a breeder net that I can put the clear breeder box inside of. That should solve the problem of them becoming fish food. The eggs look like tiny white bowling balls, lol. They have a darker white center inside the egg. I'll keep ya'll advised on what happens.

P.S. Keep the advice coming....I'm in the dark as far as raising egg fry is concerned. I've raised livebearer fry before using the crushed flakes so feeding shouldn't be a problem.

 

Re: Mystery Eggs

I also have a breeder net that I can put the clear breeder box inside of. That should solve the problem of them becoming fish food. The eggs look like tiny white bowling balls, lol. They have a darker white center inside the egg. I'll keep ya'll advised on what happens.

P.S. Keep the advice coming....I'm in the dark as far as raising egg fry is concerned. I've raised livebearer fry before using the crushed flakes so feeding shouldn't be a problem.

Sounds like the eggs are coming along nicely and the netting sounds good. Are you able topost pics of them, especially as they hatch? Depending on who the momma is, you could have fry VERY soon. A lot of fry feed on their yolk sac at first, but will need food soon after.. within 2-3 days I believe. My hope is that as they develop they'll reveal who laid them and make it easier to do what that type of fry needs best. You could google "cory fry" and "cherry barb fry" and see if any useful info comes up that you'd want to bookmark and/or print.

 

Re: Mystery Eggs

I took the leaf-bearing eggs out of the breeder box and put it in the breeder net since the box wouldn't fit all the way inside the net. I've moved the net closer to the filter output water for circulation. The eggs looked like there was a clear or white fuzz on them now. Is that bad?

 

Re: Mystery Eggs

I took the leaf-bearing eggs out of the breeder box and put it in the breeder net since the box wouldn't fit all the way inside the net. I've moved the net closer to the filter output water for circulation. The eggs looked like there was a clear or white fuzz on them now. Is that bad?

I could be wrong, but I think that's bad. I'm sorry, but I think it's Fungus on the eggs.. did they have circulation in the breeder box?

I found this:
Egg fungus is very common. If the fungus gets out of control, all viable (usually clear with small eyes forming; some species like some cories may have colored eggs) eggs should be removed to a fresh setup with water of similar temperature, pH, etc. Fry should be removed to separate quarters as well because young fry can die from the egg fungus.

 

Re: Mystery Eggs

About the eggs, I think they actually have to be fertilized by a male after they are layed, or they don't develop. Don't quote me on that, I'm not an expert, but that's what I think.

 

Re: Mystery Eggs

About the eggs, I think they actually have to be fertilized by a male after they are layed, or they don't develop. Don't quote me on that, I'm not an expert, but that's what I think.

That is true, I found info online that the eggs come out and are immediately fertilized by the male.

 

Re: Mystery Eggs

Sadly to say, the eggs are no more....they kinda just disolved, I guess they weren't fertilized, or else I didn't do something right. Breeding livebears is so much easier....just have male and female and waaalaaaa.....you have babies!!

 

Re: Mystery Eggs

Sadly to say, the eggs are no more....they kinda just disolved, I guess they weren't fertilized, or else I didn't do something right. Breeding livebears is so much easier....just have male and female and waaalaaaa.....you have babies!!

that's too bad.. the fungus probably didn't help or they didn't fertilize for some reason, either bad eggs or the male wasn't able to successfully fertilize them.. you did your best though with unexpected eggs. True, livebearers are easier to me than egg-layers.

 

;D I have more eggs!!! And this time I saw who was laying them! Why she is laying them at the top of the tank on the glass I don't know because she's a bottom dweller. Can anyone guess who is laying the eggs???

It's one of my bronze corys!! I actually watched her attaching the eggs on the glass. It was so cool!! Now quick! What do I do now??? I know nothing about hatching cory eggs.

 

Follow the same procedure I think.. try to delicately get them into a container while keeping them under water.. or what might be easier would be to take a breeding box.. one of the net ones that's really just a box made of netting and put that in the tank to move the eggs into, then leave them in there to hatch.. after hatching you could move the fry to a tank of their own.

 

Bad news, I had to go to school at the college yesterday afternoon and when I returned back home the eggs were gone.
Maybe she put some in the hiding places I have in the tank, just have to wait and see.

 

Bad news, I had to go to school at the college yesterday afternoon and when I returned back home the eggs were gone.
Maybe she put some in the hiding places I have in the tank, just have to wait and see.

Yea, I guess you'll have to have the breeding net box ready for the next time you see some since they disappear so fast.