Are These Eggs In My Tank?

[Scoots]

Hello and, please, be kind to the newbie. I have a 70 litre tropical tank, with neon tetra, algae eaters, minnows & three mollies. The female molly is brown, black & silver, while the male WAS silver with one or three black spots, but is now more black than anything. The first of their offspring we were aware of we found - by chance - as a fry & got it out into a makeshift isolation tank until she was big enough (she's black). That was just after Christmas.

Since then we have wondered if mum is pregnant again on at least one occasion & suspect she ate her fry.

Today, my wife found around 40 to 50 small clear-ish spheres adhered to the tank at various points. She thought they were a fungus (!) & swept them off(!). Now more have appeared, in the region of 80 to 100 more. Most have small white dots in the centre, others appear empty. They're each roughly 1 to 1.5mm across & there are five different groupings in different sections of tank - mainly on the glass, in corners & round the heater.

Are these eggs &, if so, has she aborted? I have always thought mollys to be live bearers & don't know of any other pairs in the tank.

Advice, anyone?

Many thanks.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Have you added any plants or anything to the tank recently? I was wondering if they could be snails or snail eggs?

 

[Scoots]

No, definitely not snails or their eggs. A friend has pointed out that I have two algae eaters in the tank. I thought both were female, but this may not be the case. Got them around Christmas, when they were just an inch or so. Both are now between 5 and 6 inches, so maybe they're now adults and breeding? Is this how they breed, does anyone know? If so, any advice?

Thanks.

 

[lilfishie]

what type are the algae eaters? if you don't know can you try get a piccy to help identify

 

[Scoots]

Hi, from their appearance, I think they're Chinese Algae Eaters.

Thanks.

 

[char la]

Do they look like this

 

[Scoots]

Do they look like this

They do look like this, but they're not surrounded by a gel or liquid as these appear to be, they're all separate (although many are stuck together).

Thanks.

 

[char la]

They're snail eggs. Theres nothing else in your tank that would have created them.

 

[Scoots]

They're snail eggs. Theres nothing else in your tank that would have created them.

But there's nothing new gone in the tank in over 4 months. Could they be algae eater eggs?

 

[char la]

I very much doubt it as theres no written accounts of anyone breeding them in an aquarium.
Minnows and neons are egg scatterers and mollys are livebearers as you know so the only option left is snails.

 

[Scoots]

I very much doubt it as theres no written accounts of anyone breeding them in an aquarium.
Minnows and neons are egg scatterers and mollys are livebearers as you know so the only option left is snails.

This has me really confused. There are no live plants in the tank, no new fish in 4 months, no new ornaments, etc in over 8 months. There have never been any snails or eggs in before, so why now? It just doesn't make sense to me. I'm not saying it's impossible, just puzzled as to how & from where??

 

[char la]

It is a bit of a mystery....is there any left to take pictures of??

 

[Scoots]

No, all gone. The Corys ate them all! If they re-appear, I'll take a snap.

Thanks.

 

[scotty]

where did the corys appear from?

could have been their eggs

 

[char la]

Corys? Now then, you never said you had any corys. Did they look like this then...