Fish Have Layed Eggs...but Who?how?

[Ashli]

Okay,

In my tank where the eggs are I have,

2 Electric Yellows
2 Electric Blues
2 Silver Scats large at 14cm long
2 Clown Loaches
2 Kuhli Loaches
2 Rainbow Sharks
3 Golden Suckers
1 Green Severum
1 Blue Acara
1 Congo Tetra

Okay now for the confused part. The eggs are on a diagonal sloping large rock ornament, and the only fish that is near them is the Blue Acara (which I'm pretty sure is a male). He is chasing all other fish away from that area, including the golden suckers...... in short protecting it fully.

But all the other fish are paired off......and the only fish that aren't paired off is the severum and tetra..

So can anyone tell me what the hell is goin on??? Are they the acaras eggs??? with who?? Is there any way to tell if the eggs are fertilised??? Because of the aggressive fish I have in my tank, I'm also wondering if I should partition the area off (which would be no hassles), if I should partition it off, how do I do that, and what do I use?

Sorry for all the questions, but none of my fish have bred before.....any help is much appreciated.

Ashli

 

[jayjay]

well it could be an acara female laid eggs no male so they won't be fertilized.

btw you need to sort out the stocking of your tank. lot's of fish that shouldn't be with the others.

 

[max11180]

hmm sounds odd! How sure are you that it is a male acara? Does he have long dorsal, and anal fins that overpal the tail fin?
If the eggs turn white then they are generally unfertilised, but you never know.. perhaps something else laid them, and the acara is guarding them - unlikely, but not impossible!

In any case, your best is to watch to see what happens, they may well get eaten overnight..

 

[Ashli]

well it could be an acara female laid eggs no male so they won't be fertilized.

btw you need to sort out the stocking of your tank. lot's of fish that shouldn't be with the others.

Yeah I read that could happen with the females, but my lfs said it was a male. So I might have a chat with him tomorrow.

The fish that are in my tank have co-existed without any problems for the last couple of years. Not recommended I know, but I've been one of the lucky few where the fish actually all get along.
And if anything were to ever happen then I have 2 other large tanks where they can move to.

hmm sounds odd! How sure are you that it is a male acara? Does he have long dorsal, and anal fins that overpal the tail fin?
If the eggs turn white then they are generally unfertilised, but you never know.. perhaps something else laid them, and the acara is guarding them - unlikely, but not impossible!

In any case, your best is to watch to see what happens, they may well get eaten overnight..

Just went and had another look, there's about 50-70 eggs there, and around 10 out of all of them are white, the rest are a orange/browny kind of colour....... Still unsure....are fertilised eggs sposed to be a certain colour??? Excuse my lack of intelligence on this one.....I've had fish for years, but none of them have ever bred.

Cheers,
Ashli

 

[Ashli]

okay well...now I have no idea whether the acara is a male or female

But the acara has been moving gravel around, like digging a ditch where the eggs are, and has only been doing this for the last couple of days.

Is it possible that if in fact the acara is a female and the eggs have been sterilised, that cross breeding has occured??

 

[max11180]

Male Acara

Female Acara​

Notice the difference in fins, and that female is a lot darker overall, hope that helps

Generally, freshly laid acara eggs are a kinda, dull creamy colour. If there are infertile, they will go white, (usually, the parents remove unfertile eggs), if they are fertilised, as time goes on they will darken to a ochre kind of colour.
Heres some eggs being laid..

the eggs a few days after (under the night light) see there a little darker..

And just a quick pic of what they turn into!

 

[Ashli]

Cheers for the pics...the only pics I have are these, and not very good ones either.

A couple of the eggs, are sprouting something tiny and white.???

 

[Ashli]

More weird stuff........

I just saw my electric blue eat an egg that I had been keeping my eye on...the egg was no longer attached to the rock and was just floating around, except that the egg was open and there was a lil thing attached to it....but before I could get a closer look, the electric blue ate it

 

[max11180]

that looks like a well fed female acara to me! very showy colours too

 

[Ashli]

Well still not sure what's goin on....but a quarter of the eggs are now gone, and she's still protecting them, luckily my other fish have gotten the hint, and are staying away from her, so by the looks of it, they have come to a mutual agreement...

And thanks max, she should look well fed, she eats like a pig