Keyhole cichlid struggling to be parents

[Blue neon]

Hi all. My pair of keyhole cichlids I've had since they were tiny. A good few years down the line and they keep laying eggs but nothing ever comes of them. I can see they are trying to be great parents. They take turns in cleaning and fanning the eggs but they always turn white. Do you think the male could be infertile? It's heartbreaking for us to see this happen each time? If not infertility is there anything I could do? Thank you.

 

[anewbie]

How hard is your water; while I'm unsure of the details required for keyholes many sa fishes i own require water to be below 100tds and some as low as 30ish tds (and the water to be acidic) to have a chance to fertlize the eggs. Of course there are a few species that require some mineral in the water to fertilize the eggs (I think nannacara amolae had a better chance of spawning in soft water than very soft or blackwater environment.

Also it can take new parents 2 to 5 or so tries ot get it right.

 

[GaryE]

I'm with @anewbie on the water question. At 140ppm (GH) my keyholes could produce fertile eggs, but the numbers were low and the water hardness seemed to kill a lot of them. That would be considered medium water in most of North America. I'm not aware of UK conditions, which will vary regionally as they do here.

It could be an infertile male, but as sperm passes through hard water in just the tiny time it takes to hit the eggs, minerals can take it out. It can also harden the egg membranes quickly in species evolved in mineral poor regions, as the eggs grab all the minerals they can in those environments.

Keyholes are great, gentle little cichlids well worth working on. I hope they keep trying.

 

[Essjay]

In the UK hardness varies from 'liquid rock' in south east England to very low in most of Scotland. Knowing which part of the UK Blue neon lives in would be of great help, or if Blue neon could look on their water company's website for hardness and tell us the number and the unit of measurement, that would be even better. (The unit of measurement is important as UK water companies can use different ones)

 

[Back in the fold]

Is it possible they’re two females ?

 

[anewbie]

Is it possible they’re two females ?

When it comes to sa cichild it is always possible but i've had (for example) females who were infertiile and fixed the problem by replacing the female but keeping hte male. Anything is possible but the first thing given his locatility is i would check the water hardness.

 

[Colin_T]

The next time they spawn, look at their ovipositors (egg laying tube) and see if there is a difference in the size and shape. Males have a longer thinner ovipositor, whereas females have a shorter wider one.

If you have two females, you will get eggs but no babies. The easiest way to get a pair is to get 8-10 young fish and grow them up together and let them pr off naturally. Move the prs to their own tanks and see how they go. When you buy two fish you don't always get a pr (male & female), or they might not like each other. Your two seem to get along so you could have two females.