Why Do My Severum Pair's Eggs Keep Going Fuzzy?

[SouthernCross]

Hi all,
 
Have posted in the cichlid forum before but not much luck there.
 
My pair of Severums lay on average probably every two weeks. They are diligent, they watch over the eggs chasing away any intruders to the area, and hover over them closely, appearing to 'fan' them with their fins. However inevitably every time, usually on about day three, the eggs seem to get a fuzzy white fungus over most of them. They carry on protecting them for another day or two, then they seem to give up and eat them. Then they have a break from each other for awhile, then start all over again about a week later.
 
This has been going on for months now. I thought initially since it was their first few tries, they needed some practice and would get better. But the same thing is happening every time.
 
Its a 4 x 2 foot tank (roughly 450 litres) and I run two Fluval 305's on it, so there is a decent amount of flow in the tank.
 
Any ideas on why this is happening, or if there's anything I can do to help?
 
Cheers

 

[thereverendturtle]

How old are the fish? Sometimes they will breed when they aren't actually old enough and the eggs won't be viable. Usually the male is the immature one. There is also two other possibilities, 1) one fish is sterile, or 2) they are both female.
Good luck!

 

[star4]

What sort of severums are they? depending on the species males tend to have facial markings where females dont. You cant go on fin lengh its not an indicator of sex. Most likely if they are red spot severums the male is infertile, for some reason lots are.

 

[MBOU]

Severums are, like has been pointed out...incredibly hard to accurately sex!!
 
Like most other cichlids (i have experienced this with both angels and discus), they can pair up as a pair of females and go through the motions of breeding (the second female either just following or also laying eggs) because they are just acting on instinct.
 
Either they are unfertilized (with lots of cichlids, it can tank anywhere from one to ten+ attempts to even get it right!!) or there is just something causing fungal infections in the eggs. Some breeders swear by running Methylene Blue through the tank to keep infections at bay, though personally (and al ot of others) find Meth Blue kills a lot of the good bacteria in the filter too. I tried running low levels of Protozin whilst there was eggs to good result but is just as likely a coincidence...

 

[thereverendturtle]

I only use and would recommend Methylene blue, if the parents are not in the tank, ie: egg scatters, cichlids that have their eggs removed. I also never filter those tanks, because of the reason pointed out by MBOU. After the eggs hatch, I do a few of water changes over the next few days, then add a filter. Otherwise it's just an airstone in the tank, to provide a little current.

 

[Gilli]

What are your water stats - bad water quality may cause a problem. Other than that as previous posters have said they are probably unfertilized.

 

[SouthernCross]

How old are the fish? Sometimes they will breed when they aren't actually old enough and the eggs won't be viable. Usually the male is the immature one. There is also two other possibilities, 1) one fish is sterile, or 2) they are both female.
Good luck!

I have had them a good six months at least, and while they have grown since then, they weren't tiny when I got them. I would say their bodies are as big, if not bigger than the palm of my hand. The one I think is male is slightly smaller.

What sort of severums are they? depending on the species males tend to have facial markings where females dont. You cant go on fin lengh its not an indicator of sex. Most likely if they are red spot severums the male is infertile, for some reason lots are.

They are normal common green Severums. The one I think is male seems to have squiggles on his cheeks, but not drastically so. The other definitely does not. When they are NOT 'breeding' the one I think is female always remains dominant and stays dark green with a gold underside. The one I think is male and smaller goes a more pale olive green and gets the black banding near the tail. But when they are in the mood and guarding eggs they are both the beautiful dark green with gold underside.

Severums are, like has been pointed out...incredibly hard to accurately sex!!
 
Like most other cichlids (i have experienced this with both angels and discus), they can pair up as a pair of females and go through the motions of breeding (the second female either just following or also laying eggs) because they are just acting on instinct.
 
Either they are unfertilized (with lots of cichlids, it can tank anywhere from one to ten+ attempts to even get it right!!) or there is just something causing fungal infections in the eggs. Some breeders swear by running Methylene Blue through the tank to keep infections at bay, though personally (and al ot of others) find Meth Blue kills a lot of the good bacteria in the filter too. I tried running low levels of Protozin whilst there was eggs to good result but is just as likely a coincidence...

What are your water stats - bad water quality may cause a problem. Other than that as previous posters have said they are probably unfertilized.

I wouldn't really want to put chemicals in the tank as it is a community and I do have clown loaches in there. I am not wanting to breed them commercially or anything, I just enjoy observing eir behaviour in the tank and am stumped as to why the eggs don't get to hatch, given they seem to be such diligent parents. My stats have been stable in the tank a long time, at last check mY nitrate was no more than about 20.

I will also see if I can find some pics.

 

[SouthernCross]

In breeding mode:

Eggs have gone fuzzy:

The one I think is male NOT in breeding colours (old pic when he was smaller also) - are those squiggles enough to confirm its a him or not?

The one I think is female (dominant fish):

Side by side colour comparison when NOT breeding:

Also I don't know how accurate this is, but when I bought them the guy at the LFS seemed pretty sure of the sexing by turning them over and looking at their undersides also. But again, if ppl can look at the pics and confirm I have a male I would be appreciative.

 

[SouthernCross]

Anyone?

 

[SouthernCross]

Another photo, this is their latest batch, I took this pic tonight. You can see the fuzzy patches. They will probably start eating them tomorrow.

 

[SouthernCross]

Bumping again cos I'm really hoping for some answers!