[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I have 1 male and 3 females in a 30 gallon with terracotta tiles for nesting sites.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]2 weeks ago I found I had eggs one afternoon with the male guarding them carefully. Then when I excitedly looked in on them in the evening they were gone, I assume they were eaten by the females.[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Early AM this Monday I found about 175 eggs after the weekend with a skipped day of feeding. I think I have been feeding this tank too much as I lightened up on the feeding for a few days before the weekend but after the weekend the water was much clearer. I am not sure if witholding food is a minor trigger to spawning so you can encourage the event at a given time within a several day window or not. Both spawnings occured after witholding feed. They are getting very diffused daylight [/FONT]starting about 5:30 am then tank lights come on at 10:30am until 2:00am for 15 ½ hours tank light. [/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, sans-serif]After my first batch of eggs disappearing I let the male guard and clean the eggs for only a few hours checking on the hour for missing eggs. I hoped that he would also disinfect them some in that time with his fatty noggin. I removed the terracotta lid and placed it in a 5 gal tank with a bubbler nearby for circulation and filling it with water from the parent tank. [/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]On day 2 I checked on the eggs and saw no change. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Day 3 however I can now see black dots in the eggs. I was very pleased to see a good fertilization rate. [/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]There was also little bit of white fungus on some eggs, but it seems I still have about 150 viable eggs left. [/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]I am not sure how long these usually take to hatch, any clues? [/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]I have some Hikari first bites for starting them on and hopefully that will be small enough. I am not sure if I should pre-soak or not to get a sinking feed. Fatheads as adults like to scrounge the bottom for food and will attack it at a mid-tank level, but almost never do the feed at the top. The fry however may feed differently. [/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]I am open to any and all advice![/FONT]
