G. Sveni keep eating their eggs...

[Breeze]

So this is the 3rd time my pair has spawned. First time the male carried the newly hatched eggs/fry for aboit a week and apparently swallowed them.

2nd spawn the parents didnt pay attention.to the clutch and fungus took over.

Now im on spawn 3, thought 3rd time was the charm. Apparently not. About 36 hours after laying a fertile batch, i woke up at 230am to piss, checked the tank.... only 20~ or so eggs remain on the slate of the 350++ eggs laid. I had checked them at 1130pm and they were fine.

The male had been very protective of the eggs, always pushing the female out of the frame in all the times they spawned. Im geussing the female ate them as the lights went out.... but that's an assumption at this point.

Any suggestions for next spawn? Im thinking of removing the female in the future and leaving the male to tend to the eggs. He mouthbrooded the first spawn, so im geussing hell be carrying the future wrigglers as well.

Anything helps.....feeling hopeless ughh

 

[tlindsey]

So this is the 3rd time my pair has spawned. First time the male carried the newly hatched eggs/fry for aboit a week and apparently swallowed them.

2nd spawn the parents didnt pay attention.to the clutch and fungus took over.

Now im on spawn 3, thought 3rd time was the charm. Apparently not. About 36 hours after laying a fertile batch, i woke up at 230am to piss, checked the tank.... only 20~ or so eggs remain on the slate of the 350++ eggs laid. I had checked them at 1130pm and they were fine.

The male had been very protective of the eggs, always pushing the female out of the frame in all the times they spawned. Im geussing the female ate them as the lights went out.... but that's an assumption at this point.

Any suggestions for next spawn? Im thinking of removing the female in the future and leaving the male to tend to the eggs. He mouthbrooded the first spawn, so im geussing hell be carrying the future wrigglers as well.

Anything helps.....feeling hopeless ughh

I suggest next time they spawn on the slate remove and place in a hatchery setup.
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/geophagus-sveni-egg-questions.737458/

 

[neutrino]

Imo there are a few options, not necessarily a right or wrong answer. Options include separating the pair after spawning (probably not my first choice), hatching the eggs separately, or just giving them time. I'm still growing out my sveni and haven't seen pairing yet, but with other geos (or other SA cichlids) I've had, it takes some pairs multiple tries of trial and error to get it right, but what starts as a confused pair sometimes turns out to be good breeders. Sometimes you can make an adjustment that helps them a bit, whether temperature, pH, rearranging the tank a little to give them a better spot, etc.

Just curious. Do you have just the pair or is it a group? Like I say I my sveni haven't paired up yet, but I've occasionally had an unsuccessful pair eventually switch partners in other species.

 

[Breeze]

Imo there are a few options, not necessarily a right or wrong answer. Options include separating the pair after spawning (probably not my first choice), hatching the eggs separately, or just giving them time. I'm still growing out my sveni and haven't seen pairing yet, but with other geos (or other SA cichlids) I've had, it takes some pairs multiple tries of trial and error to get it right, but what starts as a confused pair sometimes turns out to be good breeders. Sometimes you can make an adjustment that helps them a bit, whether temperature, pH, rearranging the tank a little to give them a better spot, etc.

Just curious. Do you have just the pair or is it a group? Like I say I my sveni haven't paired up yet, but I've occasionally had an unsuccessful pair eventually switch partners in other species.

The pair that is currently spawning is the only pair that has emergered from a group of 6. This pair has always had a very se ure bond and i waited many months before pulling them and segregating them in a 20gal for spawning.

Ill continue to try to get a successful spawn out of them, as the first spawn worked so well for them and the last 2 have been fraught with issues.

I will more than likly remove the slate next time to ensure i get a few viable fry

 

[Breeze]

I suggest next time they spawn on the slate remove and place in a hatchery setup.
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/geophagus-sveni-egg-questions.737458/

You referenced my post from an earlier spawn ha. Seems like im the only one breeding this sp right now, i cant connect with anyone who has direct experience with breeding this specific geo sp.

Keeping my fingers crossed next time i get it right. Im going to remive the egg slate to a breeder box next time

 

[stiker]

Imo there are a few options, not necessarily a right or wrong answer. Options include separating the pair after spawning (probably not my first choice), hatching the eggs separately, or just giving them time. I'm still growing out my sveni and haven't seen pairing yet, but with other geos (or other SA cichlids) I've had, it takes some pairs multiple tries of trial and error to get it right, but what starts as a confused pair sometimes turns out to be good breeders. Sometimes you can make an adjustment that helps them a bit, whether temperature, pH, rearranging the tank a little to give them a better spot, etc.

Just curious. Do you have just the pair or is it a group? Like I say I my sveni haven't paired up yet, but I've occasionally had an unsuccessful pair eventually switch partners in other species.

In my experience any of the species in the genus Geophagus (Surinamensis and Steindachneri complex. I haven’t kept any of the species in the Brasiliensis complex) and the Genus Guinacara are not faithful at all. Even when a female has eggs a male will go and spawn with another female or will spawn and defend two batches of eggs from two different females at the same time, this has happened with my Geophagus sp. Orange Head Tapajos as well as my current Geophagus Sveni group.

I have had my Sveni holding but they were in a corwded tank and only held the eggs in their mouth for a few days. I am moving them to a larger 5x3x2ft tank today in order to hopefully get some successful spawns out of them.

 

[Breeze]

In my experience any of the species in the genus Geophagus (Surinamensis and Steindachneri complex. I haven’t kept any of the species in the Brasiliensis complex) and the Genus Guinacara are not faithful at all. Even when a female has eggs a male will go and spawn with another female or will spawn and defend two batches of eggs from two different females at the same time, this has happened with my Geophagus sp. Orange Head Tapajos as well as my current Geophagus Sveni group.

I have had my Sveni holding but they were in a corwded tank and only held the eggs in their mouth for a few days. I am moving them to a larger 5x3x2ft tank today in order to hopefully get some successful spawns out of them.

Interesting. I have this pair in a 20gal for breeding. I have introduced a different male (i have 3, with one being of this pair) on numerous occasions. To give the female "choices" and to ensure she would spawn with one of the 2.

They have always spawned and have always remained tightly bonded to eachother. I have no other explanation other than this is what they feel comfortable with.

They have spawned every 2-3weeks since starting to spawn together at the beginning of january. I think ill keep them together as they have been so consistent in laying. Next time i will remove the slate and raise the fry in a breeder box.

I have a group of 6 and hope to get at least another breeding pair out of the group. Theyre gorgeous fish.

Thank you very much for tour input, im truly appreciative of your reply.

 

[neutrino]

Interesting. I have this pair in a 20gal for breeding. I have introduced a different male (i have 3, with one being of this pair) on numerous occasions. To give the female "choices" and to ensure she would spawn with one of the 2.

They have always spawned and have always remained tightly bonded to eachother. I have no other explanation other than this is what they feel comfortable with.

They have spawned every 2-3weeks since starting to spawn together at the beginning of january. I think ill keep them together as they have been so consistent in laying. Next time i will remove the slate and raise the fry in a breeder box.

I have a group of 6 and hope to get at least another breeding pair out of the group. Theyre gorgeous fish.

Thank you very much for tour input, im truly appreciative of your reply.

Don't know if anyone here currently breeds them but there have been past successful breeding threads for sveni. My thought is a 20 gal is too small and the tight quarters can be stressing the pair, even if they're not yet full sized, but certainly will as adults. It's just a different thing from breeding discus, smaller acara, etc. Discus are exceptional for how small a tank some pairs breed in. I never bred geos in such a small tank and honestly wouldn't. Too small a tank for a lot of otherwise peaceful cichlid species can cause trouble between breeding pairs.

I've successfully bred other suriname type geos and while a breeding pair in their own tank can work I prefer to breed mine in a species tank or compatible community. For one thing, working together to guard fry from other fish, not each other, helps their bond imo. It's not impossible to get an odd cichlid pair that want to keep fry away from each other, but I don't see it much in geos.

I've had sveni before my current generation of them (now 4-4.5 inches) and they can be active fish and they like some room.

 

[ryansmith83]

Let them keep trying. Next time they spawn leave the lights on. You can dim them at night but don't turn them out completely.

If they're young fish and inexperienced it can take some time.

Your tank also sounds a little small. They could be nervous. I tried to breed a pair of 5 - 6" G. dicrozoster in a 55 and they nervously paced back and forth a lot. They would spawn and hold eggs but never release fry and eventually swallow/eat them.

 

[Breeze]

Let them keep trying. Next time they spawn leave the lights on. You can dim them at night but don't turn them out completely.

If they're young fish and inexperienced it can take some time.

Your tank also sounds a little small. They could be nervous. I tried to breed a pair of 5 - 6" G. dicrozoster in a 55 and they nervously paced back and forth a lot. They would spawn and hold eggs but never release fry and eventually swallow/eat them.

Thanks for the suggestion, i have a gameplan for next spawn. Im going to let them work it out in the hopes they become good parents. They seem to be, up to a point then somthing goes wrong. Well see what happens this next time. Plan kn putting the pair in a 125g with 4 other sveni and a few small geos. See how that works.

Btw, for anyone who is curious, the last spawn was ALMOST completely demolished. I saved 6x eggs that are developing in a breeder box, and are doing quite well considering.

Check pics, thanks again!