why cant i breed hemichromis guinea 11

[candidpets]

i made the water soft, they pair they lay the eggs dont hatch. I dont get it. Its been years. EVERY other fish in this family is so easy to breed. Could the male just be sterile? They are doing it as we speak. I mastered breeding peacocks, haps, mbuna, and all kind of other fish. THESE are supposed to be easy.

 

[MrsE88]

A few questions;
Do you have any pictures of the eggs a couple days after having been laid? Can you see a black spot?

Are you positive one is a male?

Are they fertile but just getting overtaken by fungus?

 

[candidpets]

yep he gets that hump and everything anal fin and size behavior all male. Fungus how does that happen? I have never had fish eggs over taken by fungus/ I breed other cichlids like i have bred five-star jewels, guinea 1. BUt you could be right. Any idea how i know if its fungus? The tank is over filtered. I Do use soft water. Should i add in something to prevent fungus? One time they laid eggs and after not hatching the male beat the female silly. But they still never seperated. I tried pairing her up with another male but she never took to any other. They are just mating spawning right now. I dont think they have laid yet. I just put them in their own tank again and decided to try. THey were in a large 120 six foot tank with other cichlids before because i gave up on them after he beat her up. When they laid eggs last time i did not see any black spots it seemed clear to me?? Usually when cichlids breed i never look for eggs i let them do their thing in their cave and 1000 fry show up.

 

[MrsE88]

This is how fertile eggs should look

They have a black spot and are clearish, sometimes with a yellow hue.
If they get solid white and fuzzy they have fungus. Normally the mom will pick those ones out so save the eggs, but not always.
The female green terror in that picture had a big problem with eggs being overcome by fungus. Typically if I wanted the eggs to hatch and survive I had to put salt in the tank. About half the dose you’d put in to treat ich.

 

[MrsE88]

A pair just laid eggs a day or so ago. This morning I saw there are a few eggs with fungus, so I took the chance to take a picture and show you what I was talking about.
You can see how the eggs are getting clearish, those are fertile and will show a dark spot soon. If nothing happens to the eggs I’ll post a picture when the spot is visible.
The solid white ones have fungus and are no longer viable.

 

[MrsE88]

Well, it hasn’t taken long. You can already see the dark spot forming. It’s only slightly visible in the above picture, but in this one you can definitely see it starting to show.