Theraps Coeruleus spawn!

[Norcal_Cichlid]

After losing the last 4-5 spawns due to the parents eating the eggs I decided to hatch them artificially. I pulled the big rock they spawn on everytime and put it in a 10g with Methylene Blue treatment. 24 hours later there is only one white egg and the rest appear to be fertilized. So far so good. Hopefully some F1 fry will be available in the coming months.

Anyone know how long it takes for this particular species to hatch out of eggs?

[Michael Kwist]

By coeruleus and lentiginosus it will take 3 days until the eggs will hatch, normaly does a warmer temperature gives a faster result of hatching of the eggs. I think by a temperature of 26 to 28C it will take 3 days.
From larve to free swimmer it will take 7 to 8 days
Than can you feed them with small food.. mostly they find food enough in the tank when they are by the parents.

Good news that you have eggs now of your coeruleus, it's a learning process for the fish and for the fishkeeper

Good luck with them!

[davidefc]

Congratz with spawning a uncommon cichlid! Shame you had to pull the eggs, I have had to do this in the past with a pair of Thorichthys maccuipinnis 'Rio Manso, Tomate' they kept eating the wrigglers. Just watch the pair, the male wasnt very happy when I pulled the eggs and took it out on the female.

Good luck raising the fry!

Regards
Dave

[Norcal_Cichlid]

Well they fertilized some of the eggs but apparently I'm not very good at artificially hatching fry . I used a 10g treated with meth blue and an airstone but still fungus got most of the eggs..only a few hatched and they aren't doing well. Any tips? What about using an egg tumbler type device? Maybe that would be a better option for next time? At lease I know they are fertile.

[retro_gk]

Congratulations on getting a spawn out of this species.

You might want to try putting in a cherry shrimp or two in the hatching tank. They will pick off bad/fungussed eggs, but usually will leave healthy eggs alone. I have used them to help artificially hatch Apistogramma, Nannochromis and Ancistrus eggs.

A tumbler will not work for eggs that are attached to a substrate.

You could also try raising the temperature of the tank used for hatching, say 29-30 C, with increased aeration. There is anecdotal evidence of lower temperatures favoring fungal growth. You could also try Indian almond leaves, instead of methylene blue, to keep fungus at bay.